Harddrive43228 wrote:
I have searched and searched over the last 15 years or so and have found three hotels with pools near the gulch.
Hotel Santo Tomas, across from Bar Poas - not a great neighborhood at night, especially if the trannys freak you out. Nice small hotel. Nice pool and gym area but it is not used much by the guests. Supposedly has a good restaurant but I have never seen it open except for breakfast. I have never stayed there as I heard they are iffy about unregistered guests in the room. For the last few of trips I have used their pool and gym for a daily fee. I believe it was around $8. As far as I know, they still offer this service but I don't know how amenable they would be bring a girl that was obviously a pro.
Hotel Europa - a large hotel close to the Alcazar strip club. Not too far of a walk to the gulch but definitely use a cab at night. I stayed there about five years ago when they were having periodic CRT events at the hotel so my info might be dated. Mediocre bar / restaurant. Very dated rooms. Mediocre in the cleanliness department. The pool area was in pretty shabby shape and wasn't that clean. It also does not get much sun as it sits surrounded by tall buildings. I would not recommend.
Garden Court Express San Jose Downtown - This used to be a Best Western. I stayed there approximately 8 years ago. Probably one of the worst neighborhoods in downtown SJ. A bit iffy in the daytime, a battle zone at night. There was no issue with guests when I stayed there but you would have to check with the new ownership. The pool area was very nice and the rooms were clean and relatively spacious but again this was a long time ago.
Myself, I now stay at one of the regular gulch hotels and when I feel the urge to relax by a pool and do some reading, nursing that hangover, I just make the short walk over to the Santo Tomas and rent some time at their pool.
Good luck
Good post; informative
For
ANY hotel that is not in the top 5 mentioned as chica friendly on this site - if you are considering staying elsewhere and bringing guests, you need to either call or e mail (scratch that - e mail is better b/c then you have a record of who said what, especially if they give you a hassle when you try to bring in a guest) them on their guest policy.
I've learned over the years - sometimes the hard way - that it pays to check - policy's change, management changes, ownership changes.
I can tell you that on this board the hotel in question was reported to sometimes be open to guests and sometimes not - CONTACT THEM BEFORE YOU BOOK.
The Holiday Inn has an open guest policy - provided you pay the guest fee of $75 + 13.40% tax
- the Sleep Inn charges $35 + tax - so while its "allowed" its not friendly towards the hobby. After lying about it for a year, the Presidente (as well as the Hotel Nacional, and the Grano del Oro) prohibits it entirely.
While the OP is wise to raise the question - and should do so with hotel management - this thread addresses the points of "don't assume" and the impression some have of Costa Rica as having an open scene as far as girls are concerned - its an impression many non visitors may have and could not be farther from the truth.
I'll admit to being a little intrigued by the place; I've passed it a 100 times - while a pool for me while in San Jose is not important (again, think - there has to be a reason there are so few of them in San Jose
) - now I don't "know" this but it does not strike me as a place you could bring a really slutty chica and hang out by the pool. In fact, I've never seen anyone ever out by the pool.
To the OP - please post back with info after you contact the hotel.
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