ekscrunchy, I do think about the idea of staying elsewhere, though, as a first-timer, I find it hard to stay someplace other than the Santa Cruz area. I do think about less central places, but it seems that most folks staying for the first time like being in the very center of the old part of town, and I do lean toward doing this myself, as we are only there for 4 nights. But I will consider other places, and appreciate your comments. I love your thread, by the way, and have saved it for planning our meals! Great information and I will definitely try to include some of those places when we go.

aliced, I've noted the Hotel El Rey Moro in my research over the last couple of months; right now, though, I'm unable to access the website at all. On booking.com, the rates are much higher than they've been in the past. I don't know if this is because there is a huge change in their rates or the rooms for May 2015 haven't been released yet, and the shown rates are a fluke. I will keep my eye on this place to see if there are any updates, as it looks like a good option.

Thank you for all the help!

Paule

In Sevilla if you want a great Italian meal with the best Sangria we had in all of Spain Osteria L'Oca Giuliva was fabulous! It is located at Mateos Gago, 9. Enjoy

Momd,
I just looked at SpainSelect -- there are 5 1-bedroom apartments listed and they are beautiful, but it looks like the a/c is limited. One lists an a/c unit in the living room, but doesn't mention any other a/c, and the others don't seem to mention a/c. I just sent SpainSelect an email to clarify, but without a/c, no rental!

PS, thanks for recommendation for the restaurant! I'll add to the list.

progol - we had a/c that worked great in our apartment with Spain Select - they are super prompt on emails so hopefully you will get an answer quickly.
What time of May will you be in Sevilla? We were mid-May and it was getting toasty

We loved our Triana airbnb.com apartment in March. Tile floors, AC, good cross ventilation, cool neighborhood away from hubub.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1748727

Progol,, I understand your desire to stay in Sta Cruz. But please be aware of limiting yourself to that area in a search for hotels and apts. You could literally be one block away from Sta Cruz and be able to walk there in a minute or two. The city is fairly small, so just keep that in mind.

I rented through Spain Select, and the Sevilla apartment (along with one I rented in Barcelona from another company) was among the most lovely I could ever imagine. I was there in cool season so not sure about a/c, though.

Sevilla is a city that you do not need to be too worried about location...it is small enough that anything in the center of the city should be fine..I just did not want you to confine your search too much.

Barring mobility issues, you should be able to walk all over the city...to Triana, etc. In the week we stayed there most recently, we took a taxi only to and from the train station. We had so much to do and see, and eat, that we never even made it to Cordoba, which I had planned as a day trip. Hopefully you will be more energetic than we were!!!

Sevilla is one of the gems of Europe and I hope you will enjoy your visit as much as we did on our return in 2011. Inch for inch, it is one of the richest architectural cities in the world, I would think. People are marvelously friendly, and tourists somehow do not overwhelm the local flavor, even in Sta Cruz. And the food is beyond wonderful!!

Hotel or apartment, you will not go wrong with either, especially if you have laptop or some online device to book restaurants and research timetables, etc.

Thanks for the thorough explanation of Santa Cruz and the general central area - that's very helpful in understanding the city and allows me to expand my options. I do like the Spain Select properties although the selection of 1-BR apts in Sevilla are pretty limited.

Momd - Thanks for your encouragement in using Spain Select, too. I'm actually surprised how reasonably-priced many of them are.

stokebailey - Thanks for the link! I'll check that one out, too! What time of year were you in Sevilla?

Thanks again, all! I'm liking the idea of getting an apt in Sevilla!

PS - that first paragraph was directed to ekscrunchy - thanks for taking the time for writing such a good explanation of the area.

Paule

stokebailey - the apartment gets wonderful reviews! The hosts seem to be very responsive. I

I like the look of that place and it is certainly very affordable. like that the front terrace has a good view while the bedroom is described as quiet.

Did you find any disadvantages for you not staying in the Santa Cruz area? How long does it take to walk there from the apartment? Any safety concerns?

Recommend the very local feel San Vicente/San Lorenzo district, some 15 minutes walking from Santa Cruz. http://www.donquijote.org/travel/gui...itinerary5.asp

Apartments: http://www.veoapartment.com/rent-sev...n-vicente.html

Some of the best tapas bars/restaurants in the city are in San Vicente/San Lorenzo, such as
- Eslava: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/2008/02/eslava/
- Bodega Dos de Mayo: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html
- and La Azotea: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html

And be sure to see the lovely Triana district just across the Guadalquivir river: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/triana.htm
This gives you an idea of Triana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fwfz0FLae0

progol, check out my TR on Sevilla/Triana.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-left-bank.cfm

For my money, Triana was perfect. We were there the second week of March this year. Maybe 15-20 min walk to the Barrio Santa Cruz. Excellent marketplace a long block away, tapas places, riverside dining and bars up the street.

