www.CostaRicaTicas.com

This post has nothing to do with all the other posts in reference to Boyd, etc.

I wanted a quiet Hotel, for one night, near San Jose centro, to take my Novia (non-puta) in San Jose.

I called and made a reservation the day prior.

Told the desk clerk we would arrive at 12:00. The clerk told me no problem there were rooms available.

I arrived at 12. Desk clerk told me the rooms were not cleaned yet. Told me to return at 1:00 and she would ensure my room was given priority for cleaning.

We returned at 1:00 and the room still was not cleaned and ready.

Desk clerk told us to wait at the bar for twenty minutes, the room would be ready and she would come and get us.

We sat at the bar for 45 minutes.

I returned to the front desk, inquired about the room and the clerk told me........oh...........yes......your room is ready........

Not sure why she did not let us know and left us waiting......she offered no explanation or apology.

Tried on three occasions to pay my departure tax. The desk clerk went in the office for ten minutes, left the desk unattended with several other customers waiting, one of which said Phuck it and went behind the desk and got his Chicas cedulla from the key box.
She returned and said Departure Tax is not working. Come back later. Came back later....different clerk said you can pick it up in the morning. I said I'm leaving at seven and want to take care of it now in case there is a line. She assured me there would be no line.
Returned in the morning and was told to come back after 8:00.

No remote control for the a/c in the room.



Bottom line. Disorganized and inattentive hotel staff. Mission states and goals posted on the wall are only wallpaper.
Will not return in the future.
To bad the hotel is in a good location and great facility.

These are recent developments, as these folks unless wholesale changes have been made recently have always been the best. If it had been eco-tourists experiencing this shoddy service, it'd have been all over TripAdvisor in about 5 minutes. Sorry for your sub-optimal stay there.

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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 agree with Jazzbo, the staff is and has always been first rate, the best!

Who's managing the place, the Presidente's team Sorry you had the problems.

They had so much good will going for them, and now seem intent on screwing it up

2 comments:

Check in time is almost always in the mid to late PM - 3 or 4:00 - so they get a small "pass" on that one.

Buy your Exit Stamp upstairs in the airport when you ARRIVE - then its done; in the event you are pressed for time when you leave, the airline has a long check in line, you hit unexpected traffic going to SJO, or encounter what you did at the hotel.

Also change money at that bank (not the Currency Exchange) just a few feet away - saves you the poor exchange rates at hotels/casinos as well as the sometimes long wait times at banks downtown (you likely know this but some - newbi's - may not) - when I arrive, the last things on my mind are adding 2 tasks that can be handled at the airport in minutes.

Normal check in time is one thing, but when someone negotiates an earlier check in/out time when booking their reservation, then that is just as much as part of the contract as any other negotiation.

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

I read the post - usually do before replying

If I had a dollar for every time the Morazon (for example - or the Presidente before all the bullshit) told me we are not crowded that day and no problem w/ giving you room xxx - and it turned out not to be the case - I think you get my point.

And not to be pedantic about it but in all likelihood, nothing was "negotiated" - I'm not defending the Dunn Inn - they are a close second to to the Presidente in terms of stupidity in how to run a property into the ground (read my posts on the Presidente if you want to know how I really feel).

But what happened was a guy calls a hotel, says "I'll be there at noon, the clerk says "no problem" - and lo and behold - the room was not ready - why - who knows - who cares - someone stayed later than they anticipated, Rosita the maid did not show up that day, the clerk was wrong, they run an inefficient operation....whatever.

My only point was STATED check in is later than noon when they arrived - no "contract" to provide a room at noon (it was a conversation) existed - should it have been ready - well, yes, based upon the conversation - was it obligated - no.

Thus my comment that ON THIS ONE MATTER posted on many complaints - the hotel gets a SMALL pass

We need to try to be polite and as least sarcastic as possible when posting as these kinds of comments run off some of our members as many members are above arguing for the sake of arguing.

I think your point is that you don't mind waiting an hour or two or three even though you asked for a 12:00 check in. You "give them a pass or a small pass". I don't. If I ask for a 12:00 check in then I want my room ready at 12:00.

You indicate this happened more than once but you continued to stay there, so as you stated in your first post, this is something you accept and "give them a pass". We got that from your first post.

One reason that we might stay at the Dunn Inn instead of the Morazon or the Presidente is that they have two Gringos there that have promised us a level of service above these places. This is the third long time CRT member that has posted they did not receive the expected level of service

As always, I trust a members post until I have a reason not to trust it. He stated that a 12:00 check in was agreed so I believe him. To me, it's not significant if it was agreed to when he first made his reservation or at any later time.



