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Can anyone give me any advice on San Ramon. I will be there mid Jan 09’ for a few days with a special friend. Where do you stay and what is there to do? I understand it is very laid back.

I had a humongous Prolijo style reply prepared but when I went to post I had timed out and it got lost. DAMN THIS SYSTEM SOMETIMES.

I'll just give you the readers digest version for now and if I feel energetic (and lucky) later I might try to rewrite the pearly words of wisdom that I had prepared earlier.

The short and most obvious answer is for you to do a search for the Villablanca Hotel in the Los Angeles Cloud Forest. This luxury hotel may be priced a bit outside of your range with rates starting at $170/nt plus tax at this time of year. Meals, that you'll probably take at the hotel due to its remoteness, are similarly high-priced. You see it is actually located about 20kms north of San Ramon, so you'll probably also need a car to get there and back and forth to San Ramon proper, if that is the place you really wanted to explore. OTOH, it is also located amidst probably the most popular attraction in the San Ramon area, the Los Angeles Cloud Forest, an 800 hectare private reserve that has been described as a less crowded (and more easily reached) alternative to the even more popular Monteverde. Unlike Monteverde, you're not allowed to explore the trails without a guide and the hikes have been described as also being a bit pricey for what you get.

For more in-depth and less widely known info on the San Ramon area, I think your best resource is http://www.sanramon-costarica.com. This site is actually operated by a local Gringo owned realty company (Paradise Mgmt http://www.costaricapm.com) and so it paints a very pretty view of San Ramon but it still seems pretty fair and unbiased (as it says on every page "We do not receive any financial compensation from any businesses listed in this guide"(unlike other highly touted similar regional websites like www.arenal.net)). I strongly recommend you check out this site if you're interested in the San Ramon area.

They list about 10-12 hotels on their accomodations page (including Villablanca). A few deserve special mention. If, because of transport limitations, you want to be in town itself, your best bet will probably be La Posada (http://www.posadahotel.net @ $50/nt plus tax). Just 4kms north of town, in the same direction as Villablanca, is the Angel Valley Farm B&B (http://www.angelvalleyfarmbandb.com @ $60/nt plus tax). This place got a bad review on TripAdvisor from someone who moved to La Posada the next night and liked it better, but the other reviews were very favorable. Heading back ~4kms towards SJ is the Casa Marta (http://www.hotelcasamarta.com @ $60/nt?). These last 2 places may be a bit too far to just get out and walk around town, but are close enough that a local cab should not run you too much.

If you don't mind being much further from town, but don't want to pay Villablanca rates, there is one more place you might want to consider (not mentioned on the San Ramon website). El Cafetal (http://www.cafetal.com @ $85/nt plus tax) is actually located in the little "town" of Santa Eulalia of Atenas, which is ~3-4 miles off of the PAH from the Grecia. This puts it a little farther from San Ramon than even the Villablanca but may be a better location for you for several reasons. Even though it is a little farther, the PAH is a much faster road and it is probably closer to San Ramon in terms of minutes. Although it is farther from the cloud forests, it is much better located if you choose to use El Cafetal as a base for visiting other interesting towns and attractions in the area such as Grecia, Saarchi, Naranjo or Turu Ba-Ri (http://www.turubari.com), Los Chorros Waterfalls in Tarcares, Zoo Ave and the Butterfly Farm (all just 30 minutes or less from El Caf). They even offer tours to the Los Angeles Cloud Forest if you don't want to drive there yourself. Plus they're located in an interesting spot itself being on a working coffee farm which you can also tour while you're there.

What about things to do in the San Ramon area? The Angel Valley website lists a number of interesting things you can do within an easy walk or short cabride of central San Ramon and they won't cost you an arm and a leg:

Butterfly Garden - actually 7kms west of San Ramon, has hundreds of Morphos and amazing orchids and other flowers and costs only $4 for you and your special friend

Cuban Cigar Rolling/Rum & Coffee shop - roll your own cigar and learn about the rich history of cigar making

San Ramon Museum—the city of “Poets,” describes the rich history of San Ramon, and absolutely free to visit

San Ramon Farmers Market - if you're there Friday Noon to 7PM or Saturday 7AM to Noon

The San Ramon Parish Church - a majestic structure and important landmark of the Province of Alajuela. Sunday afternoon the Church is filled to capacity. After Church lets out, families amble out the doors to the Parque Central, while the 18 to 20-somethings head to the clubs to party before Monday morning and the beginning of the work week.

