residencia?

[irishvan]

I lived in Madrid for a couple of years and spent most of the time happily in a residencia. This is probably best explained as being like a hostel but for long term residents (years in some cases) I have not been able to find anything similar here, though most Argentinians seem to know what they are.

Can anybody help me?

 

[nikad]

I think the equivalent would be a " pension " ( look for one in a nice neighborhood as they used to be economic places to live when you cannot afford a rent ) It is basically a room and a bathroom ( at some you share the kitchen, also others you also share the bathroom )

 

[KatharineAnn]

I´m not sure what the difference between a pensión and a residencia is, but they definitely have residencias here, but are almost always for students, especially university students from other countries or from the interior of the country. Perhaps ´pensión´ would be the word for a residencia that is not almost exclusively for students....

Also, many hostels work as if they were residencias...they give you the option of staying for many months, or probably even years. You generally get a discounted rate from the nightly or weekly rates. So you could check out hostels´ web sites and ask if they offer a discount for long-term residents.

 

[nikad]

I´m not sure what the difference between a pensión and a residencia is, but they definitely have residencias here, but are almost always for students, especially university students from other countries or from the interior of the country. Perhaps ´pensión´ would be the word for a residencia that is not almost exclusively for students....

Also, many hostels work as if they were residencias...they give you the option of staying for many months, or probably even years. You generally get a discounted rate from the nightly or weekly rates. So you could check out hostels´ web sites and ask if they offer a discount for long-term residents.

I always thought " residencias " were just for college students ( there are several nearby UBA and other universities )

 

[KatharineAnn]

Like I said, the majority are ´for´ university students. However, many aren´t ´exclusive´ for university students. I lived in a couple, and wasn´t studying.

 

[nikad]

Like I said, the majority are ´for´ university students. However, many aren´t ´exclusive´ for university students. I lived in a couple, and wasn´t studying.

Didn´t know that ( I always learn something new even though I am local! ) They might also use the term residencia ( as pension is associated with low middle class people by the majority )