I keep hearing Spain is cheap but prices don't bear this statement out
 

I have to travel on a budget. We are going to Spain in the spring next year and i am looking for places in Sevilla and Barcelona and am finding that hotel rooms in these places are $130-$140 and this is for a 2** <BR>place. This seems really expensive to me.<BR>I stayed in Italy for less than that. Do you have to pay these prices for a decent hotel room in these 2 citys?

<BR><BR>Maybe the people you're hearing this from:<BR><BR>. haven't been to Spain in a while<BR><BR>. don't visit large cities<BR><BR>. visit large cities but stay in cheaper places<BR><BR>As Europe's standard of living has increased vis-a-vis the U.S., so has its prices. <BR><BR>I paid less than $100 for a perfectly decent--to me--hotel room in Barcelona. But I don't think it was in a 2-star hotel either.

I'm going to Sevilla in March, and the hotel I'm staying at is about $70. (Hotel Simon) In my research, there are a lot of places that are in that same price range. I don't know anything about Barcelona because I've never been there. But I have found that Sevilla is more expensive than Madrid. But still much cheaper than what you've found. I have been using Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, and Time Out books. Plus the web site sol.com has a lot of listings for Sevilla as well.

Hi<BR><BR>centre of NYC can be pricey ?<BR><BR>Best solution for Barcelona is to stay in an out of season beach resort and go in by train. Check out somewhere like Mataro.<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR>

<BR>Sevilla is quite cheaper than Madrid and Barcelona, just compare the rates on the same category of hotels in the same website. It´s like comparing hotel prices in San Antonio with those of L.A. and New York.<BR><BR>Also, Madrid hotels raise their rates each time there is a convention in town -about twice a month, pretty much- and Seville doesn´t.<BR><BR>Could it be you are checking rates for April 13 thru 19 ( Semana Santa )and April 28 thru May 3 ( April´s Fair ) ?<BR>In that case, these are major worlwide renowned events and of course the hotels charge peak season rates and require minimum stays. Try getting a hotel in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and we´ll see how cheap it is...<BR><BR>If those are not the dates you are considering, than the 2 star hotel in Seville is simply overcharging, look for another one. I haven´t been to Barcelona, but it still sounds a bit too high a price for a 2 star even there.<BR><BR>

In Seville, you might try the Casas de la Juder&iacute;a located right in the Barrio de Santa Cruz. It is a three star hotel with a great location and will probably cost you about 100 euro per night, if not less.<BR><BR>M

<BR>Casas de la Juderia is a 3 star, but it has the decor and services of a 4 star, and the prices are a bit higher than most 3 star properties in town. For the spring -other than peak season dates- their rate is 129 Euros+7% tax for a double.

The one in Barcelona I checked was Meson Castilla -2* for 129euros. Juderia is about the same. Im not going during a festival time. The Citadines Hotel is 125 euro. I just thought I could get by in these 2 places for around 80 euro but I'm not sure. I have looked at hostal Grau and Levante but don't know how &quot;basic&quot; they are.Dont mind basic but also don't want to share a bathroom. Would like to know where xxxx stayed in Barcelona at $100?

Yeah Barcelona hotels aren't &quot;cheap&quot;. But everything depends on location obviously.<BR><BR>The only way to get a cheap room in Barcelona is priceline. It's the best bang for your buck. Expedia &amp; Travelocity are expensive.

<BR><BR>In Seville try the Hotels Alcazar and Becquer. Both are 3 star, nice properties, very central and they go for about 100$ on Expedia.com, probably lower on hotelclub.net or abahotels.com if you don´t mind prepaying on the internet, as opposed to just using your card to guarantee.<BR><BR>Also check Bancotel.com, they should have good rates for those dates.<BR><BR>Good luck !

thanks - olga, do you have any similar recommendations for Barcelona?

<BR>Sorry, I´ve never been, but the same websites I mentioned are good for Barcelona, too.<BR>Good luck !

I have had friends and clients stay in SITGES, lovely beach resort with excellent train connections to BCA if you are going to be there a few days.<BR>They were able to get 3-4 star hotels with bancotel for $50 a night for a double, no breakfast. Depends on if you have that much time to deal with out of city hotel.