Lunch at a local Tilapia farm - where you can catch your own fish and watched it being prepared. I'm not sure but they might be referring to Rancho Carrucha and the Trout Ponds Near La Paz which has trout you can catch from a stocked pond and "have it prepared while you wait in the rustic cabin and enjoy music and amusements." The setting there is supposed to very beautiful but it is actually located about 30 minutes north of San Ramon just east of the Villablanca

Las Muses - a waterpark with 2 pools, water slide and bar/restaurant with a 100 meter waterfall in view leading to a natural pool. Bajo Caliente is another swimming spot about 5 minutes outside of San Ramon

Nightlife may not be quite as sleepy as you thought. The San Ramon website describes one night spot this way:Then there is also this one:And finally they list this one that recently re-opened under new management:

I guess this repost was not as condensed as I thought it would be, but you should have seen what I had before.

My first exposure to Costa Rica was via a visit to San Ramon in search of a possible property purchase. I spent some ten days in San Ramon. This stay was in November 2007. I personally stayed at Hotel San Ramon for a wonderfully affordable $11.00 per night. It is not the Ritz and the room I had did not have any window that would open. However, the room did open up into an interior patio like area which was more than sufficient for fresh air and such. I can't say that it's a place where you would want to take "....someone special....", but it sure served my needs as home base.

As is the norm, Pro nailed all the stuff. Villa-Blanca is most certainly a site to behold and really quite the bargain for a 5 star type facility.

San Ramon is nothing like San Jose in that while it is a "city", you're pretty free from having to worry about crime and it's pretty safe to simply aimlessly walk about. A mistake I made was openly noting I was looking for property because once that data was out, it seemed like every one and their brother had something to sell. I was on the verge of purchase, too, but did not due to some "technical difficulities".

San Ramon is not a place to find loose women in my view. What is impressive about the community is that it has a hospital and a branch of the University of Costa Rica. Food is cheaper in San Ramon than San Jose vis-a-vis soda's and restaurants. It is a great launching point to either the Pacific coast or the Carib. side; not to mention San Jose as well.

I own I "fibbed" about having a place in San Ramon to some of the working girls in San Jose at the Del Rey, noting I needed a "novia" to come stay with me a few times a week. The "fibbing" netted me a couple of fun nights in San Jose, however....no harm, no foul.

It ain't a hot spot for activity a la "night life" save the places Pro noted and those are filled with college aged fun seekers for the most part. Strongly suggest you have a rental car to get there and back and then walk around San Ramon. If you choose to drive around, you'll get a headache and won't be able to see much.....the driving style is just like San Jose.....get out of the way....!!....Too, the chuck holes in the streets are more like sink holes: You'll lose the front end to the car. While there is a "tourist" place that is "partners" with the outfit Pro noted, there may be a better option through the outfit SoloBueno San Ramon and it's located on the net at http://www.solobuenosanramon.com . Explore that web site and see what's what....

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"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

The bus fare between SJ San Ramon is very cheap. If memory serves me correctly, I paid around 600 colones bus fare on my last trip to San Ramon at end of 2007. Also, the buses run frequently.

Its now 975 colones, but that is still very cheap. The buses leave every 30 minutes but the bus stop in SJ is not exactly close to our usual spots. It is on Calle 16 between Ave 10 y 12, which is a couple of blocks south of the Hospital and a couple of blocks west of the Pirate's Club. Its just an hour long trip so San Ramon could definitely be easily visited as a day trip, but if the idea is to check out the area for investment then staying over in the area is probably also a good idea.

From the bus stop in San Ramon hire a taxista and pay him a few bucks for him to drive you 10 minutes to the Don Tuto cigar factory. It is an inconspicuous place set alongside the right side of the Pan American highway as you head west. I buy several bundles, take them home and place them in a glass humidor with a shotglass of cognac in the middle. After a month, they take on the aroma of the VSOP and are wonderful.

Please note that you can also buy Don Tuto's cigars on line from their US Miami website.

With the cheap bus fare fron SJ, this plus a stop for fried chicken near the San Ramon bus stop makes another cheap and memorable day trip. Trust me.

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