Madrid:

We stayed at two hostals in Madrid: Hostal Miño and Hostal Cruz Sol . Both are right around Sol. We enjoyed both, but I would give the upper hand to Cruz Sol.

Hostal Miño (Phone 91 531 50 79) is on calle Arenal, a short walk from Sol. It is a family run hostal and the owners were very pleasant. The room (a triple with bath) was decent sized and quiet and cost 51 Euros. I don't believe this hostal has a web site. One thing we did not like is that we were asked to leave the room key on a central rack when we left the hostal. While the family keeps good watch over the place, this made me nervous when we were out all day.

Hostal Cruz Sol is about the same distance from Sol, but closer to Plaza Mayor. Though the rooms were small (we had a double and a single), it was a fine place to stay. Rooms (all with bath, TV and AC) were only 6 euros more than at Hostal Lopez (45 for a double and 36 for a single). The location of Cruz Sol is much better, a hop, skip and a jump away from Sol on a relatively quiet plaza. It also seemed the most secure of the three hostales we stayed on this trip. Each room has a safe (for 1 Euro) and the hostal front door is always locked.

Barcelona:

We stayed at Hotel Mare Nostrum (Phone 93 318 53 40), which is located right on Las Ramblas, near the metro stop in the center. It was pricier than the places we stayed in in Madrid, but was comfortable and clean. The air conditioning was the coldest we had seen in Europe. It was great to be right on Las Ramblas and not to have to go down a barren street to get to the hostal late at night. But the door to the street, steps from Las Ramblas, was unlocked.

All in all, we were happy with our hotels and would choose them again.

Caminante: No, Hostal Miño doesn't have a website yet. How did you learn of it? Did it have recommendations somewhere?

And does Hostal Mare Nostrum in Barcelona have a website? I did a quick www.Google.com search through the first 5 pages of results, but didn't find anything. How did you learn of this one?

Thanks so much for the feedback, caminante. I'm so happy you had SUCH a good time throughout Spain.

Saludos, MadridMan

MM: Both hotels as well as Cruz Sol are found in Let\'s Go: Spain and Portugal . This is a good choice for anyone who has trouble booking rooms online. I've had very good experiences with hotel and restaurant listings in Let's Go for Spain and other countries.