I am traveling to Barcelona and Madrid from May 31 to June 11. What part of each of these cities should I book my accommodation in? Centrally located with easy access to touristy stuff but not too loud. We will be traveling with 2 kids, ages 17 and 12. We prefer apartments over hotels. Also, what is the best company to book with for apartments in both cities?
Thank you!

Our Madrid apartment was fantastic in 2015!!

Through Spain Select...a really good company with great customer service.

They have a lot of apartments. This one was ours and it was perfect. Great location. Great shower. Unbelievable price. Quiet! Only two beds and a couch, though, so you might look for three bedroom. Here's a start with our apartment.

<B>http://www.spain-select.com/en_US/rent-apartments-madrid/lope-de-vega-ii</B>

Here's some photos of apartment we took on our first day in Madrid.

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/20265-2/</B>

Madrid...Spain Select...(..I like staying close to Retiro park)

Barcelona ...Habitat....( I like staying between Paseo de Gracia and Rambla de
Catalunya in Eixaple )
Both very good companies...used several times each

I like the Eixample neighborhood, too. We stayed there in 2010, in a hotel, not an apartment. We were very close to Paseo de Gracia. Good location for sightseeing, safe & attractive area.

Spain Select, now Home Select, has some nice apartments in Madrid, but no longer seems to have anything in Barcelona. Aspasios (www.aspasios.com) offers upscale apartments in both Madrid and Barcelona. You can also check Friendly Rentals (www.friendlyrentals.com) and Apartments in Barcelona (www.apartmentsbarcelona.com).

Thank you for all the advice. Just curious, not air b and b? Thats what we used 2 years ago in France and it was fantastic.

Air B and B is just rentals from private owners, you might not have any idea if they are legal nor would anyone hold the owner responsible, you are on your own. It's not an agency, I'm sure you know. So I'm not sure why you would prefer to do that, but of course, you can if you want. But no one's recommendation means anything since it is all private owner listings. You asked for the best company, which would not be Airbnb given it's just private individual owners, so an opinion of one unit wouldn't mean much.

The companies named are professional and experienced, and operate legally. At least I know Habitat does as I rented from them and they list the license number required for each apt. on their website. Not sure the legalities in Madrid. I know some Barcelona apts on Airbnb also list license numbers, I would look for that as they are supposed to have one to be legal.

Heavy protests at least in Barcelona against airbnb: http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/...airbnb/487169/

I had a terrible experience with AirBnB in Barcelona - I left after one night and moved to a hotel. There are too many good agencies to mess around with AirBnB in Barcelona. Stick with one of the agencies above and be assured of a clean, licensed apartment.

Bookmarking

Great, Thanks! I will use the ones you recommend.