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Detailed Report on Hotel Europa (with comments on Hotel Morazan and Presidente)

I quit staying at Hotel Presidente about a year ago because a very scary thing happened to me there. I came downstairs one morning with a working girl about 35 years younger than me, and as we walked into the News Cafe, I saw the CEO of one of my largest clients having breakfast with his wife and K*ds. I will not reveal what I do for a living, but rest assured my clientele are straight shooters who would not approve of mongering. They didn’t see me, but it freaked me out so bad that I moved to Hotel Morazan. That kind of coincidence might not happen again in the next 100 years, but I never felt comfortable at the Pres after that.

I figure no self-respecting man would take his wife and Ch*ldren to Hotel Morazan, so I always felt safe there in my own element. I stayed there my last 4 trips. When Alonzo was manager, he always put me in a large room for $40 plus tax, gave me the safe for free, and never charged chica fees. This trip, I checked into Morazan on March 16th, and they put me in a small dungeon of a room which made me claustrophobic and told me that was the only room available at the moment. They charged me $45 plus tax for the room, $3 per night for the safe, and $5 per chica. The price of room service went up too. I had two shrimp dinners sent to the room and it cost me over $35. The bill was $94 for only one night. I checked out the next day and moved to Hotel Europa.

The regular rate at Europa is $60 plus tax which comes to nearly $70. If you book through DonCarlos, you can get the casino rate of $40 per night including tax. The safe is $3 per night, but there are no chica fees and you can have more than one at a time. The 72-room hotel is rarely full, so DonCarlos can usually book you on short notice. Check in at the front desk, but don’t pay them for the room --- pay DonCarlos directly. It's a good idea to bring a copy of your email from DonCarlos to avoid confusion. You will have to give your credit card number to the front desk if you want to use the safe and charge room service.

Europa was built in 1911, and in its day must have been the finest hotel in Costa Rica. It shows age now, but is by no means dilapidated. It is still a very nice place with respectable guests. I felt much more secure there than at Morazan. There are not nearly as many mongers as at Morazan, but I never had any trouble taking women to my room. The chicas must present their cedula at the front desk, the clerk makes a photocopy and places it in your folder. If the same chica visits again, just tell the clerk their ID is on file.

My room was 12 by 15 feet with air conditioning and two large windows overlooking the street. It was well furnished with a queen size bed, chest of drawers, large writing table with lamp and chair, 2 larger sitting chairs and floor lamp, 2 bedside tables with lamps, luggage rack, coffee table, and 21-inch TV with remote. There was plenty of room to unpack all my stuff and not feel cramped at all.

The room had a walk-in closet about 2 feet wide and 4 feet deep with a safe, clothes-hanger bar, and tie rack. It included a large bathroom with toilet, shower, sink, and a large wall cabinet for toiletries, tooth brush, viagra, cialis, etcetera, which came in real handy. There was a slight problem with the plumbing in the old hotel. In the shower, the hot water would occasionally turn cold for 15-20 seconds, and sometimes I had to flush to toilet 2 or 3 times to clear it.

The 24-hour room service was good. Late at night, there is a limited menu with hamburgers, fries, lasagna, salads, etc. When the main restaurant is open (6 AM to 9 PM I believe), you can order from an elaborate menu of seafood, red meats and poultry. The quality of the food from the main restaurant is above average with reasonable prices, although the portions are frequently too small. They do a brisk lunch business with many well-dressed Tico office workers.

Breakfast is free, but you have to go to the front desk and ask for a breakfast ticket every morning. I don't think people paying the casino rate are entitled to the free breakfast as they didn't tell me about it when I checked in. But the morning clerks didn't know what rate I was paying and didn't bother to check, so I just showed them my room key and they gave me the ticket every day.

The maid service was good. I gave a maid 1000 colones the first day for extra pillows and towels for two weeks. Every time I asked them to go clean up my room immediately, they got right on it. I always left them a small propina for special requests.

The hotel laundry service was a rip-off. I gave them 7 sets of underwear and socks, 7 polo shirts, and 5 pair of jeans, and they charged me $52. I’m pretty sure I could have found a local wash & fold laundry to do it for less than $10. I’ll know better next time.

There is a nice swimming pool at ground level. You can sunbath from late morning until about 2:30 PM when the surrounding buildings begin to block the direct sun light.

There are several large office buildings in same block as the hotel. Other than that, the neighborhood consists of small tiendas that cater to Ticos. The streets are very crowded with traffic and pedestrians during the day and early evening, but it’s not rough crowd and feels relatively safe. The main danger at that time is having your pocket picked. At 5 or 6 PM, the traffic is a nightmare and it is nearly impossible to get a taxi as they are almost all occupied. Late at night, it is difficult to find a taxi in the neighborhood. One night my GF went out at 2 AM and it took her an hour to get a taxi. We started making it a practice to have a trusted taxi driver come for her at a specified time.

