The problem with the paradores in Segovia, Salamanca and Toledo is that all of them are located outside of the city center. All of them have great views over their cities, but all of them fail in the "reach within walking distance" side. This is even more remarkable in the case of Toledo, and with the pletora of good new hotels (specially in Salamanca), I would really prefer to stay in town.

A couple of years ago I wrote a report about a weekend in Salamanca. Here you have it : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheTravelzine/message/16544 I have been back a couple of times afterwards, and I have always fully enjoyed it. I also have collected more experiences (such as the small touristic train, the heavenly "pastas" at Las Dueñas monastery, the Museum Casa Lis and a good guide during a walking tour) to recommend.

Regarding hotels, the NH Palacio de Castellanos (the hotel mentioned by Wilma) was the newest addition in 2001. Since then, I think that both the Melia Boutique Las Claras (near my favourite small monastery) and specially the AC Palacio de San Esteban, located on a wing of the same name monastery, are places well worth to look into.

The hotel mentioned by Graciela is also well worth looking into, and the High Tech Hotels chain has bought and renovated the Hotel Las Torres, right on the Plaza Mayor. They can also be interesting.

http://www.melialasclaras.solmelia.com/ http://tinyurl.com/62p96 http://www.nh-hotels.com/ http://www.charming-spain-hotels.com/spanish/hotel/71 http://www.hthotels.com/

Have you looked into the Bancotel checks? http://www.bancotel.com They sometimes have great offers. Also, Salamanca is very popular during weekends, not only for visitors, but also because the people who studied at the University can get married at the Chapel there ... and many, many people have studied in Salamanca along the years :) People go there from all over Spain, and move the whole family in order to celebrate their wedding. In these cases, all the big places are pretty full.

Kind regards, Covadonga Bilbao - Spain