Hi everyone-
I have booked every hotel in our trip except for Granada. We will be driving to Granada from Seville and then onto Cordoba. some of the hotels say they have free parking, some have fee parking and some suggest parking in a paid lot outside of the town and taking a taxi in. Does anyone have any thoughts about where to stay in Granada?
Thanks very much,
Joanna

Yes - stay at the parador right next to the Alhambra. Or the Alhambra Palace - which is a couple of blocks away. Both have parking.

i realize i should have said we would like to spend 80-100 euros for the night.

granada is a bummer to park. however, i wouldn´t worry about the expense that much, but take which ever hotel appeals to you.

if you get lost finding it, ask a taxi to take you there as you follow in your car. the ones in the center will be close to some type of parking.

i would not base my selection by parking availibilty. there must be a hotel or two you are more attracted to, as it seems you have done some research.

try posting those options and seeing what repsonse you get.

joge,
Check the rates at the Hotel Guadalupe on the Alhambra hill. To reach it, you don't need to be caught at all in the very frustrating and vexying downtown Granada maze, It's truly a bear to drive down there. Staying on the Alhambra hill, you avoid all that and the parking hassle. You simply follow the Carretera de Circunvalación that takes you around the city and up to the Alhambra Hill, past the large Alhambra parking lots. You can park there or sometimes you can even find a spot on the street running in front of the Guadalupe itself.
To go downtown, just take the shuttle bus that runs departs from below the Alhambra ticket office and deposits you near the Plaza Nueva to visit the cathedral, the Royal Chapel and to do a tapas crawl. There's also a mini bus that takes you from the Alhambra hill to the Albaicín.

See
www.hotelguadalupe.es
(It does have an English page-just click on the Union Jack at the top)

And check those rates against the rates at www.venere.com plus
www.charming-hotels-spain.com

The Hotel America is next to the parador, and a good bit cheaper. I found it clean, comfortable and charming, and you can walk both to the Alhambra and to the parador for dinner.

I've stayed at the Hotel América just a quick walk from the Parador on the Alhambra Hill, but their tariffs may be a bit beyond your budget, but send them an email to make sure, after checking
www.hotelamericagranada.com
( I don't see rates on their web site, but I believe they run above 100 euros for a double)

Driving in Granada is a royal pain no matter what, but I think that a hotel with parking is a good idea, especially if you get a taxi to lead you there. The street maps they give out are very good, though.

thanks very much everyone, i'll check on those hotels you recommended.

Hi joge - maribel got in before me with her recommendation for the guadelope. We stayed there last november, and had a lovely bid room with full bath for E60 pre night. [that's the room, not per person]. we ate one night in their restaurant, which was good and they have a snack bar too. Don't forget to book your "slot" for the alhambra, and consider gonig twice - day time and evening, for the full experience. The night-time trip to the alhambra is something I'll remember forever.
Maribel's directions of how to get there are good too. there is a bus for getting down to -and more importantly up from, the town, which stops right outside the alhambra ticket office.
good luck!

2 years ago we drove into Granada and a scooter stopped by us and said they would show us the way to the hotel. We were leary since we thought it could be a scam but it wasn't he pointed us in the right direction. The hotel reina cristina has valet parking and was quite reasonable.

unfortunately the hotel america is closed in february when we are going and the hotel guadalupe still hasnt responded to my email.
any other suggestions for granada?
some names that came up when i was looking:
macia plaza
macia gran via
puerta de las granadas
casa de capitel nazari
plaza nueva hotel

We stayed at the Hotel Los Angeles in Granada, which is within walking distance of the Alhambra, and has parking. It's about $100 a night. Since it's away from the city center it's easy to drive in to. It's a large American style hotel with a pool, balconies, etc.

joge,
You can do an online booking for the Hotel Guadalupe at
www.charming-hotels-spain.com

or
www.venere.com

thank you so much everyone for all of your help.
maribel-booked the guadalupe through venere for an excellent price!
thanks again
:0) joanna

Joanna,
Glad it worked!

bookmarking

Hello!

In my pre-Fodors days (this is to explain why I don't know the name of the hotel as I was not writing trip reports and we were winging our hotels!) we stayed in a hotel in Plaza Nueva.

I really liked the location and we had marvelous restaurants all around. The only 'minus' was that the plaza seemed to be hang-out for wandering punks. They behaved decently so they did not bother us. This was at least five years ago so it might have changed.

The hotel did not have parking but they had an arrangement with a big parkhouse which was a ten minute walk away.

Once you drive into Granada and park you don't want to even touch that car again. We are still laughing at driving (against our better judgement but at the hotel's insistence) through a street that had a narrow sign...well once we passed the first bend we had to pull in the mirrors and we had about two inches between the car door and the street walls. Would not have made it out of the car, not even out through the windows! It was on of DH's best driving days....

Enjoy Granada, it is a magical place.