Rafael C.
I only stayed because I'd paid in advance, and moving elsewhere wasn't possible with several events going on in the city. It was a nightmare. The Tenderloin is known for its large homeless population, and the area smelled and was noisy. People on the sidewalk bothered us, but, surprisingly, ignoring them was enough to avoid trouble. The building smelled awful, a mix of curry, mold, and dust. The elevator broke for a day, and the hallways were dirty. Our room had plenty of space, almost like a small studio with a stove, microwave, sink, and utensils, but getting between the bedroom and kitchen meant passing through the bathroom area. If someone was bathing, we had to wait. The room and the rest of the building smelled. Dust covered the floor, the blinds were broken, and the windows were dirty. The restroom was separate from the bathroom, and its mirror was in such a strange spot you had to stand on the toilet to see anything. The bed creaked whenever we shifted or even sat down. The sheets and comforter smelled like cigarette smoke and were dirty. The pillowcases and towels had hair and looked used, so I asked for clean replacements. The towels were like a big wad of lint. Every morning around 5, someone spoke on the phone under our window in Hindi or something similar. It sounded like an argument and woke us up.
