For all the klubbers who are looking for accommodation during the days 14, 15 and 16 of April in Madrid, in order to assist and celebrate in the festival of electronic music ‘Klubbers Day 2011‘, here I list a number of hostels located relatively close to the area of Madrid Arena, in the Recinto Ferial de la Casa de Campo (Calle de las Aves s / n), between the metro Puerta del Angel and the Lake. Next you’ll see a list of hostels, hotels, inns and B & B sorted by proximity to the party the first being the closest. If you click on the image below you can see in detail the different areas of the festival grounds, which as you see it is all exclusively for the party!

Hotel San Antonio de La Florida: (+34) 915 471 400, without a doubt the most expensive but also the closest. Single Room € 84.64, € 109.80 Double, Triple € 142, all inclusive of VAT, knowing that breakfast is worth 7.90 € per person.

Hostal Gualcala: 915 593 377, single € 30, Double € 35, Triple € 40, € 45 Quadruple room with shower, TV, heating and even free wifi to stream music from your laptop or whatever!

Hostal Gran Duque: Single € 43.33, € 63.33 Double, Triple € 88.33, although it is also possible for the more selfish, to stay in a double room for single occupancy (DUI) € 55.33 per night.

Abracadabra Bed and Breakfast: 91 188 57 12, Plenty of free rooms for those days, so call now!

Hostal Madrid: 915 220 060, it is quite attractive for the wide range of rooms it has. The company is divided into a hostel and apartments, call  for more information on pricing, reservations, location and availability.

Posada Real Manuel: 915 598 450, Attention: Individual € 40, doubles € 70, triples € 100 for the same price rooms overlooking the royal palace, which is said soon!

Berlin Hostel Madrid: 915470365, single € 35, doubles from 48 € to 52 € (the diference is the bathroom), triples to 65 €. Still have room for plenty people on.

Hostal Arti II: 915 592 411, € 20 Singles, Doubles € 34, Triples € 51.

As you can see the prices are quite affordable but you also have to take into account the prices of the tickets (www.ontickets.es, Ticketmaster o Space Store)

Prices will raise up on the 6 of March. And currently are:

1 day: 30€ / 2 days: 50€ and if you want to stay the complete 3 days: 60€.

When people from Canada and USA come all the way from their respective countries to Spain only to ski it is for some reason. Sierra Nevada might be the best in Spain but it is only one of the more than 30 Spanish ski resorts that have produced a number of 6 million visitors in the last year 2010.

Spain has 837 kms of ski slopes for all levels, 43 routes with 81 kms of distance, 9 half-pipes and snowparks for snowboarding, 152 kms for cross-country skiing and a total of 122.144 hotel beds in order to accomodate every kind of tourist, they being working, midlle or high class, with hotels from 2 to 5 stars in the middle of the slopes.

And when it comes to Sierra Nevada, very near the city of Granada in Andalusia, it is nothing but amusing. The best thing one can do is to plan the journey thnking of the possibility of spending 2 or three days in Granada, before moving to the ski slopes of Sierra Nevada. Only then, will the visitor experience the real atmomsphere of Andalusia, Granada and its mountains, that apart from ski slopes it produces the best water that one can have in sunny Spain.

In terms of skiing Sierra Nevada can only be compared with Baqueira-Beret in Cataluña, being the two largest, but the one in Andalusia has plenty more diversion around it than the catalan one. The Ski Resort of Sierra Nevada has 116 ski slopes, 20.717  of drop (distance between heights), 100.534 kms of length, 3.749.853 Kms of surface and 1.385.849 m2 of snow production.

If you need a hotel in which to stay during your planned vacation to Sierra Nevada and Granada, here I will recommend the Hotel AR El Lodge, and the Hotel CityMar Santa Cruz, this last one, a cozy and lonely hotel in the heights of Sierra Nevada.

Biarritz used to be the chosen place for Napoleon’s summers, and if somebody like him chosed it, it has to be for some reason. Biarritz is in the south-western coast of France, and belongs to the Basque Country, being in the bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast.

