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AirBnB or hotel in Granada and Sevilla?

Posted by (Austin, TX) on

I am finally booking the rooms and found very good deals (nice apartments with many positive reviews in great areas) in Madrid and Barcelona that turned out to be must more economical than hotels in those cities.

My question now is: In Rick's Through the Backdoor, he mentions that he typically goes with a hotel if he's staying 1 or 2 nights because of the extra hassle with a shortterm rental. We'll be in Granada and Sevilla for 2 nights each and I am looking at both Airbnb and Rick's recommended hotels. There is not a huge difference in price but it is nice to have a kitchen or perhaps a Alhambra view. I'm looking at about $100 per night max.

I would like to hear if anyone has any experience they would like to share. Do you think it's worth the extra hassle to book an apartment over a hotel in these cities?

Posted by
328 posts

We love Airbnb. I really don't think it's any extra hassle. In fact I think it's more convenient. Your apartment is paid for ahead of time which alleviates the hassle of collecting enough euros to pay for your stays. We have had fantastic apartments with spectacular views. On our upcoming trip to Spain this March, we are using Airbnb exclusively. Our view of the Alhambra from our large terrace should be fabulous. Check out Casa La Gran Vista in Granda on Airbnb!

Posted by
8035 posts

We had an apartment for a week in Seville (too long IMHO wish we had spent more time in Granada and had time for Toledo) and then two nights in Granada and 6 in Madrid. The Granada place was wonderful with a view onto the Alhambra https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/granada-they-said-wed-be-mugged-in-the-albaicin/
BUT the hassle of an apartment for two nights is IMHO not worth it. We have rented about 100 times now mostly in Europe and from anywhere from 2 nights to 2 months -- mostly a week or a month -- but we have after our Spain trip decided to use hotels for stays of 3 nights or fewer. If anything goes wrong, an apartment is inconvenient. Your luggage didn't make the flight? There is no concierge to receive your luggage from the airline so you have to stay tied to your place till it comes; if there are problems with the apartment it may eat up your time -- and connecting, getting the keys, checking out are all more complicated than hotels. One of the pleasures of an apartment is eating in after shopping in local markets, but stocking a kitchen even with things like sugar, coffee, salt and pepper is impractical for a night or two and many apartments include absolutely nothing. Some of course have oils and spices and coffee and sugar but you can't count on it. We were grateful that our landlord in the Albaicin in Granada brought us a little sugar for our coffee because we were not near anyplace to go buy breakfast and even the food store situation was limited. I didn't want to have to buy a huge box of sugar for a day. As it was we left half a carton of milk behind. We carried coffee from our apartment in Seville anticipating needing that.

Posted by
42 posts

Thanks for the reply. I loved your pictures! Can't wait to take some of my own.

Posted by
5697 posts

Agree with Jane (and Rick) that short stays are better in hotels. Especially when apartments have a separate "cleaning" or "check-in" fee. A stay of 5+ days seems to be our cut-off.

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