Hotels and stuff in Spain
 

My wife and I are going to Spain mid February. We are landing in Madrid and thinking about renting a car and going to Granada for 2 days, 2or 3 days in or near Malaga, Seville for 3 days and then back to Madrid for 4 days before we fly out. We have 12 days to travel in Spain and, aside from Madrid, stay south for better weather. We will have a car from Madrid throughout and then turn it in when we return to Madrid for our 4 day stay at the end.
Need suggestions on EVERYTHING - hotels from 80 USD to 140 USD, sights, mid range restaurants or bars. It is my wife's first time in Spain and I have never been to southern Spain.
We appreciate any help - thanks.

Well southern Spain will be warmer in Feb - but not beach warm - so not sure thre will be much to do in Malaga. I would focus on Seville, Cordoba and Granada for the sightseing. Do be aware that is you head for the mountains it will be old (as in snow) and Madrid is also on a high plateau and has a real winter (though not like New England).

you'll get a lot of info if you go to Fodor's Spain.

Be sure to sign up at SolMelia.com for their hotel deals. This may provide you with good deals all through Spain, although the availability is never a sure thing. SolMelia usually does not offer their deals until 3 months in advance, though (maybe others have had a different experience).

I recently stayed at two places in Madrid.

Hotel Carlton - near Museo Reina Sofia, but not in the thick of things. A nice enough hotel. Supposed to be 4*, but you would probably think it more like 3.5*. They have an 80-Euro deal for a double room with breakfast. Did not notice any noise issues.

Hostal Gran Duque - My room at this 2* hostal was fine. The atmosphere and setup is much more informal. The rates are quite low. This is a very central location. I did not have a room with street noise, but it is a possibility.

Previously I stayed at the Tryp Cibeles (in the SolMelia family), which is a very nice hotel in a convenient location.

Take a look at www.hotelscombined.com for Spain, as you may notice some great deals.

www.Bookings.com may find some last minute bargains.
I can confirm that you MAY find Spain colder that you think at that time of the year.

Plus, you have to be sure that the places you stay will have heat. This shouldn't be a problem at 3* hotels and above, but not all cheaper places have heat or turn it on all the time, based on a friend's experience with Spain in the winter.

A few ideas:

An inexpensive to mid-range wine bar in Seville (the pedestrian area of Barrio Santa Cruz) with STELLAR tapas (and amazing wines by glass):
http://www.vineriasantelmo.com/

Very nice Seville hotel - steps from the main cathedral:
www.hotelalminar.com
Low season (Feb.) is 110€/night.

Here are two trip reports I wrote from trips to Spain. I did Madrid on one, and the other areas you mention in the other. I reviewed my hotels which were in your price range.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tral-spain.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...p-report-1.cfm

Keep it coming - great stuff!! My wife gets a week off every Feb and we have been to both DC and NYC so we know cold and are more interested in sights than beach time.

Thanks again -

www.maribelsguides.com are a "must read" if you haven't already.

Other hotels to look up in Seville: Hotel Amadeus, Hotel Alcantara, Hotel Un Patio en Santa Cruz (twin rooms are better here), Hotel Maestranza (family run, small and central). There should be some good deals in February as mentioned above. Some of the 4 stars which are central, maybe less charming but with good amenities: Hotel Petit Palace Santa Ana, Hotel Petit Palace Santa Cruz, Hotel Inglaterra. They go as low as 85 Euros a night in low season.

We were pleased with these hotels:

Madrid: Hostal Triana, @ Calle de la Salud 13. It is basic but well located and clean.

Granada: Hotel Anacapri @ Calle Joaquin Costa 7. This was our very favorite hotel stay in Spain. Lovely lobby and great breakfast (extra $ unless you show a Rick Steves Spain guidebook), English speaking front desk clerks.

Seville: Hotel Alcantara @ Ximenez de Enciso 28 (mentioned above by exploresville). Next door to a great flamenco venue.

Our trip to Spain was in December and we really lucked out with terrific weather in southern Spain. Because we knew it would not be beach weather, we chose not to visit the coast, concentrating instead on cities we could easily reach by public transportation. You might consider dropping Malaga and adding what I think is a such a lovely Spanish town: Segovia. It might be cold but is well worth more than a day trip.

Please note: even though we had relatively mild weather, it was rather cool/cold at night. The hotels did have heat, but none of them kept the rooms toasty. So I was very glad I had brought along my silky long underwear for sleeping.

Suggestions for sites to see coming up!

Favorite things to see/do:

Madrid - Prado, Retiro Park, Plaza Mayor, Palacio Royale. One sight we really enjoyed that isn't as popular as many is Templo de Debod and is near the Palacio Royale. One place I really wanted to visit, but it was under renovation is San Migel Market.

Granada - Royal Chapel, Alcaiceria shopping area, Alhambra (don't miss), San Nicolas viewpoint, Albaizin (visit a tea house).

Seville - Cathedral, Giralda Bell Tower, flamenco performance at Casa de la Memoria. Wanted to visit, but ran out of time - Italica (day trip).

ENJOY!

Full info about Madrid:
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do

Phillydog

Try www.paradores.com ........The paradores are lovely and vary in historical significance ... some are old castles, some more modern ... interesting places to stay aside from the run of the mill hotels. I beleive there is one is most of the cities you have mentioned.

www.parador.es also