annhig

Hi,

I have scoured [i think] this forum and Maribel's guide but there is little really up to date information about hotels in Seville.

I'm looking for something in the €100 per night range, in the centre [Santa Cruz for preference] which isn't too noisy!

anyone been recently and stayed somewhere they would recommend? we're going in late September.

thanks a lot,

Ann

WomBatt

Tripadvisor or an aggregator, (is that the right term),style accommodation booker like www.booking.com surely gives recent reviews. This is not a recommendation for use for booking.

Egbert

I trust trip advisor and booking.com reviews. In Santa Cruz you can hear the cathedral bells from anywhere. Don't stay across from a bar popular with locals e.g. Las Columnas etc. I like Hotel Murillo although I think it's about 125 eu. Hotels in Santa Cruz have become very expensive.

lreynold1

I was in Sevilla in May, and although I stayed in a budget place that was nothing special (41 E for the Hotel Simon, right down the street from the cathedral), some of the people I met walking the next day had stayed in the Petit Palace and thought it was very nice, in an old building. They paid less than 100E a night, but I don't know if that was a special price for pilgrims walking.

I agree with the comment about the price of hotels in Sevilla generally. In terms of price/quality ratio, I think Madrid and Barcelona are cheaper. But prices in Sevilla also vary dramatically from high to low season, I've found.

Buen viaje! Laurie

LunaBella

I stayed at the Apartamentos Murillo in the Barrio Santa Cruz this last February and I loved it, it was perfect for me. The neighborhood was amazing, quiet at night, hotel staff was friendly, facilities were very clean, nice breakfast at Hotel Murillo, GREAT view from roof deck (which I usually had to myself), and laundry facilities. I couldn't have asked for more.

As lreynold1 said prices vary due to low-high season and these apartments are no different. I paid their lowest price I could see offered at any time in February but it might be worth it to you to see what they are charging for late September.

Have fun, I love Sevilla!!!

kimhe

U2-concert in Sevilla on the 29th of September. Then prices are sky-high. The week before you can have a double at highly rfecommended Hotel Bequer or Apartementos Murillo for 105€. http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/sevi...out=2010-09-23
http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/sevi...out=2010-09-23

I've been perfectly happy staying at Hostal Museo, close to the Museum of Fine Arts, just to the North of the Santa Cruz district. 10 mins walk to the Cathedral.
http://www.hostalmuseo.com/english.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Andalusia.html

LoveItaly

Hello, annhig. Here is an article from today's San Francisco Travel section written by Spud Hilton who is a respected travel writer. I thought you might enjoy reading the interesting article. He also list the hotel where they stayed which is around 95euro per night. Have a wonderful trip, I have a friend who was born and raised in Seville and she can hardly wait until her American husband retires so that they can go back to Seville to again live there.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...TL&type=travel

annhig

wombat and egbert - thanks for the ideas of using TA, booking.com and venere etc. it was because I was so confused by them that I came here. [sorry i didn't mention that, but it was PERSONAL experiences that i was seeking].

ireynold, lunabella, kimhe - i am chasing hotel rooms. no sooner do i make a decision and try to book and oops, it's gone. all the ones you have mentioned i've tried - the only one with vacancies is the Bequer which wants £170 per night from 24th-27th Spetember, which is outside what I want to pay. yes I know that wanting to go at the weekend is a pain, but we ARE missing U2 [thank god] and if we went in the week it'd cost me a lot more in lost work. [I'm self-employed].

Love - thanks for the link to the article. There are lots of interesting tips for me to read later, when we have got somewhere to lay our heads. the hostal that the writer stayed at...it's full.

I'm down to a short-list of 3.

http://www.sevilla5.com/hotels/hostal-atenas.html €75 per night

http://www.sevilla5.com/hotels/hotel-don-pedro.html €70 per night

http://www.sevilla5.com/hotels/hosta...-del-agua.html €90 per night.


they all have private facilities, aircon, etc.etc. the two hostals are in santa cruz [i think] the Don Pedro is just north of there.
in order to have somewhere to stay, I have booked the Don Pedro through Venere so I can cancel it if I find something a lot better.

have i made the right choice?

thanks as ever for all your thoughts and comments [even the rude ones!]

kimhe

I think Don Pedro looks just excellent. The Alameda/Macarena area is great and not that touristy. http://www.andalucia.com/cities/sevi...na-alameda.htm

The hotel is very close to the oldest bar/restaurant in Sevilla, El Rinconcillo from 1670. Highly recommended. http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...l-rinconcillo/
http://www.elrinconcillo.es/

