Hello fellow Fodorites. I am back to ask for advice on Granada hotels after husband nixed the Parador de Granada due to the very steep room prices. We are now considering the Fontecruz Granada, Casa Morisca, and the Alahambra Palace Hotel.
Thoughts on these three regarding location, rooms, etc. We only have one and a half days in Granada. Most of the full day will probably be taken with the tour of Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens. Better to stay near the Palace or in the city?
Thanks for your help!

A long time ago we stayed at the Hostal America, which is right next to the parador. It was cheap and very convenient, but the passage of 25 years may have changed a lot of things, including its relative cost.

Granada Parador, Santiago de Compostela and San Marcos-Leon are the most expensive of the chain, and do not go on budget, that I recall.

We stayed at the Alhambra Palace (which IMHO wasn;t much less than the Parador - the latter was full) and has a very good location for the Alhambra. You have to walk down a hill into the center of town - but it's not far.

yet again, I am going to recommend the hotel guadelupe, right opposite the alhambra. here's the link:

http://www.hotelguadalupe.es/

very clean, very convenient, and very reasonable.

you can get a bus down to the town from right outside the alhambra ticket office, and even better, you can get it back up again from the square at the bottom. i see that they are offering double rooms from €55 to €99, depending on season. Breakfast was extra, but very nice, and we enjoyed the dinner we had there the night we did the evening tour of the alhambra [don't miss it!]

as you will be spening so much of your time relatively speaking at the alhambra, you are probably better off staying nearby. this is what we did, and it was fine.

We stayed at Hotel America last May and liked it. Our room overlooked the courtyard where breakfast is served in good weather. The location is good( the area is very pretty with lots of trees) and buses are convenient to get down to the city. The hotel is not real cheap-our room was $152 per night with the first night paid in advance. Beds were comfortable and bathroom good. Would stay there again.

I agree with nini. The Hotel America is a nice small B&B and it is next store to the Parador. Due to the exchange rate, I think that our room was about $170.00 per night. Breakfast was included. We ate a light supper on each of the two nights that we were there in the lounge outside of the restaurant at the parador. I was too tired to eat a big dinner so the lounge was fine.

One warning, though-the Hotel America has a winding staircase that could be treacherous for those who are not sure-footed or
whose eyesight is not the best. Pat

I can recommend the Hotel Casa del Capital Nazari, a former reinnassance palace built in 1503. Superb location and great rates. We paid only 80e for a double room and that included breakfast. Check out its Trip Advisor reviews.

http://www.hotelcasacapitel.com/ingles/index.html

We enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Anacapri very much. You're a 2-minute walk from the stop for the shuttle bus that takes you to the Alhambra.

It would really be helpful on these threads if you were to tell us whether or not you simply have to be "up there" where the Parador and Alhambnra entrances are located OR you are willing to stay a bit further away.

I know this great place in Madrid and it only takes a few hours to get to Granada....seriously, I am sorry your husband nixed the Parador idea..try to have dinner there anyway.

I also would like to stay at the Parador in late March but it seems to be booked already. Any other recommendations for hotels within walking distance of the Alhambra? Thx

The Granada Parador is the most popular of ALL the paradors; it routinely books up a year in advance (and for good reason IMO). The America is within walking distance

There seem to be several others that are within walking distance(for us, that would be less than a mile) so would like to find something with some character/ atomsphere and good rooms/service. Thx

Keep checking in with the parador in Granada for cancellations. We were finally able to get a room a week in advance of our arrival.

Thanks, I will.

Stayed at the Alhambra Palace. Had an excellent room, very nice hotel!

Another comment on the Anacapri. The location is very good but the hotel is borderline acceptable. I wouldn't stay there again.

We are looking for something nice, maybe 4star, within walking distance of the Alhambra. Seville was easy but Granada seems to be a bit more spread out?

We were able to get reservations at the Parador in Granada by changing our dates around and booking for a Sunday night. With 2 rooms, it was really pricey. I'm still not sure if it was worth it, but it was possibly one of our last trips as a family so we did it. If it was just me and DH, I'd look for another alternative.

Interesting--we thought the Anacapri was one of the nicest hotels we've stayed in! Our room was modern, spacious, and clean--and the location ideal. Staff members were very helpful and polite.