Has anyone had any bad experiences or give some advice when using the Bancotel checks in Spain? I just made reservations at the Alfonso XIII in Seville when they were showing totally booked everywhere else! They seem to be a great deal.

jparis,
For the 5 star Alfonso XIII, 3 Bancotel checks (150 euros) per night (plus you pay the 7% vat) for a double is a great deal. But I always double check the Westin for their own special promotional or weekend rates for the Alfonso XIII to make sure they're not comparable. I'm assuming you booked on the www.bancotel.com site and are planning to pick up your coupon books in Spain or that you're paying the extra fee to have them sent to you. And will you be able to use all the Bancotel coupons that you buy? If you have some left over and aren't able to use them in Spain or elsewhere around the world before they expire, this does negates the great savings. Just checking....

Maribel:
First, let me thank you (and everyone else on this site, for that matter) for all your input and help. I did check the website and not only did they not have any specials, they said no room was available!! that's why I am so shocked that this really worked. (Do they give you rooms in the basement or something??)

I realized exactly what you are talking about with the book and coupons, especially since I am travelling with my children and I will be taking two rooms every night of the trip. That was 12 coupons right there! So, I decided to look at the other hotels available for my trip, and I decided to change to Bancotel for most of them. Once I could not get into the Parador in Granada, or the Alhambra Palace, I decided to just take a hotel in the town. And, once I figured out what hotel I would "settle" for and how many coupons I would need for when I will travel(mid March), the trip (Finally!) came together. The comments on the different threads about hotels did allow me to make some quick decisions and grab the reservations.
(What's great is that you can make the reservations before you buy the coupons, and you can change it at any time). So, by buying 20 coupons (4 books) I will not pay any delivery fee and will be able to get it delivered to me, which I prefer.

Have you ever had a problem using them at any hotel?

So, after all, our trip looks like this:

Day 1: Leave for Madrid
Day 2: Arrive Madrid (will probably book Carlos V hotel, which I know you don't like, but I was there in January and the rate was reasonable and the hotel was very clean)
Day 3: Day trip to Toledo
Day 4: AVE train to Seville- Hotel Westin Alfonso XII - 12 coupons for 2 rooms for two nights - great deal!
Day 5: Seville
Day 6: Seville to Granada by either bus or train - hotel is Melia Granada- 2 nights 2 rooms 4 coupons
Day 7: Granada
Day 8: Granda to Madrid (probably by plane - cost for four of us was 134 euro)
Day 9: Madrid (hotel is Crowne Plaza 2 rooms, 4 coupons)
Day 10: Madrid back to NY

I promise to write a long and detailed trip report when I get back so I can possibly help someone as everyone has been such a great help to me.

Hi jparis,
I see you've really done your homework and carefuly calibrations to make the bancotel program work for you! The savings with bancotel are great, but as you know, to reap those maximum savings, it does require some really good planning, flexibility and "settling" for hotels which may not have been on the top of your wish list, which you clearly have done.
For a long trip of ours using bancotel, I spend hrs. and hrs. trying to work things out just so, so that I don't have any leftover coupons, so that it comes out just right. It's tricky isn't it?

Since your trip isn't until March, it just might be that it's just plain too early to book on westin.com. This has happended to me several times on certain chain's web sites when planning more than 4 months in advance. The web site says there's no room at the inn when the hotel actually isn't fully booked at all. Unless there's a big convention at the Alfonso XIII, I'll bet this is the case, because your trip doesn't coincide with Holy Week or Feria de Sevilla next spring. At any rate, the Starwood wkd. rate probably can't beat the 150 euro bancotel rate anyway.
I've never been given a room in the basement using bancotel coupons, which is what you might expect, right? For our favorite city hotels participating in the program, I've even reconfirmed the reservation directly with the hotel itself and have requested a particularly room number or floor, and my requested has been honored when it's been available.

So go for it. And kudos to you for finding such a low air fare for your family from Granada back to Madrid. As you know from your reseach, the airfare on that route can fluctuate wildly!

Maribel:
I am really glad that I wrote out my itinerary in the last posting, because I realized that I am missed a night of booking a hotel!! (If you look at my night that I return from Granada, I have no hotel booked there!). So, I guess even the best laid plans....I guess I have 2 choices - pay for that night at the Crowne Plaza (found rate of $179 per night per room) or take the 4 coupons I was going to use in Granada for the Melia and use it in Madrid and pay for the hotel in Granada. However, I am having a very hard time finding rooms available. Do you have a website I can try? (I even tried octopus.com?? but there are only 2-3 star hotels). Am I better off calling the hotels I would like to stay at (Alhambra Palace, Guadalupe).
Also, when you confirmed your reservations with the hotels that took the Bancotel checks, did you call them directly or did you write them?

Thanks so much for all your help again.

hi jparis,
Oops! I'm glad you wrote it out too. I didn't even notice you had no hotel booked for that night in Madrid after your flight! Yes, I'd call the hotels directly. When I reconfirm with the hotels the bookings I've made with bancotel, I either call them or email them. I'd call or email the Granada Parador directly and also the Alhambra Palace. The Parador's rates now are 207,36 double, quite steep, particularly since you need 2 rooms. The Alhambra Palace can be booked with some discount internet sites like asiatravel, so you might want to "google" it to see what you come up with. The Alhambra Palace web site is
www.h-alhambrapalace.es
Or www.travel-in-spain.com has a very reasonable 132 euro rate at the really nice AC Palacio de Santa Paula downtown in Granada. A very nice place. Or www.sol-melia.com will have the rates for the downtown Melia Granada, although the AC Palacio de Santa Paula is a nicer, spiffier, newer hotel.

Good luck!

correction! That should be www.solmelia.com

Maribel - you are amazing!
I actually was going to book that lovely hotel in Granada when I woke up this morning! (Of course, that was after I drove myself crazy thinking that we should drop Granada and fly to Barcelona instad!!). I found 175 euro rate, but the rate you found was better. Thanks for saving me all that money!! I will take the points, change my resesrvation at the Crowne Plaza for two nights (even though the "better deal" is to use the 4 points for 2 nights in Granada rather than 1 night in Madrid) and stay at that lovely hotel.
(Of course, I am still having thoughts about Barcelona...)

Congratulations on getting into the Alfonso XIII in Seville. It was fully booked when we visited Seville last year. Bancotel checks are great. We purchased them upon arrival in Spain..used them in several hotels.. great deal.We had (1) extra and discovered individual Bancotel checks are highly sought after since they are only sold (5) in a book. We sold it for $50.00, after mentioning on a travel forum we had an extra one left over, and we could have sold more if we had them..