We just returned from Spain last week and stayed at Hotel Amadeus (Sevilla) in the Barrio area. Lots of nice tapas bars in the area and wonderful architecture. We stayed at Hotel Amadeus (www.hotelamadeussevilla.com) for 76 euros a nite. Check out thie pictures of various rooms on their website. We stayed in the 3rd room at the top row on the group of photos on their website (the atlantico, room 101) The bed was nice and firm, a queen I believe, not two twins pushed together. It had a large bathroom, french doors, and we were very pleased with it. The mother-daughter team that run the hotel provide great service. The hotel has lots of antique furnishings with a patio on the roof, with chairs and tables. It's a nice place to have a glass of wine rooftop, with a great view of the Giralda. Check it out. I think you will be pleased. Hope this helps.

Where are you getting the prices for your rooms? Are you using a travel agent? If so, they're getting a great commission.<BR><BR>The MOST I've ever paid for a room is $115 and that was in Sevilla and was a splurge, Casas de Juderia. Usually I'm able to find room easily in the 50-75euro range - and these are nice places, not seedy dumps.<BR><BR>Spain is a paradise for bargain hunters. Food is great and inexpensive along with hotels and transportation. I went to Italy in 2000 and it is less expensive.<BR>

Paula..Thank you! exactly what i'm looking for.But I have tried several times to get onto the Hotel Amadeus site but it just keeps flashing &quot;loading&quot; and never brings anything up-is there a secret to getting on their site?<BR>And Cathy M. would really like some of your suggestions for Barcelona. That's where i'm stuck right now. And the expensive prices are posted on the web not thru a travel agent.

I've stayed in 2 places in Barcelona, the Hotel Turin and the Regencia Colon.<BR><BR>The Hotel Turin has a website: www.hotelturin.com<BR>I had a double and it was a large room. I paid 105euros. The location is right off the Ramblas near the Plaza Catalunya. It's modern, nothing extra special, but the location is good and price is OK.<BR><BR>I also stayed a couple of nights at the Regencia Colon. I paid 90 euros for a single. I believe doubles are less than $110, depending on when you're visiting. The location was in the gothic quarter, just across from the cathedral. I preferred staying in the gothic quarter versus the Ramblas. The hotel was very nice.<BR><BR>I do alot of my reseach using various guidebooks, and also hotelsearch.com. <BR>They don't charge a commission on this site. If they don't have a weblink to a particular hotel on hotelsearch.com I use a search engine and usually find the website for a hotel directly.<BR><BR>There are numerous Barcelona hotels in hotelsearch.com that are less than 100 euros.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.

ihavetobe,<BR>About Barcelona:<BR><BR>While I don't normally recommend the Barri Gotic as an area to stay in Barcelona, I've had to rethink that very seriously, as I found in July a brand new, very smart looking, &quot;very snazzy for the price&quot; hotel near the young, hip and lively El Born area (kind of Bcn's answer to SoHo or Notting Hill) that I really want to try someday.<BR>It's called the &quot;Banys Orientals&quot;, just opened in the spring (so new they didn't have their brochures printed yet), located on Argentaria street next door to my favorite Barri Gotic restaurant, the terrific &quot;Senyor Parellada&quot; (it's actually part of and open to the restaurant, as it belongs to the same family, a family of famous restaurateurs of long standing, owners of the famed Fonda Europa in Granollers). Argentaria street is well traversed day and night so the area is safe, and the rates for very snappy rooms with that catalan &quot;disseny&quot;, minimalist look are very reasonable: 84 euros double, 82 single (91 and 87 in high season), , plus 9 euros for brk. It was recently recommended in a British travel mag (either Food and Travel or the British Conde Nast Traveller-can't remember)<BR>Take a look at www.hotelbanysorientals.com<BR><BR>You don't need to stay outside of Bcn to find a decent place for around 100 euros. As Cathy M recommends, there's also the dependable Regencia Colon which is just around the corner from the 4 star Hotel Colon. <BR>At times you can even find low rates on www.hotelbook.com, utell.com or Travelocity for the plush, very upscale Hotel Balmes in Barcelona's tony Eixample district. Just saw a 103 euro rate there for Nov. 25. Rates at the Balmes fluctuate wildly for some reason.<BR><BR>As for Seville, as Olga has told you, you have several very nice 3 star options in the 100 euro range (just email the Amadeus), plus some 2 stars well under that, like the Sim&oacute;n and Hoster&iacute;a del Laurel.<BR>It requires some research and knowing where to look, but hotel bargains in Spain abound.

