www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I generally don’t make bitch trip reports and have been warned to be a Gentleman about this thread, but Amon Plaza was a total disaster for me, and before I ruffle some loyal customer, I’m just curious, has any other member encountered problem at Amon Plaza.

One of my major concerns with that a cash withdrawal was placed against my credit card for the room. Whether that's a Credit card company mix up or what, I am the one who has to pay for the service charges. In addition when I went you use the card that night in the HDR; it claimed that I was over my daily limit. That is how I found out, and I was pissed.

As for the room it sucked, it two doubles and it’s right over the front door with all the street noise. Oh boy, what shit I’m thinking because I have the Spratt in tow and two sigles. I made it very clear when I booked the room that I would be traveling with my Chica, and Nixon assured me that he had a king size bed and then he switched out and stuck me with a double. I felt cheated and I immediately went down to the front desk and ask for a different room only to be told that I had to see Nixon in the casino.

I’d go into the casino and ask where Nixon is and it was always the same answer….” No Nixon”.. He not here…He just left…he’ll be in later… After three days of this shit...Can you feel my frustrations!

Let me state that Nixon was never there and every time there was a problem it was always the same…Go see Nixon. I got to say, I felt like I got the royal Phuck on this room. The hotel let me know that if I booked thought Hotels International that they would have honored my request, but because I booked through Nixon, all changes had to go through him.

Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Hotel Presidente’s rooms & service. Yes I have had a few bad rooms at the Prez, but they always move me and never stick me over the street but room 307 at Amon Plaza is right off the street, over the entrance to the hotel and the between the late night taxi’s blowing their horns and the early morning idling tour busses I never got one wink of sleep. Holy shit, all I could think of was I could not wait to get the Phuck out of there….

After that first disastrous night, I headed off to Dr. Chen’s for my early morning Doctor's appointment and tip the maid a few bucks before I left to clean the room only to come back at 1:30 in the afternoon and the room has not been touched. I raised hell and they cleaned it, but forgot to unlock the mini bar nor did they leave any soap or ash trays on their way out. I called and called until I just went down stairs and swiped an ash tray from the bar, and said to Phuck with getting the soap, even though I called twice for it!.. All I could think of that this phucking room was costing twice as much as the Prez, but without any service.

Then there was room service:
Should it take over an hour to get two sandwiches and two soda pops?

Now before I get ripped, the little restaurant was a jewel and I would personally go eat there, but as far staying at Amon Plaza again… No I would rather stay at the Hemingway and feed the bed bugs then to deal with all the bullshit that Amon Plaza /Nixon put me through.

As far as booking through Nixon, you can book directly through expedia, and pay $95.00 per night. At least that way you’re entitled to the 100% satisfaction guarantee that Hotel International offers. Nixon is a third party booking agent and there was little recourse once I paid for the room or I would have left the first night.

Now for my question….Admin 1 informs me that 99.9% of all CRT members who have stayed there have never had one unkind word to say. Believe me …I have more then a half a dozen unkind words to say…but just where did I go wrong if this is such a great place to stay.


Igualmente...

Ig,

Sorry you had such a bad time.

It's been said before, but I'll say it again.....USE EAR PLUGS. I buy mine at WAL-MART. FLENTS.....33 decibel Noise Reduction Rating. 50 pair for $10.00.

If you forget to bring some ear plugs with you, I noticed the Chinese pharmacy next to the Balmoral Hotel sells MACKS ear plugs, which are almost as good as FLENTS.

Zebra

I had ear plugs.... :shock::shock:

When I checked in, I thought what a quaint little street, then the sun went down, and taxis start cruising. I thought about drinking massive amounts of alcohol, but the mini bar was locked and getting a full bucket of ice was something of a problem.

Ig...

I too had a few issues with them when I stayed there late last year. The sheets were not fitted to the bed and kept sliding off, so you end up sleeping/phucking on a bare mattress which is kind of gross and unsanitary.

The other thing is that I also did not meet Nixon during my 5 days there. Each time I asked, he wasn't there or would be there later.

