Claridge Hotel

There were animals around this old, cheap hotel, and our room didn't even have a window. The shower and toilet share one tiny space, so you're practically standing on the toilet.

Very basic place, probably fine for a night or for bachelors.

Really kind people here.

I paid 6,000 Uruguayan pesos a month for a carpeted room with a private bathroom and TV. I was there for a month in March 2010, and they cleaned the room once a week. It only had a little vent above the door, so I sometimes went to sit in the lounge for some air. Cooking took a lot of effort. I had to push a cart around the hotel with a 3 kg gas bottle and stove, then make another trip to the kitchen carrying the ingredients. Laundry was awkward too. I could use the laundry room, or climb a ladder to the rooftop terrace that scared me because I thought I might fall. There were clotheslines on every floor and in each room. I remember buying a fuchsia tin with handles to carry the laundry upstairs.