Any ideas on a nice, relatively cheap place to stay in:
Madrid
Barcelona
Paris
Venice
Florence
Rome
Looking for a nice place, it doesn't have to be directly in the city center (don't mind walking a bit) but considering the dates are in july....should I be looking for air conditioning? Thanks for the help!
Here are some places we've stayed in the last two years and really liked, Kate. Don't know exactly what you mean by "relatively cheap," but all just over 100 Euros per night, or thereabouts, including breakfast in most (and all are centrally located, FYI):
:Madrid: Hotel Europa, just off Puerta del Sol
:Barcelona: Catalonia Albinoni, just off Placa de Catalyuna
:Venice: Locanda al Leon, near San Marco
:Florence: Pensione Alessandra, near Ponte Vecchio
:Roma (this is the only one that's a splurge hotel, over 200 Euros, but it's AMAZING): Residenza Cellini
All of these are in RS Italy or RS Spain, FYI, both of which would be great for you to acquire and read. Also, you can visit my blog with restaurants and itineraries for all of your cities (except Paris, to which I've never been). It's located at http://moltogentileitalia.blogspot.com. Good luck!
EDIT: These were all doubles with private bath, FYI.
I stayed at Hotel Lloret on the Ramblas near Place de Catalunya in BARCELONA last year in May (2008). It was very convenient for walking. Rates were reasonable (56 Eu for a single with bath). In PARIS I recently stayed at Hotel de Turenne near the rue Cler. They have A/C, an elevator, and recently refreshed hallways and rooms. I paid 66 EU for a single with bath. Two years ago I stayed at Hotel Tivoli in VENICE; it was inexpensive and included a good breakfast buffet.
We stayed at Hotel Orion (in Ricks book) in Venice. It is two blocks from St Marks square and very nice and convenient. We followed Ricks excellent directions and got there easily. They serve a big, very nice breakfast, included in price. Well worth it considering the price of the food and beverages in Venice. If you tell them you will pay cash at checkin they will give a 5 % discount.
For Madrid, try hostalcruzsol.com and hostalsantacruz.com, two 2-star "hostals" recently done over on Plaza Santa Cruz, just a few steps from Plaza Mayor and about a block from Sol. Nice and quiet square. 55-60 Euro/night for a double.
Kate,
If you cannot afford places in Venice, consider staying on the island of Lido, which is just a 5-10 min vaperetto (boat) ride from venice's san marco. We stayed there recently at the Hotel Casanova. It was reasonable, nice and had air conditioning. Lido is nice because there is a great beach there and a fun downtown area.
Molly
If you haven't purchased the RS books for those places, you really should. Rick recommends good values in all those cities.