Every single surfer in the world has some time or another heard about Biarritz, because at least since 1957 it is considered to be a world class standard surfing place. You can tell for the amount of surfing schools that it has. With more than 30 surfing schools in the region, we could say that surfing can be a way of life and even a job for many citizens in Biarritz. We can also say that Biarritz is the birth place of surfing in Europe. We could even say that the words Biarritz and Surf and synonymous.

Biarritz has 250 kms of coast and throughout the shore you can find all kind of waves, from small ones for the beginners to giant ones similar to Hawaii. We must say that there are two main spots that aren’t as good as Anglet (north) or Guethary (south), because they lack in quality and strength, but they really gain in atmosphere. In normal circumstances, you would never go to a surfing spot only because it has a pretty view, but knowing that you are in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, you should make an exception. These two places are the Cote de Basque and the Grand Plage.

have you ever surfed a wave going left while seeing a beautiful castle on top of a mountain? Well these are the places to visit then… specially if you like a bit of culture after surfing, because remember: There is much more in Biarritz than only waves and cool spots.

The funny thing about Biarritz is that you can’t forget that it is in France, after all, thus being completely linked to fashion, clothing and models. This is why when you enter one of the hundreds of surf shops that you will encounter, it is more than probable that you won’t find any surf wax nor even surf or bodyboarding boards…

Surf shops in Biarritz sell clothes ! It is a way of life over there and surfshops are there to clothe the people, not specifically to sell surfing items. And this is why biarritz is so different to any other places in the world. It seems like every body is a surfer over there even if they aren’t, because everybody is wearing surfing clothes.

Hotels in Biarritz:

La Maison du Lierre

Hotel Le Petit

When tourists visit the Canary Islands they normally want to come back. Most people only come to spend their time in an “all-inclusive” hotels. A clever way to differentiate the trip is: first, staying in one of the major islands, Tenerife or Gran Canaria; then, renting a car (there are hundreds of rent a cars in the islands, so they normally are very cheap), and using it. Tenerife, for example, has ten different micro-climas, so imagine the completely different landscapes you may find. And the best places to eat local cuisine are normally far off the tourist resorts (they are normally cheaper, too).

But, also, you can slip your car into one of the ferries and visit one of the smaller islands. There are several time tables available and various companies operate the transport between islands, so it is easy to find a good offer, specially if there are four or more plus a car traveling (sometimes with a group that big the car travels for free!).

Hotelsearch recommends visiting La Gomera or El Hierro if staying in Tenerife, or jumping between Gran Canaria and Tenerife. You can tour around the smaller islands in a day, or stay for the night if you wish. Both of these small islands are specially orientated for landscaping, and they have beautiful beaches too.

If you choose La Gomera from Tenerife, it is better to get the first ferry of the morning and come back in the last one of the evening. If El Hierro it is, better to stay for the night, because they have a Guinnes Book of Records Hotel; that being the smallest hotel ever! Better to book for that hotel in advance, it is very popular.

The other island of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is La Palma. It is a big bigger than the other small islands, so it is better to stay for the at least one night if you want to drive all around it.

When in Gran Canaria, you can take a ferry to Lanzarote or Fuerteventura and spend the day windsurfing or just in one of the many incredible beaches these two islands have.

For best offers try not to travel when the islands are in high season. This means not only summer, but Christmas too, because the islands enjoy good weather all year round (specially the southern parts).

HotelSearch has recently recommended France as a Country to visit if interested in wines. But it is not the only one in Europe, Spain, as the next example, is another Country recently becoming famous for its wines.

If there is a region in Spain where wine is its core business, its heart, its centre and its way of life, that is La Rioja, one of Spain’s Autonomous Regions. Just north of Castilla La Mancha and South of Basque Country and Navarra.

Now a day, the region is promoting its tourism via wine touring. Recently, an incredibly impressive hotel has been inaugurated, the Elciego Hotel (not exactly in the region of La Rioja politically speaking), it belongs to Álava, but part of the Guarantee of Origin zone (in Spain, the wine regions are divides into Denominations of Origin, which can include various distinct political districts), and very near the best wineries of the Denomination. The hotel is a state of the art facility with only 19 rooms.

