jajadub

I will be traveling through Southern Portugal and Spain in August. I've looked at the average temperatures and see that it can get pretty hot. My wife has Multiple Schlorosis and is very sensitive to the heat. She has been told by other people that there are very few air conditioned hotels. We will be staying two nights in each city, Albuferia, Tavira, Seville, and Granada. Can anyone tell me if I am in fact going to have a hard time finding airconditioned B&B's or hotels. If so, can you make any suggestions of hotels or B&B's that do have air conditioning?

jpie

I don't have any specific hotel suggestions for you, but I know Expedia let's you filter hotels by indicating those with air conditioning. I imagine other travel sites may also have this feature. Just search for hotels and then on the left bar you can check a box that gives you only those with air conditioning.

Have a great trip-sounds like fun.

thursdaysd

I didn't have too much trouble finding AC in southern Spain in 2004 and I was staying in cheaper places. In Granada, if you can't afford/don't want to stay at the parador, the Hotel America is a great alternative - http://www.hotelamericagranada.com/hotel_ing.html

Rather than Expedia, which tends to have bigger hotels, try venere.com. The hotel websites will tell you whether they have AC.

francophiletasmania

If your wife has MS it is not so easy to access the Hotel America as it is in the grounds of the Alhambra and parking is quite a walk away. Also, the only place to buy food at night is the Parador which is expensive and also quite a walk. The Hotel America has no lift and lunch is served in the courtyard which is not air conditioned. I would stay in Central Granada around the Gran Via de Colon and check out which hotels have aircon on Trip Advisor or, as jpie suggested, Expedia. There are plenty of hotels in Seville with aircon also, not sure about the other two.
Of course you pay more ...

thursdaysd

"it is in the grounds of the Alhambra and parking is quite a walk away" - not clear whether the OP is driving. I took a taxi and had no trouble. I think there's also a bus.

May2011

Hi there,
A close friend has MS and she and I have had to adapt activities for our families to help keep her cool often. I was actually with her during her diagnosis & subsequent appointments - and heard the multiple "avoid heat" warnings she received.

One suggestion I would make is to call/email the hotel and ask questions about their air-conditioning system. Some are "set" - they have a/c but it isn't self-adjusting. So if they think 75 is fine, then, that's what you get. Some are self-adjusting with variable settings within 3 degrees (or whatever they set as the variable degree, I would imagine). On these, the temps could then be set down to 72 or up to 78.

Of course there are also the a/c misleading statements, so be sure and double check for that reason as well. Many hotels say a/c, but it is only the public areas, not the actual rooms.

You also may consider offering to pay an up-charge for fully variable a/c if you encounter resistance.

However, I do believe on the variable rates, if you get a kindhearted hotel owner, that their maintenance department may be able to bypass the variable setting to allow more cool air.

We stayed at the King Alfonso in Seville (starwood points) and it was not adjustable particularly and not cold.

Good Luck!

francophiletasmania

Just to add - if heat is a problem then Southern Spain is definitely not the place to be in August. It is VERY hot a lot of the time. For example Seville in August has an "average maximum temperatures of 35.5 °C and minimum temperatures of 19.4 °C. and every year the temperature rises above 40 °C on several occasions." see http://www.iberianature.com/material...la_climate.htm

Other web sites confirm this. Very uncomfortable for sightseeing. You may realise this of course, in which case apologies, but just in case you weren't aware?

jajadub

Thank you for all the advice.. One more thing does anyone know if there is alot of traffic in Southern Spain during the summer? A friend mentioned that he drove from Barcelona to the French Riviera and said that the traafic was terrible.

Lifeman

August is peak holiday season for Spain and Portugal. The more Northerly European countries traditionally take their holidays at that time, so everywhere is busy.

MyriamC

Rather than Expedia.com and Venere.com, try booking.com - it has large hotels, small hotels, B&B's and it will also let you filter on hotels with A/C.