Hotels

Choosing the perfect hotel for your vacation in Spain really makes a difference. Not to mention, it can really affect your budget as well.

Generally speaking, the most important factor which determines how much you pay for a room is the season. Because most cities and resorts have high season and low season, it’s quite easy to save money if you decide to travel during the low season (spring and autumn). Obviously, things change a bit when we talk about the holiday islands since the season lasts pretty much the entire year, but lower prices can be found during the winter as the weather tends to be rainy.

There are many types of hotels in Spain. Although there is a standard hotel rating system in place, you will soon realize that the prices aren’t exactly determined by the technical features such as room size, satellite tv or air conditioning. Most often, the service, the location and the history of the place play a very important role when it comes to prices. So, if you plan to save some money on accommodation visit Spain during the low seasons.

In general, the closer you are to the tourist attraction, the higher the price per room will be. On the holiday islands, location plays an important role –the closer to the beach, the more expensive the room-, but there are certain places, such as Palma de Mallorca or Marbella, where prices are anyway in the high range and doesn’t quite matter where you decide to stay.

You should book your hotel in advance. As the summer season approaches it starts to get quite hard to find a room. Travel agencies book the rooms in “bulk” which means they are able to offer smaller prices than if you book directly at the hotel, but it also means that those rooms won’t be listed on line even if they are not booked.

In Madrid, expect to pay on average €80-90 per night for a room in a 2-star hotel located in the center of the city. In Barcelona, a room in a similar hotel costs on average € 130 per night. In Marbella, during the high season (July/August) expect to pay €50-250 / night for a double room, while in Palma de Mallorca prices range between €100 and €1000 per night for a double room.