Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar - Barcelona/Madrid Hotels & Recommendations

Will be in Barclona and Madrid for a few days each in late June with a few friends. Need reccomendations on hotels, particulary something close to mass transit or close to an area with stuff to do. Nothing too pricey, but nothing low budget either.

And instead of starting a separate thread, I might as well solicit for things to do and places to see. We're all in our 20's, so nothing is too crazy to try. And we are big on food and drinks too.

For Madrid, look at the Westin Palace or Husa Paseo Del Arte.

Stayed in both, relatively close to each other, both are close to the EMT airport bus stations (Cibeles and Atocha respectively), both close to Prado and various Plazas (Mayor, Santa Ana etc) walkable to Gran Via, and Sol.