Barcelona April 14-16
Sevilla either April 16-19, or on May 1-4, and Madrid May 4-6

I'm having trouble finding what I consider good rates as I am a student travelling about for a month. Some sort of gusthouse is adequate or a 1 or 2 star hotel in good location. Hopefully about 50 EURO.. any help?? thanks

Dominick, I just finished getting reservations set for Spain in August, so I think I can help a bit. Start with www.frommers.com They have good reliable info--I've used them in other places (Paris, Brussels) and was always very pleased. I used them to book a place in Barcelona for $27 US a night for this August.

Also check out www.madridman.com He has quite a bit of information focusing on Madrid, and also has a talk board similar to this one.

Hostelling international has a web site you should be able to track down. They usually offer rooms at $12 - $15 a night, but cleanliness can be spotty.

I looked into some university housing, but my length of stay was too short--I think they want people that would be there at least a week or more. The website with a list is at www.barcelonaturisme.com/turisme/exp/ing/ap05-9.htm

I've got a couple of nights reserved on the coast away from the big cities, and comparable rooms are going for 25-50% less than in Barcelona. You might look at a map, see what's appealing, and poke around on-line.

Finally, give some of the general sites like yahoo travel, expedia, and orbitz a try. I'm splurging my last nights, and saved $50 a night on a very nice room in Barcelona via expedia, vs. the hotel's own web site.

Good luck, and have a great trip!

JP

[This message has been edited by j379pa (edited 03-14-2002).]

How about Priceline.com? They do cover Madrid and Barcelona.

A friend just put me onto one more organization you might want to contact. Servas (www.servas.org) is an international organization. If you are 18 or older, you can apply to be a traveller or a host. Pass muster (I think you are interviewed), you can stay in private homes for 2 nights at a time at no charge (is that cheap enough?). The hope is that you'll also register as a host, and offer the same hospitality to other travellers.

Having stayed in B&B's on occasion overseas, there are wonderful advantages to staying with a private or semi-private home, along with a few drawbacks.

It's an old and well-respected organization. The web site is a little clunky and takes some patience, but there is some good information there (and they do have sites in Spain!).

JP

Yongs- thanks, I've already tried up 65USD for 3*, but nothing

J397pa- can you book online with frommers? I cant seem to. I'll also look into that servas.org website. Thanks

If you have the time you might try to stay in Toledo. We enjoyed it more than other popular locations. See http://www.swopnet.com/2000_spain_vacation.html

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Middle_Seat

You can't book on-line with frommers, but I think some will list a web site or e-mail. If not, a little search on-line will usually turn up a way to contact the hotel.

I've found a number of on-line booking agents doing these searches. Some, like inter-hotel, charge a booking fee, so be careful. At the same time, they may also offer enough of a discount on the property to offset the fee.

Hostel Levant is one in Barcelona that Frommer's likes that has very low rates. You can visit their site at http://www.hostallevante.com/eng/index.htm

JP

I reckon your best bet is www.bancotel.com . You can get some really good deals for 1 cheque (c. 50 euros) per night, excluding local taxes (which I think are generally around 10%). If you search his site you'll find that Madridman has some useful threads on the system, all of which give Bancotel glowing reviews.

try lastminute.com or clickinternational.com for hotel rates cheaper than US sites.

I just booked the Westin Palace in Madrid via pricelin.com for next week and got a rate of $100US a night for a five star hotel,that shows rates in Starwood of well over 200 euros corporate rate for the same dates.

Try solmelia.com (or is it meliasol.com?) This chain has good quality hotels in all the major cities, and I found the prices to be lower than any of the other 20 website I checked. For example, I paid $76 for a huge 4* room in Madrid last November.

What is your price range? I spent one night in a $40 Madrid hotel (listed in frommers) that was clean and quiet, and I would also recommend the Hotel Linda in Marbella, which goes for $30-40/night.

I stayed at the Madrid Airport Barajas Best Western for about 60 euros. Nothing special but it's 3 blocks from the subway, the rate included breakfast and there was a free shuttle to/from the airport. Reasonably clean place too. Booked on orbitz.com