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Llevo un mes sin viajar porque ese hotelucho apestaba.

Llevo un mes sin viajar porque ese hotelucho apestaba.
I haven't traveled for a month because that fleabag hotel stank.
From Lesson 355:Pejorative suffixes (-ucho, -aco)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Llevo un mes sin viajar porque ese hotelucho apestaba.

How does the suffix -ucho change the meaning of hotel here?
The suffix -ucho is a pejorative (derogatory) ending. By adding it to hotel to make hotelucho, the speaker emphasizes that the hotel is of very poor quality, ugly, or unpleasant. It translates well to 'fleabag hotel' or 'crappy hotel' in English.
Why is llevo un mes sin viajar translated as 'I haven't traveled for a month'?
The structure llevar + [period of time] + sin + [infinitive] is the most natural way in Spanish to express how long you have gone without doing something. While it literally translates to 'I carry a month without traveling', it replaces the English present perfect structure.
Why use the imperfect tense apestaba instead of the preterite apestó?
The imperfect apestaba is used here because it describes an ongoing state or background characteristic of the hotel in the past. The hotel simply 'was stinking' or 'smelled bad' in general during the speaker's experience, rather than it being a single, isolated action.
Is the verb apestar related to the word for 'plague'?
Yes! The verb apestar (to stink) is derived from the noun peste. While peste historically means 'plague' or 'pestilence', in everyday Spanish it is very commonly used to mean a terrible stench or foul odor.

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