www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hey guys,
I am one of the guys who really enjoys staying at La Amistad. I dig the ambiance of the place and I have my favorite room. I can even deal with the train noise.

However, next time I was thinking of trying out the the Dunn Inn just for the variety. I like the lobby of the place and have heard that the staff and management are great. On my last visit I saw one of the older rooms and was not impressed. I have not seen any of the remodeled rooms so I have no reference on how they are.

So, I was wondering if any of you guys have tried both hotels and would choose the Dunn Inn over Amistad. I would like to hear your pros and cons.

Also, are there any photos of the new rooms.

I like to have a nice hotel room with nicer amenities. I think the hotel you choose can greatly affect the quality of your stay.

Courtesy of Brother J0sie, I've seen 2 of the better rooms at La Amistad and at least one of the newer refurbed rooms (junior suites really) at Dunn Inn. they are about equal quality amenity-wise. I myself like the older rooms at Dunn Inn but that's just me. When Dunn Inn is finished with the new bar/sportsbook/etc. addition, it's only competion in and apples-and-oranges kind of way, will be the SL.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I have stayed at both and I think it all depends on what kind of things you like. I will tell you what I liked about each and didn't like and that may help you a bit.

Dunn Inn - liked: friendly, all female staff (except security and maintenance); quiet during evenings; low key; if I wasn't a monger, I would not have said it was a chica/mongering friendly hotel; good food; good coffee and hot milk for coffee, free internet use, computers with speakers; all air conditioned rooms with exception of balcony room that doesnt need a/c because of the french doors that open up to the out doors; around the corner from HLH; available parking if you rent/have a car; casino across the street. Dislike: rooms could be a tad bigger

Amistad - liked: good bar and social area; nice rooms, around the corner from SL; friendly staff. Dislike: trains in the morning can be very loud depending where in the hotel you are rooming; cold milk for coffee

If you like a lay low, low key kind of place - Dunn Inn
If you like to see more activity - particulary around the bar, etc - Amistad

Really, both hotels provide good service and a CRT discount. I'm more of a low key kind of guy (and hot milk in my coffee) and personally prefer Dunn Inn. A good friend of mine prefers Amistad. No matter which one you settle on, make sure you visit the other and ask for a tour and show you what the rooms are like. Hope this helps. Good luck!

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Puta Vida

This explains BKTuna's outfit on saturday evening 10/31/2008.

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Sex with Gringas in the U.S. is like modern art. Most of it is pretty bad, and the good stuff is out of your price range.

Bk showed me the photos from that famous Halloween, and except for his facial hair which reminded me of my Italian grandmother, I might have mistaken him for a HDR hottie. Note to self, book trip for Oct 31,2010.

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

I can tell you one huge difference between the Dunn Inn and Amistad. I have had to cancel trips to CR on two separate occasions having reservations at both hotels. There is a much greater demand for rooms at the Amistad, so I was saved any penalty since they simply rented my room to another guest.

Not so at the Dunn Inn. I had reserved a room for three nights on one of the busier weekends in SJ, and the Dunn Inn immediately charged my credit card for all three nights at the time of cancellation. Granted, the cancellation occurred during the morning of the day I was scheduled to arrive in CR, but again, it was on one of the busiest weekends of the year. The hotel should have had no problem renting the room to another guest.

To make matters worse, the hotel's "policy" of charging for the full scheduled stay was nowhere to be found on the hotel's web site or in any communication with hotel staff. The Hotel simply swiped my card without notice for the full three nights. Surprise! Very tacky.

I was never told that the hotel would refund my money if it rented my room to another guest (although that was the impression I had based on subsequent communications). Since that was unclear, I called the hotel to book a room of the same class for the first and second nights and was told that none were available. Hotel staff claimed in another communication that was not the case. At best, the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing. At worst, the hotel is preying on the misfortune of others by double-dipping on guests that cancel by charging them and reselling their rooms. Either way, it does not bode well for their business model.

