www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I am tenatively planning my first trip to CR in Sept since March 2005. Last time I was in CR room rates at the Del Ray and Presidente were $65 a night with the Presidente charging no tica fee and the Del Ray charging $10. I see both now are around $85 a night...is the tica fee still the same.

Going rates back then were $100 at the Blue Marlin and about $55 at most of the massage parlors such as the Zona Blue. What are the rates now. Is the downtown area still moderately safe. Any other changes I might need to know about?

Read this:

https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=263

_________________
PacoLoco: "You pay for it one way or another."
Ace: "Rent everything, do not buy in Costa Rica"

The rates will pleasantly surprise you, particularly if you get the CRT V.I.P. rate at the Presidente. With the colon still fairly weak against the dollar, the rates are even better.

ZB offers an excellent discount for CRT V.I.P.s. Read the link Ace provided above.

Safety: There have been peaks of violence followed by a fairly lukewarm police response. A number of CRT members have been attacked, one by two machete-wielding bandits across the street from the New York Bar. Don Gordo was held up at gunpoint a couple years ago outside Vista Linda Apartments in the calle Blancos area. Last September 22, a mariachi was shot five times in the chest at point-blank range outside Chelle's Soda east of the Pres.

Best advice: Take taxis at night, even for very short trips. If you must stroll, do it in a group of four to six guys. Use your street-smarts; avoid passing close to alcoves, parking lot entrances and dark alleyways. You should be okay.

_________________
Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.