Hi, here's my hotel recommendations, plus some notes:
Toledo: Hotel Sercotel Pintor El Greco. We recommend this hotel – very quiet, nice staff, numerous excellent breakfast choices. I paid extra for breakfast with the room, and we were glad with that decision.
Madrid: Pension Central Palace Madrid was my favorite hotel during this trip. The receptionist was kind, breakfast downstairs at elegant Cafe de Oriente was perfect to begin our days, and the hotel room was huge with a modern bathroom. But, the reason it was my favorite hotel was the view! Our balcony overlooked the Oriente Garden & the Royal Palace – so beautiful! We liked the location of our hotel to be near the Plaza Mayor, Mercado(market) de San Miguel and the Royal Palace. We walked the Calle de Arenal each evening to the Puerta de Sol.
Also a note about Madrid: We saved valuable time by purchasing our Prado Museum and Royal Palace tickets on-line a few months ahead of time. So we got to walk past the long ticket line to the main door! Took the train to Cordoba.
Cordoba: We stayed at the NH Collection Amistad Cordoba since it was just one night. Nice hotel & modern room.
We enjoyed our time at the Mesquita, going in late afternoon to miss the crowd of daytime tour groups. We walked across the picturesque Roman bridge both during the day and in the evening for some beautiful views and photo opportunities. We were glad to have the chance to stay overnight in charming Cordoba, as our first experience in Andalusia, instead of treating it as a daytrip from Sevilla. Took the train to Sevilla.
Sevilla: We stayed at a wonderful apartment in the Seville Barrio Santa Cruz neighborhood during our 4 days (Apartamento Logia Sevilla found through Booking.com. The apartment was perfect for us – a spacious apartment on the first floor of a home owned by an architect & his family. They gave us a map marked with the neighborhood market, tapa recommendations, etc. Each morning my husband surprised me with fantastic pastries from nearby Pany Piu bakery while I was getting ready. We wanted to be close to the sites but have a good night’s sleep. This location was perfect and had everything we would want in an apartment.
Notes for Sevilla: Our first morning started with a planned bike tour with “See by Bike Sevilla”. We’ve taken bike tours during a few past trips and really enjoy them. Adriana led our 3-hour bike tour through a path of all of the major sites, explaining the history. We also saw more interesting parts of the Plaza de Espana area than when we had walked there by ourselves. Seville was an excellent town for a bike tour since it’s so flat – an easy ride. On-line reservations for Royal Alcazar also saved us valuable time, not needing to stand in the entrance line. We also participated in a Market/Cooking class with Taller Andaluz de Cocina Cooking School. This was one of my husband’s favorite events! Since the kitchen classroom is located in the Triana Food Market, Jessica began the class by showing & explaining specific foods in the market, gathering a few ingredients, and then Chef José Manuel led our small group through the specific Do’s & Don’t steps to making a perfect paella, along with other meal items. We took the bus from Sevilla to Ronda.
Ronda: One of our favorite locations. Ronda is famous for its massive Roman bridge that connects both sides of the city. We stayed at Hotel Ronda in the older section across the bridge. The hotel was quaint & adequate. This was a less expensive option, and we were fine with its accomodations. The street has a very steep downward grade, another confirmation to pack light! Two nights in Ronda were perfect for us to see the original bullfight ring & museum, attend a classical & flamenco instrumental guitar concert at the Guitar Round House store on Calle Padre Mariano Soubiron by Paco Seco (excellent credentials) and have a nice dinner at Puerta Grande.