Europa is 3 blocks from the main pedestrian walkway on Avenida Central, 3 blocks from the Auto-Mercado supermarket, 5 blocks from the Plaza de la Cultura, and 7 blocks from the Blue Marlin. You can walk to the BM in 15-20 minutes, and if there is rush hour traffic that will be faster than a taxi. Of course, late at night always take a taxi back to Europa.

One added benefit of staying at Europa is you don’t have to travel for the Saturday night meeting of Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes. I will soon post a detailed report on the LOWB meeting I attended.

My overall opinion of Hotel Europa is that if you go through DonCarlos and book it for $40 tax included, it is a very good deal. If you book it at the regular rate of $70, it is not a good deal.

Man, when I start writing, I sometimes get carried away. I hope this helps out someone.

A very informative report. Thanks for taking the time.

This is one of the best and most detailed hotels reviews I`ve read so far. Thanks

Don Giovanni,

Thanks much for the great review. This last trip I explored other hotel choices as the Pres. is lately booked on short notice.
This really helps as I was interested in the Europa.
I really want to stay at the Sportsman but I know with all the great reviews, it is also going to be hard to get a room.
So you need to have options.
Thanks again,
Just nucknfuts

_________________
Throughout the history of mankind there has never been one shred of evidence that supports that life is serious..........
Don't believe everything you think ............

Thanks for the report Don G. I'm staying there for 5 nights starting on the 7th. I thought 40 bucks including tax was a pretty good deal. I think you have confirmed that.

Berk......

Thanks DG

We should have in place an easier way to book rooms at the Europa for our VIP's at a very good rate. We are working on this with the Marketing Mgr, so that Don Carlos does not have to handle all this and it can be done quite easily with their reservation system etc.

Stay tuned, as we are just working out some logistics.

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Thank you for supporting CRT!

Several people have sent private messages about the $40 rate.

I should point out that it is $45 per night for less than 4 nights.

You must stay 4 nights or more to get the $40 rate.

I thought that the "poker" tournament was a nightly event at the Del Rey. No wait.... that was the tournament I had in my room! Sorry... I couldn't resist!

Berk......

From: "don Carlos" <doncarlos@flamingocasinocr.com> View Contact Details
To: "'Pura tico'"
Subject: RE: Water Buffalo's meeting.
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:16:52 -0600


No problem. I’ll put all your names on the list, and order up some extra girls.



It should be a big weekend for us because we are opening the casino on the 21st. If anyone is interested in a room we can book at the Europa for $45/night+tax (breakfast included). It is not as nice as the breakfast at the Presidente, but you can bring as many girls to your room as you like (all at once).



Please let the guys know that the show is rock’n now.



dC

With the loss of the Gran Via, the dress code ruckus and difficulty of getting a room at the Presidente, the newly-innstituted $25.00 chica fee at the Amon Plaza and the reported difficulty of finding a room at the SL, the Europa seems a possible choice. I've talked with a few guys who have stayed there; their opinion is that the hotel is a good deal at $40.00/day including taxes but wouldn't be a good deal at a higher price. Was anything ever put together for a CRT V.I.P. discount?

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

With all the robberies between the Delrey and Presidente recently...and continued bad service at the Morazan...I'm beginning to think Europa is a better option than before. I stayed there a week my first trip to Costa Rica and quite honestly I liked the hotel.. I had a large room with a small balcony out the back...dont remember the room nmber now. At that time, the Europa, along with the Morazan and Royal Dutch Hotels, were controlled by the Cuban who ran the Casino Europa at the Radisson and was bringing in 300+ poker players every few months for big tournaments...and to fund the Saving Unlimited sheister fund that he evenutally raided and disappeared...still on the Interpol wanted list. Now I think it is all de centralized...but the Europa and Royal Dutch hotels are still inexpensive downtown options with no chica fees last I heard. Thay also modernized and expanded the restaurant and casino there since I stayed, so that part is even improved. Some of you may even like that neighborhood as being next door to Lipsticks (strip club, watch your wallet) and around the corner from 3-4 massage parlors. Not bad for monger travelers...

As far as I know, there have been no CRT discounts at Europa since Don Carlos left --- which was sometime before last October. I last communicated with him in June of 2005. He arranged the $40 rate for me then, but I broke my leg and had to cancel. By the time I recovered in October, he was no longer employed at Europa and I could not obtain the discount. I have not seen him posting on the board and do not know what became of him. Someone posted that after he worked for months to set up the Flamingo Casino at Europa, management started screwing him on his take so he walked out.

I phoned Europa about 3 weeks ago, and asked if they had a CRT discount and was informed that they did not. I had to book 4 nights of a 2-week visit there at $60 because all my other preferences were booked up. Hotels were getting booked up for May 3 weeks ago, and this is supposed to be the Green (Rainy) Season. If you can’t find a better place, you can e-mail HEILYN at info@hoteleuropacr.com or call 011-506-222-1222.

With reference to the recent problems reported by El Ciego and Tman, maybe the ADMINS should approach this place. They were not nearly booked full when I was there last. CRT could send them a lot of business, if they gave us a good discount.