The bedroom was very quiet, and not much street noise near open front windows if someone's on the foldout couch. My 22 yr old daughter and I felt perfectly safe walking at all hours. The only time I was even approached by beggars was in the tourist areas across the river. Maria, the hostess, was lovely.

I don't know whether you've dealt with airbnb, but a drawback for some would be paying the entire amount up front.

Thanks, stokebailey, after I posted this, I found your TR. I'm starting to get very overwhelmed with the options and probably need to chill out on this mission for a day( or so my husband will tell me!).

Thanks for the comments about airbnb's payment requirements; I've never used them before and will pay attention to their cancellation policy before I consider booking a place. I see that there are a range of policies and some I've viewed are moderate and others are strict. Given how far in advance I'm looking, I won't consider any that have a strict policy.

I love your TR, by the way - wonderful details and a great feeling for the place.

Ha, thanks progol. My daughter and I had a great trip, loved our week in Seville. It does seem to be an unusually good town for airbnb; some, like London, aren't especially.

Always paying careful attention to the reviews, which are allowed only by people who've rented the places, we've had good luck with airbnb in the US and abroad.

Hi Paule: we rented an apartment in Seville (and anywhere else where we were staying for at least 3 nights). Our reasons may have been a bit different from yours - we were traveling as a family and really like being able to be all together instead of separated in two separate hotel rooms - but we loved renting apartments. We liked having a kitchen to fix breakfast and have wine and cheese in the afternoon, having the ability to do laundry (that was a huge benefit!), having the extra space, and we found it much much cheaper than two hotel rooms. Also, it makes us feel a little like we are living there, which we like.

We looked at Spain Select and their apartments looked incredible! I wanted to rent one of them, but we had trouble finding one with two showers - which we needed with two older teenage daughters! We looked at apartments with pools and would have loved one, but the dates didn't work for us. We finally rented HomeAway # 1177097. It was direct through the owner, and managed by the owner's sister (who lives in Seville) which was a bit less professional than some others we had rented that are managed by a company, and there were some personal items of the owner's in the apartment (even in the refrigerator!), which we found a bit odd. Also, the sister's English was not as good as the owner's - I was glad I had Spanish speaking DD to communicate with her. That was the only apartment we rented for which we had that issue. But the apartment was extremely well located - right off the Plaza de San Francisco - and very comfortable, with good AC. My DDs said it was their favorite of the trip. My only complaint was no usable outdoor space. I like to sit outside with my coffee in the morning!

I agree that AC is key, and renting an apartment is less convenient at check in/out than a hotel. I also agree that you can walk everywhere in Seville, and we did, but we liked being centrally located. Some things are a bit far away from each other. All the apartments we rented said on the website that there would be a charge for late check in or early check out, but none actually charged, even though we sometimes arrived pretty late in the evening. We just stayed in touch by cell phone and they were all very accommodating.

We rented through veoapartments in Granada. You saw my description in my trip report of how that apartment was stocked and supplied. A little sparse, but very nice and professional staff.

I'm trying to get back to finishing my trip report, and will write about Seville!

Hi there:
Just wanted to chime in on Seville.-it was one of our favorite cities in Spain. Our favorite tapas restaurant of the trip was probably in Sevilla called Eslava:


http://www.espacioeslava.com/en

They also now rent apartments so you could consider those. The neighborhood is great much more "local" than tourist but not too far from the center. The bus system in Seville is great-basically runs around the center of town mostly in a circle line.

We found finding reasonably priced rooms in Seville harder than in other cities. We were a couple traveling with my (single) sister so usually we were were looking for 2 rooms but in Seville that was pricey. So we ended up finding a duplex room in the Eurostars Regina that worked our well for us-it has a lovely interior staircase with a lower level room and an upper level room and lovely terrace. They call it a Duplex Quadruple Room and you can see photos best on booking.com http://preview.tinyurl.com/m76ql3n

Booking shows it starting at $108 per night, so a reasonable alternative to an apartment.

Great information, CGS & jpie! It's very helpful.

I'm more inclined now to rent an apartment in Seville as so many of you have found it to work very well and easily. The interesting thing about Seville is the huge number of apartments that are available througgh airbnb, while there are only 5 1-bedroom apts through Spain Select but veoapartments has a large selection. Perhaps veoapartment is the way to go; prices are very reasonable, too.

By the way, about that desired pool -- most hotels don't have one either, including the lovely and popular Hotel Amadeus.

Thanks all! You've given me confidence to try at least one stay in an apartment during the trip!

Indeed no pool at the Amadeus. They do have a whirlpool on their rooftop terrace. We didn't use the whirlpool but we very much enjoyed the rooftop terrace for our after dinner drinks.

Oops, forgot to mention ... not only for our after dinner drinks but also for breakfast.

Myriam,
Thanks for the info - I forgot about that whirlpool. If I go the hotel route, the Amadeus is definitely my top choice. Still early to make a decision.

Paule