I'm curious to hear if others have been bent over in similar fashion, because bktuna seems like a decent enough guy, and I want to believe that he's not part of this suspect business policy. But I can tell you that a friend who recently was forced to cancel a trip was treated the same way - no notice of the "policy," and an immediate charge to his credit card that was not refunded.

To be fair, the hotel did tell me that it would "try" to comp me on a future trip, and that "maybe" I could get one free night. But in light of the confusion and misinformation that surrounded this experience, I'm skeptical (and I'm sure that ain't gonna happen now after sharing this with the board).

I understand that the hotel has to make a profit, but the three days charge it got out of me pales in comparison to the lost business that will occur as a result of this policy. I travel to CR several times a year and have been very loyal to the SL and Amistad, and I was looking forward to discovering an alternative for my last-minute trips. Unfortunately, the Dunn Inn will not be in my future plans.

If my CRT brothers think I'm out of line here, please weigh in. I just wanted others to be aware of the Dunn Inn's "policy" before anyone else considers staying there, and understand that there are much less costly options in the event you must cancel your trip to CR. Even if the Dunn Inn's contact I spoke to on the phone was incorrect and rooms really were available, the fact that the hotel has a low volume in comparison to other popular options in CR exposes its guests to a much higher risk of getting an unpleasant surprise on their credit card statements in the event of an unexpected cancellation.

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One-eyed and peg-legged is how I like 'em, ARRRRR!

Discussions of a hotel's policy aren't out of line as long as you give the context, which you did. Personally, with the Dunn Inn I'd ask to speak directly with Brother BKTuna. He is not the GM of the hotel but have every reason to believe he could work something out so that room did not go unrented and/or double-charged. He's on-site every day and very reachable. And a PM to him (if you haven't already) might be in order.
Sorry to hear this happened to you but please give them another chance--it's too charming to write off forever. Besides being a frequent guest, my only connection is having a little thing for Magda.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I exchanged numerous PMs with bkt in an effort to resolve the situation. I would have been happy to eat a night for the hotel's trouble regardless of whether they were booked full. I also believe bkt made an honest effort to resolve the situation, but due to past problems with cancellations, according to bkt, ownership was unwilling to waver from its surprise and draconian policy of charging for the entire stay. Regardless of the hotel's policy or past experience, I thought the surprise penalty of three nights was excessive. That did not break my bank, but I found it extremely annoying that I was forced to subsidize the hotel's lack of paying customers.

I hope I'm not coming across as nasty, emotional, or unreasonable, and I certainly do not wish bkt or the hotel any harm. I just wanted to state the facts as objectively as possible so others can be informed and make the right choice for themselves based on their own needs and expectations. That's what CRT is all about, right?

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One-eyed and peg-legged is how I like 'em, ARRRRR!

I think would help if BKTUNA would confirm what the actual policy of the Hotel Dunn Inn is. If it's as stated as above, does that mean that the credit card would be charged for 14 days if the canceled reservation was originally for two weeks? Does the amount of notice matter (6pm day of arrival, 24, or 48 hours, one week, etc.)? Do they indeed charge even if the room gets rented out to someone else?

Does anyone know what the cancellation policies are of the competition? Perhaps ID, PacoLoco, or brother JazzboCR want to chime in with some research?

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Sex with Gringas in the U.S. is like modern art. Most of it is pretty bad, and the good stuff is out of your price range.

I wouldn't dream of stepping into Brother BKTuna's shoes in re: hotel policy. He'll see this Thread in the AM and no doubt respond. Remember, as Sales and Marketing Director, his powers are somewhat limited. The GM, Ms. Isabel Esteban, holds the whip hand and she can be one tough cookie. Nothing confidential, no inside knowledge revealed here.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Brother Jazzbo reread what I wrote. I asked BKTUNA to confirm and elaborate on the policy of the Dunn Inn. I thought you or others might report on what the policies were of other hotels in San Jose. Perhaps compiled in a handy matrix.

