Madrid

For just two days I would follow Rick's book for hotels in central Madrid. We stayed at Holiday Inn Piramedes due to unique need to arrive by car and use it for few days where we had 1/4 mi. to freeway connection and great hotel parking. For mass transit the hotel offered access to light regional rail, metro, and bus stops just 30 feet from the front door of the hotel. Can't beat that.

Hotel Europa in Puerta del Sol is nice and you can't beat the location. It's within walking distance of many site and there is a metro station underneath the plaza.

If you're looking for a traditional European style hotel with a café and all of the things one would expect of a nicer place, then I agree with Stephen's recommendation of Europa...you would be hard pressed to find a better place in a better location in that price range. I personally haven't stayed there, but we dined at the café (good) a couple of times on the way to and from our small hostal a couple of blocks over and up from there on Plaza del Carmen. This hostal (i.e. small hotel, not a hostel) is Hostal Acapulco...maybe a dozen big rooms with balconies overlooking the plaza, very clean, very reasonably-priced, and top marks on tripadvisor. No restaurant and no extra amenities, but I would stay there again tomorrow if I were going back...I'm kind of no frills and frugal, but it is a very decent place. Still, Europa is the safest bet for a typical tourist or anyone looking for a great traditional hotel right next to Puerta del Sol. It also gets very high marks...just costs more...but not expensive.

Thank you for all your suggestions. I am leaning toward Hotel Europa. Right now the price is about $130.00 for a superior double room...not too bad for Europe. Now I am trying to decide weather to rent a car or take public transportation when we leave Madrid. We would like to stay one night in Toledo and then head south. I like the idea of driving, but don't want the hassle of finding a place to park. Any suggestions? Thanks,
Bonnie

My suggestion is to take the AVE (high-speed) line to Toledo...maybe 30 minutes from Atocha station. Depending on where you're going from there, you may need to go back to Atocha (again on AVE) to then catch another AVE heading south. I have rented and driven in bigger cities before (Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, etc.), but I will only do it in rural areas these days. Public transportation is too reasonable, too easy, and too plentiful to do anything else. I've taken buses in Spain as well...cheap...that part is awesome, but it can take longer. Buses are great for short trips (like to Segovia), but the longer distances would just take way too much time for me. Still, Spain has one of the most extensive bus networks in Europe...better than anywhere else. So, my recommendation is to forget the car and take teh train. Cheers!

The Europa is directly on the plaza so it can get noisey at times. You might want to request a room facing away from the plaza.

I stayed at the Europa last month and was very, very happy with it. There was also an RS tour group staying there. Great location. Excellent staff. From my balcony I had a view of the plaza. It was somewhat noisy with the doors open, but not a problem with the doors closed. The only time there was disturbing noise was when the delivery truck came to exchange the beer kegs for the restaurant. The driver dragged the kegs, both the full ones and the empty ones, along the pavement directly under my room, around 6 a.m. and it went on for a 1/2 hour or more.

We liked the Hotel Preciados (two stays), and many beside me have reviewed it on TripAdvisor. It was a gut-renovation, so it has a very different feel from Europa, but is still a small property.

In Madrid, we stayed at Hostal Santa Cruz. It's nicely located, budget friendly, and sufficient for most people's needs - but far from special. The only area I'd avoid staying in Madrid is Plaza Mayor. We were there last April and the place houses dozens, if not hundreds, of displaced workers - which made it pretty unsightly in the evenings. From their signs, we gathered they were miners and they seemed intent on hanging around for the long haul. Each evening they pulled their beds and makeshift housing out from their daytime hiding spots and set up under the covered sidewalks. We visited Toledo by car earlier in our trip. There is a clearly marked parking lot, with escalators that take you up into town, which was pretty convenient. We headed south from Toledo through Consuegra, Belmonte, Valdepenas, Jaen, Granada, Antequera, Ronda, Gibraltar, Tarifa, Cadiz, Jerez, Sevilla, and Cordoba - then back to Madrid. Let me know if I can answer any questions about them.

Thank you to all that have posted. I really appreciated all your comments. I am still trying to decide where to stay , and how many nights in Madrid. We are in Spain for 10 days and want to do see as much as I can without being too overwhelmed. I know I want to see Madrid and Toledo for sure. I will skip Barcelona on this trip and head south. If anyone has the must see towns and where they stayed I would appreciate it. I have bought our flights, but I have not planned out itinerary yet. It is still in the planning stages. Thanks again! Bonnie

I really liked Nerja so much that we went twice! The Balcon de Europa is beautiful, and they have lots of weddings there! From Nerja you can day trip to Frijiliana (sp?) Rick mentions Nerja in his Spain book. It's on the South and slightly East of Malaga. We rented a seaside apartment very cheaply and the view was lovely. There's a bistro that has Flamenco shows in an very intimate environment and it was the very best Flamenco show I'd ever seen! Avoid the tourist traps, which use a boom box instead of live guitar. There's a big variety restaurants in the town, and at Brunilla beach in season, there are many, many outdoor giant paella stands, where they cook it right in front of you and serve home made Sangria! It was so inexpensive that we stayed for a week, and rented a car for a couple of days and day-tripped to Granada to the Alhambra and also to Porto Banus and Marbella. Great trip!