HOTEL CASA DE SAL — Hotel in Uyuni

As far as flexibility goes, this hotel was awesome! We found the hotel in our backpackers guide for international hostels around S.America. Called to make a reservation and were happy to find they could accommodate us even though we were arriving around 3am!||||CONS||There was no running water in the bathroom (they should have told us this when we booked a room with a private bathroom). It only runs at 7am, so we had to wake up 4hrs after going to bed to make sure we got some water. But then the water was freezing cold and we had to shower in the shared bathrooms. Not so bad, as they were clean, however these showers were also either freezing cold or boiling hot!! Not great :(||No breakfast was offered, although this allowed us to go exploring and we found a great little indoor market a few blocks down with a cafeteria at the top where we had delicious toast and eggs and coffee!||||PROS||The owner was willing to give us a discount for all the trouble we were experiencing. She also provided useful advice with a tour company (non-english speaking unfortunately) that could take us on a one day tour of the Salt Flats the same day we arrived. Finally, her staff also helped book our bus tickets to La Paz while we were busy on the tour, so we didn't have...

We arrived in town after one of the world's worst bus rides - La Paz to Uyuni (preceded by one of the best - Copacabana to La Paz). To mis-quote Nike - "Just DON'T Do It". Take the train instead. La Paz to Orouro is okay but from Orouro it was brutal beyond description.||We had to find somewhere clean and quiet to recuperate. Hostal Marith fitted the bill. We stayed one night (whilst arranging a trip across the Salar with one of the many agencies in town) and found it very basic but comfortable with plenty of hot water. (The same could barely be said of our first night's accommodation in the Salar, and as for the second night.....Hostal Marith was 5-star luxury in comparison). There weren't any hooks on the en-suite bathroom door but I bought some from the local street market. The hostal's rooms are arranged around a courtyard and what little laundry we did soon dried on the courtyard line in the sun...

It was inconspicuous as we pulled up to the hotel entrance. Yes, the hotel is still in the throes of renovation and built with salt bricks! But they have an elevator! So, managing luggage is not a challenge up the stairs. We arrived late and left very early, so did not experience the vibrant neighboring streets. But having drove past in the day suggest its in a bustling location. Across the hotel is a Bolivian army barrack, so if your room faced the road, you hear roar of soldiers from 6am. The room allocated to us, wow is large. Ours could have accommodated 6 with a dining table! They have heaters in the room to plug in if one needs additional warmth. Breakfast is generally standard but the staff were very helpful with food restrictions requests. A pity we only only...