Hi,

First of all what an excellent site for anybody wanting to get the best out of a future visit to this superb city. I commend Madrid Man for making this possible!!

With this in mind I would be grateful for some 'expert' advice on where to find value accomodation for a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 kids.

The ideal is an apartment close to the cultural centre or a hostel which can provide a room for 4 (or inter-connecting rooms). I am looking to book for 6 nights in April 2003.

It appears that you can not book to far in advance as most of the individual sites I have visited are stating non-availabiltiy ... is this usually the case?

Hoping for some positive replies ....

Muchas Gracias Amigos / Amigas !!!!

David (England)

Hi daveshall! Welcome to our Spain-Loving family!
To which "superb city" are you referring? Spain has SO many! Please remember this is an ALL SPAIN message board.

In Madrid, I know that Hostal López has one LARGE room with 3 (or 4) beds, balcony, private bathroom. I also know that Hostal Chelo has (at least) one room with 4 beds and private bathroom. Also, Huespedes Jaén has a few apartments with 1-3 bedrooms which seem to be well priced. Hostal Dulcinea also has one or two "family style" apartments but they don't have them listed yet on their website. Finally, be sure to look on the MadridMan\'s Madrid Apartments page as well as do a search here in this forum - see the SEARCH link above/right - and use keywords like MADRID APARTMENT for example.

It IS a bit early/soon to book apartments & hostels. Most hotels, however, will take reservations now for March 2003. Try again in, say, January or even mid-December.

Good luck and have a wonderful time in Madrid (I'm assumnig you were asking about Madrid) and other parts of Spain. If you have any questions about other places you'll be visiting, MadridMan's ALL SPAIN Message Board is the place to ask them!!

Saludos, MadridMan

Hola again Madrid Man,

Obvious ommision on my part but you guessed right - that's the problem with having the name 'Madrid' in your web title!! Maybe you should re-name to El Pais ....

Thank for the reply and your suggestions - for your interest I have had a couple of replies notably from Hostal Madrid which appears to be a very pleaseant looking and located establishment. I am waiting for a further reply from Rita to establish my exact requirements but so far it is looking good.

Again full of praise for your site and no doubt I will be a regular visitor. My flights are booked for next April - hopefully the weather will be reasonable around that time?

I will keep you posted ...

Best wishes .....

David

Our family of 4 loved the apartment owned by Alberto and Rosa Garcia-Gill . You will find it on the MadridMan apartment page linked above under " 1 Huertas apartment ." The people couldn't be nicer. The only caveat, if your children are older, sleeping together in the sofa bed may be a tight squeeze. Our little ones did just fine. And as for the price, it sure beats a hostal in my opinion. Location is superb. We booked apartments in three different places this year and it's tough to go back to hotels. Good luck.

Hi Dave.

Ihave stayed at the Huespedes Jaen several times. The have a 3 bedroom flat with kitchen, utility room, dining room bathroom.

It is ideally located on Calle Cervantes, near the Galleries, Sol, Plaza Santa Ana. There are plenty of good cafes, bars, restaurants in the area so you should not have to do much cooking.

The only downside is that it is an internal flat with no view onto the street. It is great value for money and is always my first choice when looking for accomodation.

I stayed with two kids at Hostel Lopez last summer for 3 days at the beginning of our trip and 3 days at the end. When we arrived, they were 'working' in the triple room with 3 beds we were supposed to have so they switched us to a different room with 2 beds. It was tiny with a 3/4 bed and a twin. We were exhausted and very disappointed, and paid the same rate. When we returned, our room was very nice and we had a full sized bathtub, but this time our key to the front door did not work well, and we had problems getting in the Hostal. It is a good value and the people there are nice, but I would have some reservations about staying there as a first timer with a family.

I second Jana's suggestion about the apartment on Huertas owned by Alberto and Rosa. It is small, but it comes fully equipped, and the location is wonderful. We lived there for three months (March, April, May 2002)...my wife, son, and I.

Buena suerte

Lee