www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I've posted the following anecdote before, but will include it again for the relative newbies on the board.

About five years ago I stayed at the HI about five times over the course of about 18 months. One late afternoon or early evening I cashed a
$100 travelers check at the front desk. That was the first and last time
I used travelers checks in CR...too much of a hassle. The next morning I'm at the front desk (checking out?) and the manager tells me that
they made a mistake the previous night and gave me $100 too
much, and I owed them $100! We argued for a few minutes,
and when I finally threatened to call the policia (what good that would have done I'm not sure) he 'backed off'. Incredible!

Another time they must have swiped my credit card twice because
when I received my statement it was double what it should have been.
I called my credit card company, and they straightened it out in a
few weeks.

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

Okay, rebadc, now its clear. If HI or the ICHotel Group contracted with international vacations whoever they are, then thats their responsibility not yours and your beef is definitely with them. That said given your experience, you might reconsider doing business with HI in general and not just in SJ if this is how they back up their customers who reserve with them based on their global reputation. Personally, I would never have booked with the HI in SJ to begin with based on what I have already heard of it on this board and others and GT's account does nothing but add to that bad local reputation. First there are those $25 chica fees. Even if one is willing to pay those rates, what does that say about their attitude to our hobby. Second, even with out the chica fees the HI Aurola is supposed to be overpriced for what you get. From what I hear the rooms are really no better than those at other hotels listed on this site or perhaps a bit worse from wear. Unless you really need a downtown hotel with a pool (which most likely you will not end up using) or pay even more for an upper floor room with a view, I can think of easily half a dozen or more hotels that I would rather stay at, one of which would have to have a vacancy at any given time.