A detail such as check in time is very important and is something that someone in the hotel business should NOT miss. Anybody who is extremely successful in business as myself will be quick to tell you that the difference is in the details.


Ok, you stated "I read the post - usually do before replying". Maybe you failed to read or grasp this part of the post.


In the above quote, Rascal took the time to illustrate that this was most likely not a surprise emergency or an oversight but a complete lack of concern. If a guest was waiting to check in then he should be treated as high priority, not forgotten.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Basically, everything stated is the standard Costa Rican way. Doesn't surprise me. No attention to details.

Jesus Christ....I think we both need to take a deep breath

I stated my opinion - I did not think I was nasty about it - if you did, my apologies.

You are not going to change my my mind, and I'm unlikely to change yours - it might be helpful if the OP could clarify the part of his post in question, but at the end of the day - who cares - I happen to think it (room not ready when you show up 3 - 4 hours before the properties stated check in time - is not a huge deal, and absent this in writing....well, I chalk it up to having other things I can worry about - while I "don't know for sure" I'm pretty certain the OP was told, come on in, we have rooms, 12 noon, no problem.......and it turned out to be a problem).

Finally, I like your posts; I do - but before you make a comment about being polite, as you did in your 1st paragraph - might be a good idea to reread some of yours ( I did before I posted) - while certainly not offensive, there are a least a few that could be labled zingers.

I call 'em as I see 'em and while there is no malice in anything I post, I call 'em as I see 'em - as I suspect you do too. On this one, however, looks like we are going to have to (respectfully, I hope ) disagree.

Ok, I need to post. I stayed for 7 nights in February after the whole Boyd thing. I had a great time and will stay there again in September. I could care less about the " gambling...cough, cough" so that's not an issue. The DI was an affordable, nice place close enough and far enough to make it a nice stay...

So, sue me...

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

I didn't think you went to nasty, just sarcastic. As you seem to like to get the last word. This would be fine if this was your experience and I had commented. And I am not stating my feelings. I am only trying to respect Rascal's. He felt ignored and dis respected so I commented that It's not correct to minimalize his experience or his feelings by giving the hotel a pass as it's not your place to forgive them for something that was important to Rascal but not to you. It may not bother you to be put on hold and then ignored but this is not about you and me.


No need, this is not about you or me. It's about respecting other member's concerns even though they may not be identical to our own.


He did clarify. He stated that even after he was at the hotel, he was still ignored. And it's not about caring necessarily as it is about mutual respect.
Again, After your 3 post on this, you have made it 100% clear that this seems like an non-issue, to you. But again, this is not about you or your personal likes or dislikes or what bothers or doesn't bother you. It's about Rascal's experience.

Everyone on this board travels and to many of us, this is HUGE deal as many times a flight arrives in the morning and we may choose a hotel strictly based on their early check in policy or any other policies that may also seem meaningless to you.

As a business owner, I pray for the Rascals of the world to speak up and let me know how I can improve. My worst fear is an empty suggestion box or the 'quiet customer' that doesn't say a word and simply never returns. And if the Management of the Dunn Inn reads this board then they should be grateful for a road map to better service.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Seems like you and I are the only ones posting about this - Rascal certainly knows how to use a computer, and knows how to post - if he chooses to, fine - I don't know that you have to speak for him.

This is really about things that bother us - I've stated that a room not ready (even given the facts in this particular situation) is not something I get real twisted over - and yes I read about him waiting in the bar, etc - this is CR - sure they can and perhaps should do better, but they did not - again, its just not something that bothers me a whole lot - I know its a generalization, but some things are not the same in CR as other places.

All I gave was an opinion, which is the right of any one on this board - when you put something out there, you have to expect people are going to comment - I also started my post w/ "Sorry you had the bad experience" - I then said they get a small pass on this particular point - my position, my opinion - when someone posts, comments are fair game; I'm not into validating anyones feelings, and I doubt he took my comment as a shot towards him as it was simply a comment about one part of the post - no personal attact was implied - you are making much more out of it.

Despite your comment to the contrairy, I'll gladly give you the last word, b/c I don't think there is much else to say about this topic.

And PS - Given the length of your post to me, did you really think I was not going to respond

Did you trouble yourself to ask to speak to the manager or the CRT contact person at the hotel? Or was your decision that it would just be easier to kvetch on the CRT message board? And did you get the CRT discount come bill paying time?

I suppose every body has there own manner of "filing a complaint". And, as a most learned CRT'r has noted: "To each his own". *shrug*

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Where exactly is this bank?