<BR>Can anyone recommend a nice place to stay in Toledo?<BR>Thanks,<BR>AA

Hotel(or Hostel) del Cardenal. Not too expensive. It's at the base of the walled city and you can walk to old town. Although I didn't eat there, I'm told that the food is first rate. Absolutely do not miss sunset at the Parador outside of town. Take a taxi just before sunset and grab yourself a pitcher of sangrias made from scratch!

I can . . . Hostal Descalzos<BR>33 de los Descalzos<BR>Ph/fax 22-28-88<BR><BR>Wonderful small hotel near Casa del Greco, desk clerks spoke limited (but enough) English. Our room (#22, it was down 1 flight of stairs) here was lovely and large, with color TV w/remote, full bath w/tub, 3 beds, and a wonderful view from our room of gardens/fountain. Very quiet. We paid about $47 for the triple.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR>

<BR>Jo, <BR>did you actually stay in the Hostal del Cardenal? Do they have a place to park the car? I read somewhere that you have to climb quite a lot of stairs to get there, is it really so?<BR>And Sandy,<BR>How about the Descalzos... Parking? Stairs?<BR>By the way, we are planning to visit Toledo towards the end of November - the parador will be closed!<BR>Thanks,<BR>AA

We stayed at Hostal del Cardinal. I do not recall any problems with parking but we were not there in peak season. A few steps but nothing excessive. Rooms were not as nice as the public rooms. Restaurant ok but not super special. I think finding a spectacular hotel in Toledo is a non-starter. Cardinal is probably as good as it gets but you will find better elsewhere in Spain.

We got to Hostel del Cardenal about 2pm and left by 9am the next morning and were out until 2:30am (fun city!) so I didn't see much of the hotel. There is a new escalator to the right if you are facing the hotel that takes you into town. There is a parking lot directly in front of the hotel but I don't know their policy since we rode the train from Madrid. <BR><BR>There are other places near the Parador to see views of the city. So, even if it's closed, the view is a must!

About Hostal Descalzos . . . we parked pretty much in front of the hotel, on the street (parallel parking), the hostal folks told us where to park. We walked everywhere in Toledo and never moved the car.<BR><BR>As you know, Toledo is hilly, that's why we had to go down one short flight of stairs to get to our room, which then looked out onto the gardens (and was at the same level as the gardens). I believe there was at least another story to the hostal (from the outside, it looked like a 2-story building).<BR><BR>We loved our room, it was pretty, bright, airy, new, big. We'd certainly stay there again.<BR><BR>Sandy

Thank you all!<BR>AA

AA,<BR>About parking at the Cardenal. We arrived around 10 a.m. on the busiest day in the year for Toledo, the last Sunday of Corpus Christi (Toledo's celebration of Corpus is famed throughout Spain and attended by thousands). There's a very small lot outside the entrance to the restaurant, but it was already filled (even on normal days it fills up by mid-morning). The hotel is tucked behind the medieval walls at the bottom of town next to the Puerta de Bisagra entrance. We double parked to drop off our bags, luckily travelling light, and just drove a bit further down the Paseo de Recaredo past the traffic circle to a large underground public parking lot on the right side of the road. That's the most logical and most convenient place to leave the car. To reach the top of the city, as Jo says, they've built a new people-mover/escalator on the same side of the paseo as the hotel, slightly below it. It's not well marked though; we just followed the huge crowds.<BR><BR>The Hotel itself is very well priced, filled with antiques/original oil paintings, housed in an archbishop's mansion, has lots of inviting nooks and crannies, pretty gardens with gurgling fountains (used for private parties) and a well-regarded restaurant with restful outdoor terrace and run by the same family as the superfamous Botin in Madrid. The same type of roast lamb, suckling pig and hearty Castilian fare. (This time we had dinner at the Parador). I wish we had had more time to enjoy the restful public spaces and the antiques, but we only spent 1 night. <BR><BR>Our room was pleasant with heavy Old Castilian style furniture, hand painted headboards, Moorish "artesonado" ceiling, tile floors, but not luxurious, not as comfortable as the Parador rms (we've stayed at both) but not bare bones either and had a modern bath with pretty hand painted tiles, h. dryer. Heavy iron latch-key door, 2 layers of heavy wood shutters that make plenty of noise when flung open during morning cleaning (but house is silent at night). Much like staying in a quaint private residence-loads of "character". I've read that the best rooms are 208, 209, 210 with garden views and a suite with little siting rm and large private terrace.<BR>A self-service cont. plus (nothing remarkable) is served in a small brk room rather than in the restaurant. <BR>The only jarring note was the list of "don't's" placed next to the phone on the desk in our room, the kind of list you might find at a low budget hostal/pension. The manager is not the friendliest chap in the world to deal with by phone (he warmed up once I met him) and the desk staff not overly welcoming; all seemed a bit tired of fielding endless requests for rms. It's in all the "Charming..." guides so wildly popular-always full.<BR><BR>Yes, there are plenty of steps-3 tiers worth. That's why I don't recommend the Cardenal to families with small children or to elderly folks. Lots of climbing.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.