Originally Posted by
LupineChemist
I would skip Valencia all together and replace it with Granada. ... Valencia is a really nice city, but it's the kind of place I wouldn't mind living at and I like going to because it's a 3 hour drive away. Your time is much better spent elsewhere.
Thanks for your help!
I'm intrigued by the idea of skipping Valencia in favor of Granada, but I don't really understand your reasoning. It seems like you enjoy Valencia, so I'm unclear why you say our time would be better spent elsewhere. I'm definitely not unwilling to consider other alternatives, I just don't get why you are recommending against Valencia, so I'd appreciate a bit of clarification on that. As far as having a lively atmosphere and fun night-life, is Grenada or Valencia better? One reason we chose Valencia is because it has a good hotel option on points, whereas Granada would require a cash outlay (not a problem, but all else being equal we'd prefer to pay with points).
Originally Posted by
spainlover
One thing I would consider would be subbing in San Sebastian instead of Mallorca. There are nice beaches in and around (San Sebastian itself, but also nearby places like Zarautz), and the food is world-class. But Mallorca is also really nice.
What hotel chain(s) do you have points with?
Agree with Lupine Chemist that Andalucia is really worth some time. If you happen to have SPG points, the Alfonso XIII in Sevilla is spectacular. Starwood's hotels in Spain are really nice, in fact one of the reasons I originally switched from being mainly Marriott to mainly Starwood.
I LOVE planning Spain trips and all my friends send me their friends for travel planning there, so if you have any specific questions, DM me.
Thanks for your help!
We definitely prefer Mallorca over San Sebastian -- the island is large enough to give us plenty to explore, and we find the idea of a mediterranean island vacation very alluring as a start for our honeymoon.
We have hotel points with SPG, Hilton, Club Carlson, IHG, and Chase UR. The Alfonso XIII does indeed look like a beautiful hotel, but it's kind of expensive on points... although there isn't another good points option Sevilla, so we'd probably just splurge on the Alfonso since it's only for two nights.
Would you choose Granada over Valencia, too? Just trying to see the logic here, and I'm more than willing to be persuaded. As I said in my previous post, Valencia has a good hotel option on points whereas Granada doesn't. Another thing I forgot to mention above is that we love the idea of a coastal train ride, which we'd only get from Valencia to Barcelona--but that's by no means a requirement of the trip, just a nice perk of that particular itinerary.