Out and about the place a visitor can enjoy visiting various wineries, a Spa (with grape and wine bathing!), hidrothermal therapy pools, and, among many other recommendable things, gastronomy routes, which is something a good sybarite would never want to miss, because the quality and quantity of food in the North of Spain is something every Spaniard knows.

Another way of visiting La Rioja is by staying in the capital, Logroño, which is well connected by train or road to the rest of the region. The city has a Roman origin, its first important mention (historically speaking, because the legend turns to the sons of Noah) is of it being a centre for Augustus’s armies, and a local village of Celtiberic origin. You can still find some of the Roman ruins of the village called by them “Variea”. The city itself has a lot to see: San Bartolomé Church, The Cathedral of Santa María la Redonda, the baroque twin towers, the medieval and renaissance houses, and a big etcetera.

If you decide to visit this latter way the region, the best time is September, round about the 21st. The capital embellishes to celebrate the famous “Fiesta de la Vendimia” (Grape Harvest). It is a traditional celebration, full of folklore and wine, where a visitor may walk all round the city tasting Baccus Elixirs or the world famous “pintxos”.

Hotels in Rioja:

Carlton Rioja

AC La Rioja

Sicily has attracted visitors throughout her history. Although always famous for its volcanic activity due to the Etna, Stromboli, etc, colonizers (before) and tourists of today have always found it fascinating.

The island is full of good places to stay, and enjoy a typically Mediterranean holiday. But the real “must see” are the historical and archaeological sites. The successive conquering and settling of the different Mediterranean powers through history left an unique and incomparable mixture of peoples and architectures. First dominated by the Sicani (which gave the name to the Island), then under Greek dominion, after that the Romans, who left a classical and also Christian impronta, Goths, Normans, Muslim, Christian renaissance, etc.

First and probably most important is the Archaeological Area of Agrigento, built while under the Magna Graecia period, is an incredibly well preserved piece of Greater Greek Architecture. It has seven temples, all in Dorian style, named Juno Lacinia, Concordia, Asclepius, Herades, Dioscuri and Vulcan. It also has other non religious buildings.
Second in terms of visiting but first in its historical importance is, of course, Syracuse, which played a very important role throughout the Greek and Roman period. Under the Roman dominion, the Amphitheatre was built, and after Constantine had made Christianity the official religion of the Empire, enormous catacombs were built in the city, second only to Rome’s ones.

In various cities of the Island the visitor can enjoy reminiscence of Muslim dominion, especially churches converted from Mosques (which converted from early Christian Churches too). Renaissance and baroque architecture can also be discovered all through the region.

A well learned tourist or visitor well knows it is nearly impossible to describe all of Sicily’s sites and visiting places, so best is to summarize here it’s WORLD HERITAGE SITES: Valle dei Templi (mentioned before) in Agrigento, Villa Romana del Casale of Piazza Armerina, Aeolian Islands, Vale di Noto (baroque style towns), Syracuse and the Necropolis of Pantalica.

But, if travelling through nearly three thousand years of history in only one island is not enough, Sicily also can offer a splendid gastronomy, quality wines, excellent resorts, good marinas, and all else a “sun bathing, food and night life” visitor would want. The town of Taormina and the beach of Castellamare del Golfo are good examples of this. All of this without mentioning the other thing Sicily is very famous for, Maffia. Never forget were the Corleones come from!

Hotels in Sicily:

Hotel Antares

Hotel Olimpo

It is not usual for tourists to visit Spain with a “health tour” mentality, but actually there is a very good Spa offer in the Country. A good example of this is the Natural Reserve of the Ricote Valley. This is a compound of five towns or villages and their respective landscapes, named Archena, Ojós, Ricote, Ulea and Villanueva Del Río Segura; in Murcia, on the South-East of Spain.

Everybody knows about Murcia’s coastline, La Manga, the Mar Menor or the very famous Cartagena, capital and base of the Punic General Hasdrubal Barca (known in those times as Qart-Hadascht), and one of the most important Mediterranean coastline regions in Spain. But the interior part of the Autonomous Region is nearly unknown for Spaniards or foreigners.