ihavetobe,<BR> I just checked out the Amadeus site and all I can say is that one the little links appaer beside the cello, just click rates or rooms. Tons of pics and lots of info. I have noticed that sometimes with the Spain websites certain hours are better. (don't know if it has anything to do with it but they are 6 hours ahead of us EST)

Just can't seem to get into the Hotel Amadeus site! I click on the &quot;English&quot; box and then the &quot;loading&quot; keeps flashing for ages...can you give me their e-mail address and I will e-mail them with my dates? Many thanks.

On the Amadeus site, there's a link to sending an email on the left side, right below the cello and the phone/fax numbers. At any rate, here's the address:<BR>email:<BR>hotelamadeussevilla@hotelama deussevilla.com

Don't know what i'm doing wrong but when i go into www.hotelamadeussevilla.com I get the main page with the cello but nothing under that except two boxes - one for english and one for spanish. When I hit the english icon, it just keeps &quot;loading&quot; and &quot;loading&quot;. maybe I'm not in the right site? Anywys thanks Maribel for the e-mail. I'll write them. But sure would have liked to see those pictures!

ihavetobe,<BR>That's very strange! Sorry you can't see the lovely pictures and enjoy the music, but keep trying! They respond fairly quickly to their email. I'm really looking forward to staying there in late April.

I agree with you you Maribel. Banys Orientals is a very good option. They have a nice website and the location is fantastic.<BR>I heard that the rooms are a bit small, but at least they decorated it with an idea, tastefull and not so corporate than most other hotels.<BR><BR>Mentioned prices are without IVA, but still quiet good for this location-quality

when we stayed at the Granvia hotel in Barcelona, the base room rate was 100 euros per night for a large double with modern bath--tax was 7%/breakfasts were eight euros and well worth it. The best part was the location-just around the corner from the Plaza Catalunya with the tourist office.shopping and all the travel connections as well as a central location in a good restaurant area. <BR>However, good spanish restaurants are not cheap--the day of three dolllar entrees and one dollar wine are gone forever. please do not confuse tapas with a restaurant meal--different things. You can skimp on your food costs and keep up your energy but a good bed for the night keeps you going from day to day.<BR>please do not avoid Barcelona--it is marvelous. Start with the www.bcn.es site for more information and have a very good time.

ihavetobe,<BR>I agree with Paul that the character filled 3 star Hotel Gran Via has a great *overall* location near the Placa de Catalunya since it's handy to the Moderniste architecture of the Eixample, the Ramblas, the Barri Gotic and from the P de C you can catch the metro, the Aerobus and the handy Bus Turistic for easy sightseeing. Plese consider it as well. It has many loyal fans on the forum.<BR>I mentioned the Banys Orientals because it's new, hip and for a &quot;designer boutique&quot; type of hotel, very low priced, but it would appeal most to younger travelers who would enjoy staying in the heart of the trendy, in-vogue, lively El Born district where it seems there's a hip tapas bar, dance club, restaurant, art gallery or cutting edge fashion boutique opening every minute (particularly around the Santa Maria church, the old Mercat and Comerc street) during its rapid-fire gentrification process. But El Born is &quot;funky-trendy-cool-happening-new wave&quot;, a work in progress, and may not appeal to everyone<BR>And the mag article recommending the Banys Orientals was 'Savoring Bcn&quot; in the spring issue of Vogue Entertainment and Travel. Just found it.

In Seville try hotel alcantara (www.hotelalcantara.com) it is in a good location and the hotel is new as of this spring. The rooms aren't plush as you will see on their website but like I said everything is new and clean. I think it is $80 for a double.

oops, that is www.hotelalcantara.net

Spain is no longer the bargain it used to be. However, it is easy to travel there on a budget IF you choose hostals over hotels, eat in local restaurants, etc. I would HIGHLY recommend buying a copy of Rick Steeves book on Spain and follow his suggestions. Many of the cheaper hotels and hostals have email now, and you can contact them directly. For example, I will be in Sevilla in April, and will be paying about $45 for a double room, nice location. You can do as well in Madrid.

