www.CostaRicaTicas.com

This game seems to be getting worse than ever in the gulch, certain places in particular are screwing us over with an excessive spread.
It's been posted that HLH and NF rob you if paying with colones in fact I believe NF has a 600c rate posted behind the bar making 1 hr. 50.00 or 30k colones. I usually put my leftover colones towards my hotel bill but am now reconsidering this in light of my last visit where I didn't pay attention and got hit 525.

This is a quote regarding Dunn Inn, if you pay your hotel bill in colones you also get charged the 525c rate, unfortunately I didn't notice at the time.

My last stay at Presidente they charged 509 which is in line with the bank rate and I think the HDR usually runs the same, many hotels have it posted at the front desk. What about other places, maybe we can put together a list.

Some restaurants in tourist areas are so brazen that they post prices in dollars and then give you a bill in dollars and colones, and if you happen to pay it in colones they give you your change in a mixture of dollars and colones but only after converting it again so you lose another 5 or 10%.

This is why I deal exclusively in colones while in CR. I don't even mention dollars, and ask to see prices up front. I hate paying the gringo prices for anything, so I ask to see prices in writing before I even make a buying decision.

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

Are you paying attention K-Paxian, if you pay colones at these places you get SCREWED by up to an additional 20%. I always used to pay everything in colones but now we get penalized at some places playing this scam so I carried dollars and colones around last trip to avoid the ripoff.

It helps if you learn upfront what the prices are in colones before you buy. That way you get tico prices. If you can't get prices upfront, leave.

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

Another thing to watch for in CR is going to dinner as a group, Costa del Sol and Mariscar have been know to pad the bill. Make the crooks give everyone a separate check.

I saw this same shit at the Done Inn over SB weekend.

The rate that Boyd quoted me when I made the reservation was $60.00 (all taxes included).

The bill came out to $199.62 (includes a bottle of water from minibar), so about $197 for the room instead of $180.

THEN they converted that $199.62 (using a ¢525 rate) to ¢104,800. When I got my CC bill, it was $211 plus a $6 foreign transaction fee, so the whole thing ended up costing me $217.

Obviously, the receptionist knew NOTHING of the $60 rate that I was quoted and that was the day Boyd got fired (I didn't know it at the time, but he wasn't around mid-day).

Just another reason that I will never stay in or refer anybody to that place again.

In general, it's best to pay in the currency that you are quoted to avoid them re-cacluating the price into another currency. If you are given a choice, do the math and pay the better rate.