Spain itinerary complete - suggestions for inexpensive lodging?
 

My friend and I will be traveling to Spain April 24-May 12. With your help, we've drafted our itinerary (see below), but now we need to find places to stay. We need 2 beds and want to keep expenses as low as possible. We definitely don't need fancy lodging - but cleanliness and decent locations are essential. Would prefer breakfast included. Suggestions?
Itinerary:
• Arrive Madrid morning Fri Apr 25 and take plane to Barcelono Fri Apr 25 - since we're already at airport, I'm assuming flying makes more sense?
• Barcelona Fri April 25 through Tues evening Apr 29 or morning Wed Apr 30 – fly to Granada
(will take side trip to Girona on Sunday Apr 27)
• Granada evening Tues Apr 29 or morning Wed April 30 – leave evening Thurs May 1 on train to Seville
• Seville evening Thurs May 1 – leave evening Sun May 4 on train to Cordoba
• Cordoba evening Sun May 4 – leave morning Wed May 6 for train to Madrid and onto Toledo. I thought since we have to transfer trains it would be better to leave in the morning?
• Toledo afternoon Wed May 6, 7 leave Friday May 9 morning/afternoon for Madrid - wanted to have enough time in Toledo given advice above... am I shorting Madrid too much?
• Madrid Fri May 9 – leave for US Monday morning May 12

Looking forward to your ideas!

Hostal Benamar in Madrid. The price I got was about $40 a night for a single when I was in Madrid last summer. The hotel looks dumpy from the outside. I did think "What have I done?" when I drove up in the taxi but very nice inside and a steal for the price. Walking distance to the Gran Via and Royal Palace. 10 minutes by bus to the Prado and the other 2 art galleries (all in the same place). Further details can be found in the blog from the trip here:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...pain-2013.html

try this search engine.http://alltherooms.com/#/

Define inexpensive with actual numbers.

You can find he whole range of prices on this site with reviews. www.booking.com/spain

This site for info www.maribelsguides.com

Why not simply fly into Barcelona and save making the connection in Madrid.

"am I shorting Madrid too much?" in one word, yes! You can do Toledo as a day trip, or spend the night, but Madrid needs far more time. You can also look at revising your itinerary to spend only one night in Cordoba, giving that time to Madrid.

I've been seeing lots of attractive Seville possibilities on airbnb.com. You can get a spare room or whole apartment.

@ BigRuss - we'd like to keep our average night cost at $100 for a room with two beds. Able to go higher, but that's our hope...

@ Lauren - Hostal Benamar sounds great. Thanks.

@ Robert - oops... will leave Madid on the 8th! Thanks for helping me catch the error.

All: Thanks for the search sites... I'll check them out. Would welcome personal recommendations, as well.

Granada - http://www.hostalrodri.com/?lang=en - now hugely popular, book earliest or http://www.hotelgranadacentro.com/

brosis Why ask for personal recommendation? We may all have different needs and expectations to you. Most websites have some sort of reviews associated with the listing.
The one I recommended will save you going to the others suggested here, as it compares a lot of listing sites. Please beware with airbnb. There are fees you have to pay which are not shown in the price advertised. You should also be aware that the government of Catalonia (Barcelona) is now claiming down on so called illegal rental properties. So make sure any rental you have has a licence number.

airbnb tells you the total price you pay the host, including cleaning fees, and right underneath but in much smaller print is the additional ~10% fee that goes to airbnb.

Owner-offered apartments on sites like vrbo.com and airbnb tend not to be quite legal in many cites around the world.

Check tripadvisor and Thorn Tree forum for hotel recommendations. For tripadvisor, use the sliders to define your room budget and check the negative reviews first to see if the traveler is just b*tching about a perceived slight or has a legitimate gripe about the quality of the place.

Look for Hostals or Pensiones, small owner run hotels. I always look at tripadvisor reviews. I also dig Maribelsguides, and most people nowadays seem to be checking rviews on booking.com. As for personal recommendations I liked Hotel puerta de las Granadas in Granada and Regencia Colon in Barcelona for around $100 per night.

Thanks for all the recommendations. appreciate all your help.

In Cordoba the Hotel Boston.

flying may make more sense from Madrid IF you can get the connection on same ticket from the beginning..otherwise you will be giving yourself a HUGE margin for error hoping NOT to miss your flight ( due to technical /weather unpredictables). Perhaps give yourselves that time in Madrid and Toledo ( day trip) , and then take the fast train to madrid. Flying/training back from wherever the last night and just fly out next day.

No worries about missed connections this way nor wasting time giving yourself that huge cushion.

Try this. You can click on hotels and then find private bathrooms, www.hostelbookers.com

Great value places in this price range in the best locations. All hotel standard, private bathroom, tv, AC, safe, 24 desk etc:

Madrid, Hostal Persal: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/persalmadrid.html

Barcelona, Hostal Orleans:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/hostal-orleans.html

Sevilla, Hostal Museo (ten-fifteen min walking to the main tourist attractions in the Santa Cruz district, but the hostal is in a lovely and very local feel neighbouthood with some of the best tapas bars and restaurants on your doorstep): http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/hostal-museo.en.html

Córdoba, Hotel Córdoba Centro: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/cordoba-centro.en.html

Granada, Hostal Rodri, as suggested above: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/hostal-rodri.en.html