Anyone have a recent good experience in hotel in Barcelona or Madrid?
Not too expensive, but clean and in a good area near the action.

For Madrid, I recently stayed at Hotel Plaza Mayor. See my review (w/photos) on tripadivsor:
http://tinyurl.com/yvxn3t

http://www.h-plazamayor.com/index.english.html

We stayed at the Hotel Granados 83 in Barcelona in 2006 when it had just opened. Perfect position in the Eixample area, walking distance to wonderful shopping, restaurants and Gaudi architecture.
www.derbyhotels.es

Barcelone is my fav, i had just been raving abt AAA apartmnets etc in my other posts.. but if you have an ok budget, I would suggest Kilparri for you.
I stayed for a week with the guys at Kilparri over the Merce fetival, I have travelled all over the world and have stayed at some amazing places, but I have to say that the hospitality shown to me, and my all over Barcelona experience was one of the highlights of my travel life. Diego and the other staff showed me a side of Barcelona that you will not find in any travel guide, great little tapas and pinchos restaurants, local bars and nightclubs and of course the many great outdoor events associated with the festival. One of the staff Oscar is and ex pat Argentine that has lived in Barcelona for over 20 years and he speaks perfect english, and knows the city intimately. The rooms were not perfectly clean but the mattresses and pillows were excellent and when you are paying 15 euro a night to stay in the gothic quarter, you shouldn't expect the Ritz.
Now for the practical stuff its a block from Las Ramblas, there are hundreds of restaurants and bars nearby, there are also metro stations on Las Ramblas.
There are also many little deli's and supermarkets close by and a trip to the Gothic Quarter is not complete without meeting some of the locals in George Orwell Square. If you are after a real Catalan experience and not just a bed for the night then Kilparri is the place for you... I cannot recommend it highly enough.
As always, i would say, get a good deal from www.hosteltraveler.com

My experience is a little out of date, but I've stayed a few times in each of the Hotel Astoria (a 3* in Barcelona) and H10 Villa de la Reina in Madrid. The Astoria is part of the Spanish Derby chain (try googling derby.es) and is located in the Eixemple district (which is adjacent to and a little north of the historic centre) - about a 15 minute walk from the central square. Modern, simply stylish rooms about 110 euros last time I checked. The Villa de la Reina is about the same price and has about the same sensibility. If you can get a rate that includes breakfast, it's worth the price.