I've literally just come back from doing almost the exact same trip last weekend - you'll love it!In Cordoba we stayed at the Hotel Marisa, in the old city right next to the Mesquite Mosque/Cathedral. Great little place, very old fashioned (but clean and with all the facilities youd want), Spanish, very cheap (last weekend!) and in the heart of all of the tapas bars and could not be closer to the attractions. In Granada we used the AMC - a modern "how to they fit that in there?" Spanish hotel, cheap, clean, everything you need for the nights sleep but no common areas and a rather soulless room. It was near some decent bars though, and only about 30 mins walk to (or better still, from, as its ridiculously steep going up) the Alhambra, or even quicker by getting a little bus up there from the next street (pay cash to get on). There seem to be a lot of websites trying to (re)sell you tickets to the Alhambra, with or without guided tours, so dig around to find the actual official one which I think i only about 19 Euros for entry including timed entry to the (main bit) Nasrir Palace part of the complex. We were in the Palace bit at 10am, and some later slots were full - and it was already starting to get busy in the Palace on a Friday in late January by then so I'd suggest booking it sooner rather than later, and aiming for a reasonably early slot in the day as well. You can ramble round the rest of the place later anyway.
Tim Porter ● 476d