www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hey Amigos,

Looking to pop my Jaco cherry this upcoming weekend. After trolling the forum, looks like the Copacabana Hotel is a good way to do that... but have a few questions.

The CRT Discount page says:

The Copacabana Hotel & Suites in Jaco beach Costa Rica would like to offer the following to CRT VIP members.
10% off the following room rates year round!
Studios are $99.00 plus tax.
The one bedroom ocean front suite is $149.00US per night, plus tax.

Free VIP package to all CRT VIP members!
It includes a FREE 30 minute massage every 3 days, 10% off for food and drink at the bar and restaurant after 7:00 PM and free breakfast & a free shuttle to San Jose.

1/2 price for guest fees: $10.00 per registered guest, which they must register at the front desk.

Rates are Valid though December 2006 & do not apply to Christmas & New Years Weeks.


Have the discounts and the CRT package been extended for 2007?

Is there a specific contact person CRT members should book through?

And what is the latest info on the "chica fee" policy and discounts for CRT? Seems to be two views - 50% the normal $20 (so, $10) as posted above, but some have claimed none at all.

Also have heard and read about the "pool" action. How exactly does that work? Are they already admitted to work on the property ala the Sportsmens and you are free to take them to the rooms? Or is it more informal (or formal) than that?

Thanks

Phoenix Rising

PR: Was at the Copa with friends in late March. I have always liked the Copa but a few things happened this time that just rubbed us the wrong way. When Barb was still working for the Copa's owner in Ontario, I would be charged just one night in advance for my room alone and the rest of the group would give the clerk their individual credit cards when we arrived. This time, the new gal in Toronto charged all nine of us to the credit card of one of our guys in advance. So, about one month before we arrived, he had an approx. $1,200 bill on his AMEX statement. The safes are never unlocked when we arrive and you have to wait forever to get them opened so you can punch in a new code. One of our guys never had his opened the 2 days we were there. He just gave up that someone would help. We will probably check out other hotel options in the future.

Most of our group were CRT members and our chica fees were cut from $20 to $10 when we checked out.

Maybe we were unlucky but we have never seen any action at the pool in the afternoon except one time last year, but they were gordas and rough ones at that. This trip there was a 4-5 hour blackout throughout Jaco one night and we had our own party at the pool with gals from the BB. Wile Coyote

Wilecoyote,

Thanks for the current scoop - and the heads up on the security box - just got an email back from Katia and she quoted me 159 a night for the one bedroom suite minus CRT discount - so I guess they've jacked things up a bit but oh well. I think I'm gonna give it a shot...especially after reading these two reviews from travel advisor...

1. We were offfered something if we wrote a good review of this place, while we were there. We could not bring ourselves to do this. The Copacabana is nothing more then a front for prostitutes, which we learned that the front desk/owner is making money from. The rate was just too high after paying taxes we expected to stay in a 5 star resort. The Copacabana is a 1 star resort. The pool needs to be replaced and beds are small queen size beds that are fine if you are 5 feet. The standards and quality of the Copacabana is just not up to par with the nightly rate they are asking. You hear all the ....activity going on in the rooms. There are other resorts and hotels in Jaco that do not promote or support working women and for a lot less money. Do yourself a big favor and look for a clean place to stay.

2. as we were attending a spanish school in Jaco, we have choosen to stay for 2 weeks in a suite in the Copacabana hotel. The suites are very nice with view on the ocean, but it is a pity that the hotel management allows prostitutes to come in the hotel, so the hotel attracts fat old men looking for [--] with young women.

This way normal tourists will ignore this hotel in the future and that is a shame because the hotel is nice and on a great location.

This TripAdvisor Member:
Liked: location and room
Disliked: too many prostitutes and their filthy clients
Tips/Secrets: donot go to Jaco

Sounds like a made for CRT Hotel !!!!

book me a Room im there !!!

I Have an update from the Copa regarding their new policies, I'm working on a few new updates new sponsors and changes all will be made in the next 48 to 72 hours as well in the newsletter to go out this week.

Thanks for your patience.

_________________
Thank you for supporting CRT!

PR,

I remembered after our discussion the other night the name of the hotel we stayed at last time in Jaco - the Cocal. As I mentioned, it's further down the road into town from the Copa. It was comfortable enough, no chica check-in or fees (which can be both good and bad for security reasons), and the staff was generally friendly. Moreover, it's somewhat less costly than the Copa - we paid something like $60 per night during Labor Day off-season. Nice open pool and bar area also.

If I went back however, I would still stay at the Copa. I just really like the ambience, the rooms, and the location. And we got very lucky with the daytime action at the time.

It is funny intermingling with the non-monger crowd there also - I actually became quite friendly with one European couple, and I did try to be respectful of their prerogatives as well.

_________________
Check out http://weluvlatinas.com/ for the web's best info on the latin american monger lifestyle...

delete dup post

_________________
Check out http://weluvlatinas.com/ for the web's best info on the latin american monger lifestyle...

Well I made the move. Spoke to Katia and I'm booked for Fri and Sat. She sounds cute...

Katia is cool ... known her a long time. The only problem I have had there is that sometimes different people at the desk have different ideas about what a CRT member is to be charged. In the past I pay full rate , get rides both ways from the airport , no chica fees. Because I know the management I usually get a discount and pretty good service. Do not count on seeing much action around the pool or bars. I haven't seen much in the past couple of years. Hit or miss. Don't waste your time waiting.

_________________
"With foxes, we must play the fox." ~ Thomas Fuller