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>