The world's most famous female flamenco singer, Estrella Morente, is giving a concert in grand Teatro de la Maestranza on the 26th. Now 19 tickets (good ones) left out of 1800. Some 80 great tickets were released a couple of days ago after the concert have been sold out for months.
http://www.generaltickets.com/

Have seen her three times, and two of them were unforgettable. Here she is at the beach in Málaga in 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGrbW...eature=related

Part of the Bienal de Flamenco, the most important flamenco festival in the world (sept 15th - Oct 9th).

annhig

hi kimhe,

done it. immediately i saw your post i got onto the website and bought two tickets in the orchestra. not bad for €35 each. thanks so much for posting!

thanks also for the links to the macarena area and the restaurant. i had a look and it's just the sort of place we like.

i will let you know what we think of Estrella!

regards, ann

PS - I'm glad you like the Don Pedro as I think that the rooms at the other choice are all gone!

kimhe

I think you'll have a night to remember. She is very much loved in Sevilla as in the rest of Andalucía, as you probably will notice from the atmosphere. She does both "pure" flamenco as well as more popular things. I love her singing traditional flamenco - which she for sure also would do on this night - but she can also put on a great performance of a Carlos Gardel tango as here in "Volver", the title song of the 2006 Pedro Almodóvar movie. Estrella was the singing voice of Penelope Cruz in the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_-GvncmteI

An excellent - and very charming - cut from her Madrid debut in 2001 at 19 or 20: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u6NaSmjuaw

Here is another tapas bar/restaurant close to your hotel that I'm sure you will like: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/category/eslava/

Ifnotnow_when

tt

annhig

kimhe,

how did you know i like tapas? i think you've been peeking. in Barcelona last year I think we only had one "proper" meal -the rest of the trip we "tapas'd" our way round the town and even then, only scratched the surface.

DH is also thrilled about the flamenco - principally because the show starts before midnight and we have to get up wearly the next morning to fly home.

now to start planning the sightseeing. we like museums and "old stuff" generally, as well as modern architecture and gardens. any tips in those departments?

many thanks again to you and the others above who have been so helpful,

regards, ann

kimhe

If you like "old stuff", architecture and gardens, you have come to the right place. In your near vicinity from the hotel you'll find Casa Pilatos, Palacio de Lebrija, El Postigo, Iglesia del Salvador, Las Murallas etc.

You probably know of all the "normal" sights in Sevilla, but I will suggest you go and see the "Hospital de la Caridad". If you are into chilling paintings and Sevilla golden-age history, go and see this. The 17th century repenting founder Miguel Mañara was - according to himself - "the most evil man that ever lived". All the paintings he commisioned from some of the most famous golden-age arists for the hospital and it's adjoining church dealt with the theme of death and redemption. The hospital, the church, the paintings and Mañara's grave are all in Calle Temprado, 3.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/seville/sights/411842

kimhe

By the way, Estrella Morente comes from deep down. Her mother, Aurora Carbonell, was a flamenco dancer, and her father, Enrique Morente, is one of the greatest flamenco voices alive.

Paul1950

I stayed at Callejon del Agua for 3 nights during Semana Santa this year. Loved the location. In a nice and interesting building. It is basic, but was clean, everything worked, and the staff members were helpful, though their English was limited. Nice views from the rooftop terrace. Easy walk of just a few minutes to many of the major sights (cathedral, flamenco museum, Alcazar, etc.) I would stay there again. The location was so good that I walked everywhere even though you would not classify me as having an athletic body.

annhig

kimhe - have you thought of publishing a guide to Seville? i'm taking copious notes.

Paul - thanks for the info. I too am not possssed of the most athletic body ever, so appreciate the exercise I get when we visit new cities. however i took it a bit too far last year in Barcelona and ended up with feet that looked like something in one of those paintings by Miguel Manara.

aftr much debating [mainly with myself] we decided upon the don pedro, and when i had another look at the callejon del agua website, the rooms had gone. so my decision was more or less made for me. I'll try to go and suss it out anyway while we're there.

annhig

oops - just looked at the link and i may have accidentally misled myself about snr Manara. I was thinking more tortured souls and bodies [like the ones in the museum in Valladolid that we visited 25+ years ago and which live with me still].

bardo1

ann,

Want to throw an excellent dining/wine bar suggestion your way.

http://www.vineriasantelmo.com/

The wines are great. The carte is fine, but the best way to go is just see what tapas are on the chalkboard. It's about a 5 minute walk from Hotel Don Pedro. Nice outdoor seating under the trees.

annhig

bardo - looks terrific.

I've marked it on my map of recommended places, which is growing fast.

thanks for mentioning it.