www.CostaRicaTicas.com

What is the best Hotel in area? price quality wise

My preference is Sportsmens Lodge.

I choose between 3 hotels, The Sportsmens Lodge, The Castillo and the Taormina. They are all within a 10 minute walk (or less) of each other. Some folks also like Hotel Little Havana but I have never stayed there. I also have not stayed at the Amistad since it reopened.

They all have their Pros and Cons. I am sure that some folks will disagree with my assessment and it is just my opinion. Personally I have stayed at and enjoyed each property. My decision usually centers around exactly what rooms are available at the Sportsmens or the Castillo.

Sportsmens

Pros

(1) A great bar / restaurant. Very good drink prices during happy hour. Drinks not too expensive at other times. Good variety of food choices though somewhat expensive. Included breakfast is pretty good though you pay extra for meat and juice. They put the free coffee pot out early but no breakfast until 8. Any sporting event you might want to watch will be on one of the flat screens in the bar.

(2) Some very nice rooms in the Mansion section. Good rooms in the Modern wing and the Clubhouse. You can see the layout on their website. Easy to see specific room availability on their website. Online reservations are simple to make.

(3) Some good talent frequents bar. They will stay open until midnight or just before whatever the mandatory closing time might be.

(4) Attentive management. Front desk staff is very helpful. Bartenders are great.

(5) No guest fee though they do have a pretty extensive "ban list". All guests must sign in with security.

(6) Pretty decent wifi throughout the hotel.

Cons

(1) The Courtyard rooms around the bar can be very noisy. These are the oldest rooms in the Lodge.

(2) Non guest males and women must have the QR code or USA Vax Card to use the bar or the restaurant. I imagine this will be the norm in the future for other bars but right now it's just the SL.

(3) They are pretty strict about masks when not eating or drinking.

(4) The nicer rooms are pretty pricey. Best values for me are Amistad, Jaguar and El Tigre.

(5) A lot of the rooms have a shower / tub combo that can be difficult to use especially after a few drinks.

Hotel Castillo

Pros

(1) The all inclusive deal can't be beat. For $10 over the rack rate you get three meals and all you can drink (domestic beer, soft drinks, wine and local liquor).

(2) If you stay four nights you can take advantage of deeply discounted transport to and from Jaco. The last time I stayed there it was $35 each way. A huge savings. Also free transport back to the airport.

(3) Free laundry and calls to the USA.

(4) The food is very good but if you stay for an extended period of time it can get a bit monotonous. And if you take the all inclusive, you feel obligated to eat there.

(5) Some nice rooms. My favorites are the King Balcony rooms, #18 and #23 (18 is bigger).

(6) Nice bar and pretty well attended by local chicas.

(7) No guest fee and they DO NOT check in your guests.

(8) Overall a great staff at the front desk and bar / restaurant.

(9) Discounted Covid test on site. I think it was about $35.

Cons

(1) Service can be slow especially around dinner time as they only have one person tending bar, waiting table, serving dinner and bussing tables.

(2) All rooms are unique and some are quite small. A lot of the rooms could use a bit of maintenance.

(3) No bourbon at the bar. The closest they have is Jack Daniels and it is not part of the all inclusive.

(4) Drinks are very expensive if you are not on the all inclusive. This comes into play when you are buying chica drinks.

(5) Cannot see specific room availability on the website. You submit a reservation request and they respond via email. That said, turnaround is pretty quick during business hours.

(6) When I was last there, dinner service stopped at 7:30. As the bar is staying open later maybe this has been extended.

Taormina

Pros

(1) Closest to a US style hotel. All rooms are similar and pretty decent. Really 3 pricepoints. The Deluxe room (one or two beds), The Premium room, a little larger than the Deluxe with one or two beds and the Master Suites. On their website the Deluxe room for the dates I wanted was $80 for two people and $70 for one. I don't know if it is like Thailand where you have to book for two in order to bring up guests. I play it safe and book for two. If it matters contact the hotel.

(2) Host an after hours party on the fourth floor on Fridays and Saturdays. Last month it was hopping.

(3) Two bars off the lobby.

(4) They have a Casino if that is your thing.

(5) Can select your room and make reservation for it online at their website.

Cons

(1) They have pretty much ruined the lobby sports bar with the Covid setup and capacity restrictions. Usually very few women inside and you can't really wander around. Better chica selection is usually in the lobby itself or the "overflow" bar (the old poker room).

(2) They do have a guest fee though it seems to be applied pretty inconsistently. I paid $10 one night and avoided it on two other nights by just taking her right up the elevator without checking her in at the front desk (can be risky). I have heard others say they paid $15. I would imagine that if you grab one at the after hours party on the forth floor you could probably just take her straight back to your room. Here YMMV.

(3) I have heard the onsite Covid test is VERY expensive. I will check that out in early April. Verify the price before you sign up and hit Clinica Biblica if it is too expensive.

(4) Bar food is mediocre. The Italian restaurant attached to the hotel is pretty good but a bit expensive.

(5) Drinks are pricey but not outrageous.

(6) Front desk staff and security aren't the friendliest.

(7) Breakfast is no longer included. I did see some of the third party sites offering rooms with included breakfast but the price was a lot higher.

The WiFi at the Castillo is pretty bad, unless you are in the bar area or in the rooms on the first floor directly next to the bar. Otherwise, WiFi is good for email and texting only. If you are trying to WFB (work from brothel) you may have issues.

hilarious assesment. I never have to (wfb) myself but I certainly have called

in (cough-cough) sick many a time from the free call usa phone @ the Amistad!

Sometimes things r goin so well you just gotta have another day or 2 in paradice!!

Or the time the volcano blew & I was stuck in sjo for 2 more days & had to have hot sex

with 4 more 19yr old latinas !!!

_________________
"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969

Great summing up Harddrive and i generally agree from my experience. My go to place before it closed for the pandemic was La Amistad but have not stayed there since it reopened. Their ad on this website said that they are not offering the all inclusive although I had heard that Kimberly was running the bar and restaurant and she had a separate charge for this. I hope that someone who has stayed there recently can update us.

_________________
" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

I stayed at La Amistad in December. They still have the all inclusive, but price has gone up considerably. Current prices (not including tax) are Queen $58/$102 (regular/all inclusive), King $67/$111, Penthouse or Jacuzzi $89/$133. 15% discount on the all inclusive for stays of 4 nights or longer, 20% for 7 days or longer. All inclusive at the Amistad is no longer good at Castillo, and visa-versa.

Yep, was a great deal when you could do both for the $10 up charge

_________________
Entertainment purposes only, nothing posted above is true nor reflects reality nor my experience.

The way I look at the new pricing structure at Amistad is that it is transparent and gives you options. Anyone that thought about it knew $10 was never the true cost of the all-inclusive.

Now you have a viable room only option for a reasonable rate. Or all-inclusive if you choose. Rates with all-inclusive are still below Castillo all-inclusive rates. Room only rates are the lowest of the hotels mentioned.