Archena is the most important zone of the region, because of the “Balneario de Archena”, a thermal water complex of around 200,000 m2, member of the “Royal Spas of Europe”, near the Segura River, 24 Km of the capital of the Region, Murcia, and 80 Km from Alicante’s Airport. It has three different hotels, depending on what you want to spend, and has a total offer of 225 rooms.

This complex is the best part of what a tourist would do in this trip, but not the only one. Next to the Hotel Spa you can find the ruins of the Roman “Thermae”, which gives an idea of how important and old these natural waters are, the Romans new about them.

The best thing to do is to use the Spa as base for a visit to the Region, especially if what you like is travelling to un-exploited rural areas. The area became really inhabited and its lands use for agricultural purposes during the Islamic era, and actually played an important cultural and political role between the VIII and XII centuries.

This complex is the best part of what a tourist would do in this trip, but not the only one. Next to the Hotel Spa you can find the ruins of the Roman “Thermae”, which gives an idea of how important and old these natural waters are, the Romans new about them.

The town of Archena too has some places to visit, like for example the curious “Torre de Don Mario”, a tower, built by the Knights of Saint John when they received the land given by the Castilian king, Alfonso X El Sabio.

Recommended hotels in Murcia:

Hotel Husa

Hotel la Cumbre

France is a wine Country, it probably makes the most famous wines in the world. If there is one place where the mix between quality visiting and “home-grown culture” places combines with spectacular industry (even if a primary one), that is the Loire Valley. Along with Bordeaux, this is the other “must see” region you should visit, if interested in wines or not. The beauty of it is difficult to find in any other place in Europe.

The site extends along the Loire River, near the beautiful city of Nantes on the Atlantic shore, in the Muscadet region, to the Sancerre and Poully-Fumé region a little to the south-east of world famous Orleans, in north central France.
More specifically, the wine regions included in this region are: Sancerre & Pouilly-Fumé, Anjou-Saumur, Vouvray and Touraine, Chinon and Muscadet. They produce mostly a variety of white wines, but some “rosé” and red wine can be found also.

History tells us it was the Romans who planted the first vineyard here in the Ist century AD. Now a days it has over 185,000 acres of planted vineyards. Most of the plantations used to be family owned, with little output but with traditionally excellent quality. Actually most of the production comes from what the French know as “négociant” and “co-operative”: that is close cooperation and output form associated wineries.

The valley enjoys roughly a Continental Climate, but tempered by the River and its tributaries. As for this, it is best not to go in winter.

Tourism is growing in the area, as is all wine-tasting tourism growing around Europe and the United States, but you do not have to be a wine-lover to look for an excuse to visit the Region. As the people their enjoy saying, the Loire Valley is as French as France can get. It is full of picturesque towns and beautiful Chateaux; every part of it is full of history and culture, and it is said that the purest French can beheard there; as well as being the land where you can find the world-class famous simple French home cooking.

Visiting France is something everybody should do, of course. But a way to differentiate from all other tourists is exactly this one. As most people visit Paris, Nice or the other famous cities, a wine tour is a way of making your visit unique.

HotelSearch would like to inform about a special place within the Pyrenees, a perfect spot for sightseeing, walking and feeling Nature and rural history, a place the people of Andorra praise as one of their Natural Treasures, the Valley of Madriú.

Tourists around Europe, and specially those who come from France, Portugal and Spain, know very well the beauty Andorra can offer. It has excellent Ski Resorts, a lot of good shopping Spaniards and Frenchmen know very well about; and for those lucky enough to be living there or have migrated to it, good business opportunities (because this small country is a Tax Haven).

Al this is more than enough for a tourist to think about visiting this small “Country of the Pyrenees”, as their citizens describe their country; but it also has a special site, a beauty spot, the Valley of Madriu-Perafita-Claror. As rural or landscaping tourism has gained importance in the past decade, so also has this Valley gained in visitors and importance in what the Country has to offer.

This glacial valley occupies as much as 9% of Andorras total surface. It’s 4.247 hectares were declared World Heritage by the UNESCO in 2004, thus becoming the only internationally protected space in Andorra. And a place which has to be visited if staying in this small country.