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Sex with Gringas in the U.S. is like modern art. Most of it is pretty bad, and the good stuff is out of your price range.

Hotel Little Havana: (From Website)
For any guaranteed reservation accepted by Hotel Little Havana there is a $50 cancellation fee when you cancel before 72 hours of your reservation date. If you cancel less than 72 hours prior to your reservation date, or don't show up, you will be charged 50% of the entire reserved stay to the credit card you use for guaranteeing your reservation. .all cancellations have to be made in writing, by email or Fax and will be answered by us the same way. We do not accept cancellations by phone! This is backed by the laws of the Federal Govenment of the United States of America, Canada, the European Union countries and the Costa Rica Municipalidad. Notes This rates not included taxes, Rates indicated include Continental Breakfast.

Sportsmens Lodge: (From Website)
For any guaranteed reservation accepted by Sportsmens Lodge and secured by your posted credit card information, there is a $50 cancellation fee when you cancel before 72 hours of your reservation date. After the 72 hour reservation period prior to your date of check in, the cancellation fee is %50 of the entire reserved stay to the credit card you use for guaranteeing your reservation. This is backed by the laws of the Federal Govenment of the Untied States of America, Canada, the European Union countries and the Costa Rica Municipalidad.

Dunn Inn (From Book-It Reservation form on Website!!!)
https://be.genares.net/6221?NextPage=book

Cancellation: Cancellation will result in no penalty. (Text color added)

Guarantee: Deposit of nights room charge is required at booking.
Taxes/Fees:
sales taxes - 10.00%
touristic tax - 3.00%
Pets welcome
Ch*ldren friendly hotel
Non smoking rooms and Smoking available.

We have had significant issues with last minute cancellations. This has led to owners to insist that we enforce the policy with no room for leeway. If you book online it shows in your receipt statement the policy which is 7 days. We are adding it to the general web area. I am also doing a new updated annoucement on policies for the CRT website.

As to Superbowl weekend we were booked full and had four cancellations on Friday morning. I can personally assure you that we did not refill those rooms. We sold one on Sat and Sunday. These last minute cancellations are a true cost to us if we do not resell the rooms. Unfortunately, most of our last minute cancellations have been CRT bookings.

The owners are giving CRT a high season discount that equals 20%, CRT is the only group that gets no guest fees and 10% on food and beverage.

I personally tried to resell the rooms to alleviate the charges, but by Friday morning all the CRT members we had turned away earlier in the week had foud rooms.


BKTUNA/Boyd

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BKTUNA/Boyd
I am never going home

Wow! That certainly changes things quite a bit.

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One-eyed and peg-legged is how I like 'em, ARRRRR!

I personally have spoken to management of both the Amistad an the Dunn Inn over the last several months and unfortunately far to often persons have reservations that are becoming last minute cancellations as perhaps either of these locations were not their first choice and when something more appealing comes along they are canceling leaving these establishments in a lurch. I see that the Dunn Inn has updated its check out page and we will be updating the Dunn Inn pages here as well as within a special announcement to clearly state they policies as it pertains to cancellations.

I will be in contact with the Amistad to see if they would like to make some sort of announcement as well.

I ask this only as I do not get personally involved in issues of this nature only to state what is the policy of a particular establishment. Please be considerate when dealing with our hotel sponsors. Most have a limited amount of rooms that make occupancy numbers the only way a place can make a profit. They go out of their way to provide discounts and service far superior to non sponsors and it is only with the members understanding and consideration of their policies that we can maintain a good relationship with these venues. Your actions speak directly to the others of this site and I ask that you remember that when you consider cancelling last minute because "something better" might have become available.

It is without question that legitimate cancellations due occur but in situations that are not of a emergency or can't be helped typed situation please be considerate of others and the hotel sponsors.

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Thank you for supporting CRT!