Maribel and Olga, I can't believe that after all of the help you gave me with picking hotels for my trip in March, that neither of you had previously mentioned the Casa de la Juderia in Seville and the Banys Orientals in Barcelona.<BR><BR>Well, I made reservations at both hotels today (by telephone), as neither has email. I got a rate of 101.3 Euro at the Juderia for a double room and a rate of 70 Euro per night at the Banys Orientals for a double room for the end of March.<BR><BR>Both hotels confirmed the reservations by fax today. Just a note, the Juderia needs a credit card number to hold the room, which had to be done by fax (they don't accept the information over the telephone), and the Banys Orientals did not require a credit card to hold the room.<BR><BR>Now I need to cancel my Bancotel reservations at the Alfonso Westin XIII in Seville and the Ritz in Barcelona. <BR><BR>Thanks so much, you saved me 420 Euro.<BR><BR>I'll be sure to go to the restaurants you recommended.

Oops, my math was off -- you saved me 520 Euro. Now, I won't mind having to pay Iberia 207 Euro for the flight from Granada to Barcelona.

Leslie,<BR>Yeah! Savings are good. <BR>The reason I didn't mention the Banys Orientals to you when we first emailed, is that I hadn't discovered it yet. Just opened, and I got a peek in July. Also the Juderia I didn't mention because I thought you were going the Bancotel route the whole way. Please let us know how you like the Banys Orientals. That's a very good rate, BTW, for the Juderia. It's 208 plus vat during Holy Week and Feria.<BR><BR>Speaking of Rick Steves:<BR>In his new '03 guide, he lists both the new Alcantara and the Amadeus, so they're going to become very &quot;discovered&quot; and popular now, thus harder to book.

Maribel, I could have booked single rooms at both hotels and saved myself another 20 Euro per night, but I thought that I might get nicer rooms if I booked double rooms. Decided to splurge a little bit since I was saving so much more anyway.<BR><BR>I'll give you my reviews when I get back. Can't believe the trip is so quickly approaching. The middle of March will be here very soon.<BR><BR>I am still using Bancotel vouchers for Granada. I actually have the 2 I need, and am staying at the Melia Granada. Buying spares has been an adventure.

Hi Leslie:<BR><BR>Did you negotiate on the rate for the Banys Orientals? The website says 85 for a double. Also, you have a website for the Sevilla hotel? I did a search, but got too many options on Yahoo.<BR><BR>Thanks all, this is a very informative post. I'm starting up my homework again for my trip, and hotels are top priority!

Leslie,<BR>When I travel solo in Spain and when staying more than 1 night, I always book a double room at the single occupancy rate. You do get a much nicer room, as the singles in Spanish hotels can be Lilliputian.

Mina, I had expected to pay 85 Euro per night at the Banys Orientals. However, when I got the fax confirmation it said 70 Euro per night for a double room, plus the 7% IVA. I was just as surprised as you are. I don't know if I got a discount because of my dates, or because I am staying 4 nights - I arrive on a Wednesday and depart on Sunday. I know that I did say a double room for single use.<BR><BR>For the Juderia, I used MSN as a search engine. The fax number is 011 34 954 422 170 (I've included all of the numbers when calling from the US). I couldn't find the telephone and fax numbers on the website, but I did find it in a review that I read somewhere today. If you're going to send a fax, the reservation manager's name is Veronica Martin.

Mina, here's the website, but the telephone number isn't there. I have the telephone number written down on a pad in my office, I'll get it for you tomorrow.<BR><BR>http://www.sol.com/hotel/casas-juderia/body.htm

Juderia's phone:<BR>(011 34) 95 441 51 50<BR>email: [email protected]

Thank you Leslie and Maribel! :)

<BR>For those of you trying to find out information about Las Casas de la Juderia, that is not their website in www.sol.com, that is just a listing in a hotel guide, that´s why the details were incomplete.<BR>Look at their website at www.casasypalacios.com , everything is there. But do not use the reservation form, it acts up every so often and gets to the hotel with incomplete information. Better send a regular e-mail inquiry or fax.<BR>