Just doing a quick favour for a friend but I don't want to spend ages at it.

She's going to Barcelona and Madrid in April/May and has just booked the Hotel Gran-Ducat in Barcelona, but isn't in love with it. No hotel in Madrid yet. Her SO prefers hotels to apartments.

Would you please give me some suggestions for her? She'll be happy to look up the websites and reviews, if she just has some names. She's hoping to stay around the 100E mark, and would like nice, clean hotels in central, safe locations.

Thanks for your help, as always.

i like www.gtahotels.com.

be sure to put in SINGLE if there is only one person. can really change the price at times.

lin,
That's a great website -- thank you so much! She'll love it!

She's a double, by the way, but the prices look good.

Palacio San Martin in Madrid. Very nice, fabulous location between Sol and Plaza Mayor but on quiet square shared with active convent/museum.

she can post back her with her favorite choices so we can guide her to best neighborhood, etc.

sometimes the hotels are not as close to described monuments as one thinks.

and the last time i walked past palacio san martin ..i was not impressed with the late night atmosphere.

I'm sorry to hear that, we've really enjoyed it there but it's been a year.

our car was parked in the underground there, and i don´t quite remember what it was.. whether there was a crowd of noisy youth, or a dirty atmosphere.. but i told my husband i had sent a acquaintance to that hotel and wondered if she had felt comfortable at night.

Hi

In Madrid maybe - http://www.room-matehotels.com. Very funky. Or for slightly more http://www.hotelvinccisoho.com. I put in some "dummy dates" and got €111 a night.

In Barcelona - http://www.hotelbanysorientals.com.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone -- this is great and very much appreciated.

check out the H10 chain. nice properties, hip, upscale, large compared to most european hotel standards. Their website lists all the spain properties, has good photos and you can book online.

We also stayed at the Palacio San Martin in 2004, and I liked it a lot. There were some young people lounging nearby (typical purple-hair types), but they didn't bother us. Too bad if they are scaring off some here, because the hotel is very nice, conveniently located, and reasonably priced.

excellent! thanks! I'll pass the info along.

Last March I stayed at Hotel Continental in Barcelona (www.hotelcontinental.com) and liked it alot. It's right on Las Ramblas but was not too noisy.

In Barcelona, in 2004, we stayed at the Regencia Colon Hotel, just across the street from the Hotel Colon, and considerably cheaper at that time compared to the Hotel Colon. Great location. If you can get room #261, it comes with a wonderful large terrace and a large bathroom with decorative tiling. I'd definitely stay there again. We had dinner at the Hotel Colon's restaurant and really liked it.

You can search by area on www.venere.com. Several hostals get good reviews.
www.hostalpalacios.com
www.hostalopera.com
www.hostalgirona.com

I had a problem with one of the H10 hotels in Salou. DCC (dynamic currency conversion).

Also check www.maribelsguides.com
and www.madridman.com for both cities.

I will stay in Hotel Plaza Mayor in Madrid this coming September> I chose this hotel based on its good reviews from this forum.
http://www.h-plazamayor.com/

Thanks for your help, everyone. I appreciate your quick and thorough responses.

we had a lot of trouble deciding on a hotel in Madrid for a trip in February - too much choice!

in the end we plumped for the hotel opera, on the basis that we were likely to be spending more time up that end of town than the museum end - experience may prove us wrong, of course.
also we managed to get tickets for the opera one night we are there so it seemed convenient.

If your friend can wait til we come back [27th Feb] I'll post a trip report and let you/her know how we got on.

Best wishes, Ann

i have stayed once at the opera hotel . the room was very small but i had a good rate and it fit the bill for going to my favorite viewing spot, plaza de oriente, to see the royal palace lit up at night.

good location. there is also a café below the hotel still, i think.

We stayed at Hotel Continental in Barcelona and would not stay there again. However, there are apparently 2 hotels by the same name and one is supposed to be good (ours wasn't so great IMO). We have reservations for Banys Orientals based on reviews here and in Trip Adviser for a suite in April.