www.CostaRicaTicas.com

i've been staying at presidente for 4 years

and i'm looking for alternative

i want a hotel with a good pedestrain traffic right in front of hotel
for entertainment and i would like a/c..which is probably hard or just doesn't exist but maybe one of you guys who has been around can pm me.or share thanks

p.s. no guest fee or like 6 bucks would be good also

i don't mind slightly ghetto area... if park hotel had a/c at 28.00 i'd try it

Blue Skies:

I been looking for the same thing. My money says it ain't gonna happen.

_________________
"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

Under $30 with A/C
All of the places I like are just like that but they are not in San Jose
If you find such a place bring your roach motel

Under $30 with A/C could be a problem, however in SJ as long as you have a good fan and ventilation you don't really need A/C even if you're generating some of your own with a chica.

I've stayed a number of times at the Doral Hotel (www.hoteldoralcr.com/). The single room rate there is $30/nt INCLUDING tax ($2 more with breakfast). Their website only mentions fans but I seem to recall their having A/C units in their interior rooms when I've stayed there before. More recently, I've gone for their outside rooms on the 4th floor south side. Those rooms only have fans but they get such good ventilation, you barely need even that and they have a stunning view of the mountains to the south. I haven't stayed at the Park, but I checked them out and feel the rooms at the Doral are MUCH nicer (certainly nice enough to bring a chica back to) and also are much more airy. Also, I don't recall what amenities they have at the Park, but the Doral has wireless internet, cable TV with many english language channels and there is plenty of hot water in the showers. There is a chica fee. I forget what it is but know for sure it isn't anything more than $6. They are located about 2 blocks beyond the Park Hotel on the Avenida 4 Pedestrian Way (2 blocks south of the Central Market). The area is not great at night but I wouldn't call it "ghetto". I've even walked short distances around it after dark (quickly and with regular glances all around me ) probably not highly recommended but always without incident. Its certainly safe enough to walk to the corner and flag down a cab.

Beyond the Doral, there are some other places under $30/nt mentioned on this board.

The Nuevo Johnson (http://www.hotelnuevojohnson.com) is or was only $10/nt. The website actually says $15/pp, but they charged me $10/nt in July and $12/nt last month. Whatever the rate, it is a cheap place to stay if you just need a place to park your bones before catching an early bus in the morning, but it is not exactly a cheery environment. I suppose you could bring a chica back there and I doubt there's a chica fee (unless she stays all night), but I've never taken one there. The rooms are decent sized and fairly clean, the beds comfortable, door locks and other security adequate, all rooms have a private bath and a fan if you ask for one, and there is even a pool table you can use on the first floor. But other than that, the place is pretty dreary and very stuffy. The TV's barely gets a few fuzzy spanish language channels. If there is any hot water in the shower it runs out pretty fast. Even without a chica fee it is not a place I'd feel proud to take a chica back to or feel that comfortable with her once we started getting sweaty. It is located a half a block south of the Market on Calle 8. Just 1.5 blocks north of the Doral, but IMHO being closer to the Market and Bus Station areas and away from the patrolled Pedestrian Way a little dicier feel to the area late at night.

There are actually lots of places like the Nuevo Johnson, probably with similar rates and similar quality. I'll stay in places like that, but I'm guessing most of you would not, even to save a few bucks. Better for you to stick closer to the $30/nt price point to get the better quality even if that doesn't include A/C.

I've also stayed at the Hostel Marruecos (http://hostelmarruecos.com) in one of their better rooms (with private bath). The rate I paid with CRT discount was $28/nt including tax. The room did not have A/C but again it was more than cool enough once they brought in a fan (had to turn it down). The place had many amenities such as wireless internet, cable TV, an electronic room safe (that did not work) and a gorgeous glass enclosed shower in the room (for better chica viewing). There is no chica fee and in fact the place also serves as an MP during the day with several chicas lounging around the lobby, but rarely any that were at all hot looking. That is all the good part. The bad part is that the maid service (or any service) is non-existant, cleanliness is shall we say highly questionable and the door locks and security was not overly reassuring given the fact that strange Johns and Putas were coming and going throughout the day. The location is much closer to the Gulch and even closer to several other MP's, but I'd rate the area safety as poor or poorer than the Park/Doral/Johnson area. Overall, I wouldn't stay there again and would take the Doral over it even with the greater distance and chica fees. But that's me, YMMV. You can see my full review on this place elsewhere in this section.

There are some other places that I haven't stayed but seem fairly nice and cost around $30/nt. However, I'm not sure how chica friendly they are. Those include the Aranjuez (http://www.hotelaranjuez.com) which is located a few blocks beyond the Amistad. Their rates start at $30/nt including tax and breakfast. I don't know what they're chica fee is or if they even allow chica visitors, but if not you might still be able to register her as a fellow guest and pay the double room rate which is $10 more.

