Maybe it was just a nightmare...
I had a really bad few days in a hostel in Buenos Aires. It's partly my fault - I know better than to pay for more than the first night in a cheap hostel/hotel. I know that when a place is bad, it isn't likely to improve. But it was a short stay and I figured I'd survive... And I did, but not without a cost.
They didn't honor the booking.com price that I was quoted. (I can't believe this property is listed on booking.com at all, and I did contact Booking to let them know). In the end, this terrible hostel wasn't that much cheaper than decent hotels in the area.
It was dirty. I didn't even think about using the kitchen. The shared refrigerator didn't work. The ventilation in my room was limited to a slot above my room door, and the area immediately outside my door was "the smoking area". I had a fan, it was really grimy. There were scrap bits of wood and plastic under the the legs of the desk in my room to "level it". The plumbing was abysmal - throughout the building. My sink had detached from the wall and tilted, so water pooled in it. The shower sprayed water over the curtain, and water pooled on the floor. The flush button above my toilet kept popping out of the wall - the first time it fell right into the toilet. ...and I had to fish it out because the shared bathroom toilets were both out of order (one of them, when I tried to flush it - water shot out of the back and onto the floor).
There was a toilet brush hanging from the wall beside my toilet - handle hanging down... That seems so wrong. There was no toilet paper. The trash bin (where dirty toilet paper goes) was a rusty metal bin without a bag in it. That can't be sanitary.
The mattress on the bed was okay (basically a foam mat) but there was no support under it, so it sank in the middle. I felt like I was sleeping in a nest. I only had one working electrical outlet and it was up on the wall. I had to use the provided dirty power bar for anything to reach.
Ants got curious about my backpack on the second day. I had to get creative hanging my luggage from the walls and share my bed space with the rest. But it's a really good thing that I was paranoid about the floor, because on my last morning, I woke up to water dripping from the ceiling. Fortunately only my shoes were soaking wet. I wouldn't be surprised if the water was from an overflowed toilet on the floor above me. And even if the water started out clean, there is no way it remained that way after the path it took to get to my floor.
They didn't honor the booking.com price that I was quoted. (I can't believe this property is listed on booking.com at all, and I did contact Booking to let them know). In the end, this terrible hostel wasn't that much cheaper than decent hotels in the area.
It was dirty. I didn't even think about using the kitchen. The shared refrigerator didn't work. The ventilation in my room was limited to a slot above my room door, and the area immediately outside my door was "the smoking area". I had a fan, it was really grimy. There were scrap bits of wood and plastic under the the legs of the desk in my room to "level it". The plumbing was abysmal - throughout the building. My sink had detached from the wall and tilted, so water pooled in it. The shower sprayed water over the curtain, and water pooled on the floor. The flush button above my toilet kept popping out of the wall - the first time it fell right into the toilet. ...and I had to fish it out because the shared bathroom toilets were both out of order (one of them, when I tried to flush it - water shot out of the back and onto the floor).
There was a toilet brush hanging from the wall beside my toilet - handle hanging down... That seems so wrong. There was no toilet paper. The trash bin (where dirty toilet paper goes) was a rusty metal bin without a bag in it. That can't be sanitary.
The mattress on the bed was okay (basically a foam mat) but there was no support under it, so it sank in the middle. I felt like I was sleeping in a nest. I only had one working electrical outlet and it was up on the wall. I had to use the provided dirty power bar for anything to reach.
Ants got curious about my backpack on the second day. I had to get creative hanging my luggage from the walls and share my bed space with the rest. But it's a really good thing that I was paranoid about the floor, because on my last morning, I woke up to water dripping from the ceiling. Fortunately only my shoes were soaking wet. I wouldn't be surprised if the water was from an overflowed toilet on the floor above me. And even if the water started out clean, there is no way it remained that way after the path it took to get to my floor.
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As far as my soaking wet shoes went, the staff only shrugged and said "sorry" and showed me a place to put my shoes in the sun where they could dry. Sigh... But there wouldn't have been enough time for that, I had a flight in the afternoon. Had my shoes been newer, I might have tried to clean them, but there wasn't enough life left in them to justify the effort, and the thought of wearing wet shoes didn't appeal. I left them on the street beside a sleeping homeless person. I actually feel bad about that - they were pretty gross, and not just from the water leak.
So I checked out of my hostel (I stormed off in a huff) and I walked a kilometer in flip flops while carrying my bags and found a shoe store. I tried on dozens of different shoes and only managed to find a pair of sandals that were comfortable. Hush Puppies, they're nice - but - they're just a soft plastic and they were listed at about $85 CAD. I paid in cash though, so I got my Western Union discount. And I've already walked about 20 km in them without any blisters or pain, so that's a good sign.
I still need some shoes though. I think I might buy some decent hiking boots; maybe I could do some trekking. Oh, right - I should mention, I'm in Bariloche now! It's beautiful. It's on the Eastern edge of the Andes. Technically it's considered Patagonia, but toward the Northern end. There is hiking, trekking, camping, biking, kayaking, white water rafting, and more. I haven't decided what I want to do yet (most everything was closed today because it's Sunday). But I'll see what I can come up with in the next couple of days.
I've got a couple more pics I took on my walk to the airport:
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