It is perfectly organized for visiting, with two or three paths that stride along it in various directions. It has an east/west orientation, and a total a total length of 11,8 Km. It goes from 1200 metres to 2500 metres at its highest peak.

Its principal attraction is, being a glacial valley, the water. Its river is filled with the water of numerous lakes found in the Gargantillar Glacial Gircle. It also has a natural, virgin, Thermal Water Enclave, 60º Degrees Celsius of temperature, in the Escaldes-Engordany zone.

You can also find small constructions originally dedicated to fabricating cheese or the keeping of animals all round the Valley, built and used from the XII all along to the XVII century period.

It is open for visit until late in October, so the best time to visit it would summer or spring. But, never mind what the visitor might choose, this World Heritage can be considered on of the most beautiful natural sights in of the South of Europe; certainly on of the best in the Pyrenees.

Due to the multifarious reactions that followed the article on “Bad tourism in Tenerife” and “Changes in South Tenerife“, I have decided to put some questions to an Ex- British Tourist Guide who has been living in Tenerife since 1971.


1. Where are you from and what is your experience in Tourism? I am from Britain. During the 70s and 80s of the 20th century I worked as a tour guide and transfer rep., for the British Airways companies Enterprise and Flair. I must remain nameless.
2. What is your current job? I am retired, not surprisingly.
3. How long have you been in Tenerife? Since December, 1971.
4. Have you worked in the South of Tenerife? Only in the sense that I had to work in the South Airport (Reina Sofía) twice a week, collecting arrivals and escorting them by coach to their hotels, apartments etc., in the north.
5. What kind of problems do you see in the south regarding tourism? There is little wrong with the superstructure of tourism in the south. The towns cooperate well with the tourist companies and hotels, aparthotels etc. But there are three serious problems: drunkenness, loutishness and irresponsibility. The first two arise like a stinking cloud from the younger tourists themselves, British and Irish mostly, though plenty of Peninsulares, if young, create havoc with over-drinking and drugging. The third, irresponsibility, rests entirely with the authorities. Neither the Canary Island Government, nor the authorities, police force etc. of any of the great southern towns – Arona, Adeje, Arico, Granadilla, Candelaria etc. could give a damn about the ever-increasing curse of drunkenness. In Playa de las Américas, for example, a street cleaner told me all the cleaners spend half their working morning everyday, especially at weekends, cleaning up vomit from the streets. The south of Tenerife is rapidly acquiring a foul reputation for binge drinking, and violence done to other tourists as a result. This is not an exaggeration – it is a fact.
6. Have you heard about John Palmer, the famous Brit who made the south as it is…? I have met John Palmer yes. I am not sure I agree with the term ‘the famous Brit who made the south as it is’ . . . John Palmer owned many of the entertainments in the south, and was involved in the Time-Share phenomenon – south AND north. But the southern development, however you see it, was the responsibility of the package tour companies working hand-in-glove with the airlines and local authorities. They decided (as they did in the north in the 70s and 80s) to diminish the appeal of Tenerife as a rather classy, beautiful island for middle class tourism in decent hotels and starry restaurants – and replaced the high class appeal with the very worst of ultra-cheap tourism for the masses. The results of this policy are to be seen everywhere on the island now. The authorities made a very bad mistake, because Tenerife could easily have become a Monaco, a Nice, even a sparkling Greek or Italian island. Instead it became a worst-case Butlins Holiday Camp, the tourists wolfing cheap food for which they pay practically nothing, and sip sip sip all day. Then everybody out (if we are lucky) for a nice vomit and let someone else clear up the mess.
7. What could we do to the south to save it? Perfectly simple, and not expensive: close all drinking haunts, bars etc. by order (and enforce it) at one hour after midnight. Do not permit any business to sell alcohol after this hour. Increase the towns’ mobile police forces by hook or by crook, and send more police officers out on street patrol in threes. Zero tolerance. Encourage owners of failing or failed hotels to convert them into luxury flats. They will have no difficulty in selling them, as Europe is still packed full of very rich people who would give up their remaining teeth to own a decent flat in Tenerife. Smarten up the towns and beach approaches by getting rid of the dreadful grey paint or tiles so beloved by the authorities, and painting everything is bright colours.