Another cheap but very nice looking little place is the Pensión de la Cuesta (http://www.pensiondelacuesta.com). It is located just 2 blocks past the HDR going towards the Parque Nacional and Museum. A possibly deal breaker for many of you is that the rooms have shared bathrooms. But the rates are only $22/nt with additional discounts for paying cash or weeklong stays. The other dealbreaker is that I don't know if it is chica friendly, but again you could probably still register your chica visitor as a guest and pay the double rate which is $31/nt. Other members have stayed at each of these places and could better tell you how well they work with chicas, just do a search.

BTW, I've seen plenty of places in CR over $30/nt that had bugs. The cheaper places I've stayed at, for the most part, may not have been fancy but they were at least clean (or I wouldn't stay there). And if they were clean they didn't have any more roaches than anywhere else.

The Hotel Aranjuez looks like an excellent small hotel but they also have apartamentos for full weeks and longer (item 7 on the list on the right). Prices on these start at $190/week or +/- $27/ night (small efficiency). I should think they don't control visitors here. Larger apartments available if you come with your REAL close friends.
The Pension de la Cuesta Website is worth a look just for the Google-licensed satellite map of downtown SJ--it's not scable but still useable.

_________________
"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

Actually, that is what I seem to recall has been said about Aranjuez - hotel not chica-friendly, apartment maybe. So I just did a quick search to refresh my memory and found this thread: http://www.costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14806.

Basically, the reports are somewhat mixed but not overly promising. RBC, for one, stayed there and reported the hotel as not chica friendly but was not sure about the apartments. Orange also stayed there and did not think it seemed chica friendly but only tried to bring back his novia (with no problem). Another guy who stayed at the hotel said that the hotel was definitely not chica friendly, but I'm not sure how he "tested" that since he seems to have simply limited himself to MP's instead. He also reported negative responses to his inquiries about bringing back guests even to the apartments. And yet the thread was closed by another guy who stayed there back in 2005, brought 1-2 chicas back at a time and was not even charged any extra chica fee.

My guess is that a minimum you'd need to be very discreet about your mongering actions if you stayed at either the hotel or the apartments and that it is possible that the PERCEPTIONS of the earlier reviewers, that they really do NOT allow bringing back female visitors at all, is really true. I think if you try staying here, you should be prepared for the worst and the possibility you will either have to limit your activities to the MPs as some reviewers have suggested or having to change to another hotel.

If you can accept those possibilities, then I think it would be great if someone could really test them out rather than making assumptions based on the preponderance of a different type of clientele. What is the worst that will happen? They'll tell you that you can't bring the chica upstairs and then that night you'll have to take a cab back to the Hotel Asia or someplace like that and then move completely to your back-up hotel the next night. Or perhaps, as long as you're discreet and all the eco-guests are asleep in their beds (or you bribe the nightguard), he'll let her through but then the next morning the manager tells you not to do it again (and again you either live with it or move to your back-up). OTOH, maybe first impressions are misleading. Maybe just because very few mongers stay there and the place doesn't seem chica-friendly or that the mgmt doesn't reply favorably to explicit requests on the subject, doesn't mean it can't be done if done discreetly - Don't ask, don't tell. I'm not saying that is the case, but if it were then we will have more fairly determined exactly whether this place really does allow chicas and established a viable budget hotel alternative for us near the Gulch.

I have never stayed at Hotel Aranjuez, but I have stayed at the apartments probably 15-18 times in the past 2 years. Here's my take:

The hotel that manages the apartments has a big stick up its ass. If they knew about it, they would surely not approve of it. Therefore, I seriously doubt that you would be permitted to bring chicas to your hotel room more than once, since you have to walk right past the reception desk each time and they would probably tell you after the first time that this kind of thing is not allowed there.

At the apartments, you could discretely do it, but not twice a day, every day. Eventually somebody would rat you out and you would be warned or simply kicked out. There are families with K*ds that live there for extended periods of time, and they would complain if they saw scantily-clad chicas in the building. There are also a bunch of backpacker types too, but they are usually gone by 7am on some monkey tour. I know one CRT who stayed there and said he brought girls back. I don't know how many or how often.

At night, there is a "security" guy (janitor) again in the apartments lobby, so he would see you with your "date(s)". He seems cool enough. A tip would probably entice him to keep his mouth shut.

There is a sign in the hotel reception area that says "For the safety of all our guests, only registered guests are allowed in the rooms." You can interpret that however you'd like, but I interpret that as "No hookers allowed" because you can definitely bring a male (or even female) friend over with no problems. I always registered my girlfriend so that wasn't an issue.