The things that I did like: large room w/ large bed, no noise problem (I'm a hard sleeper so that never a problem anywhere), the breakfast was excellent, Taca Customer Center lets me check in and saves me 90 minutes waiting in line at the airport.

I agree with you about the breakfast, they where like they where a different part of the Hotel. I always tipped in the morning, it was the only bright side to the whole stay there

But this Nixon Sh*t is what I feel fueled the fire. Had he or someone who could give orders should had been there, most of the problems could have been fixed. I asked does he even show up and they assured me that he does. could have fooled me.

Oh my God...The bed sheet issue was a real night mare. On the second night when we where getting down...the Spratt sprung a leak all over the sheets, so dumb ole me pick up the phone and request clean sheets ... only to be told they change them every thjree days.
All i could think about is that I'll never cuss the Prez again.


Ig...

Iqualmente,

I have also had several of the issues with the Amon that you have discussed: Ice delivery taking 40 minutes; room service taking forever.
I cured the room service issue by tracking down a maid and asking her to get the room cleaned asap. I also had no problems tracking down Nixon, and he was in fact, very helpful. I am fortunate never being put in a room facing that street, so noise hasn't yet been an issue.
I tried to get a room at the presidente or the SL this past trip, but no rooms were available. I wasn't that worried, because by and large, I like the Amon. Just the week prior to going to Costa Rica, I was on a business trip and I was able to stay at the Four Seasons. So I recognize the Amon's limitations. It can be a little frustrating, but I am willing to bet it is head and shoulders above many other places in San Jose.
Ciaociao

What gets me is the Hotel could be a little gem. Easy walking distance to many of my favorite play grounds, but with such lousy service ( not including the restaurant) the hotel could become something more then what it is now. You said it right, find the lowest guy on the totem pole, and get the services from them. The front desk is in a conflict with serving Nixon’s quest. I do not blame them!

I blame Nixon for all that had taken place. No service after the sale….

I hope Admin1 is reading this thread because it seems that I am not the only one to have a gripe with this hotel . I would have never booked there, if it wasn’t for what I had read on the forum. From now on, I’m sticking with the winners. The Sportsman offered me a room at the last minute and I have regretted that mistake. Never will I stay at Amon Plaza.

It will not ever happen again. You can bit your ASS on that...

Enough of the bitch…

Iggy… :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:

One question Ig, did you play slots or gamble in the Casino?
What you got is a comp rate from the Casino that is for people who use the Casino. If you never were in the Casino they Know, trust me its their job to know. He probably thought you were abusing the comp and was polite enough not to say anything to you, which includes ignoring you. If you want service from Nixon go in at 2-4PM play some slots or pai gow or ANYGAME whatsever reintroduce yourself and show that you at least tried to play some of the games, thats all they want.
He probably gives the CRT people a discount because he figures if you have money to blow on that, then maybe you have discretionary money to blow on gambling.
Having said all that...I stayed their one night and left simply because I could not stand the sheets at that place, As orange stated I thought the whole sheet thing was pretty gross and unhygenic there. But everything else was great, but the fugly nasty sheets that never stay on the beds are a deal breaker for me.
On that note if there was a hotel that had crisp 400-600 count sheets and nice pillows that I new were changed and clean, I would pay a stiff premium for that. If I owned a hotel the first thing I would do is buy new sheets 400 count and decent feather pillows. This is the first thing that the CEO of starwood hotels did, and look now, low and behold he turned them around they are by far the most profitable and successful hotel chain. The thing that drives me nuts is that all these hotels are too cheap/stupid to realize this simlple perk really matters to a large segment of the population. For it to pay off the occupancy rate would probably only have to rise no more than 1-2%. But if their brand were recognized as such they could probably raise their price as well, negating the need for higher occupancy, but that would happen anyway.
The best place I have been with high end pillows/sheets is the presidente, but they only have the good sheets and pillows in the suite (at least from my experience YMMV). Anybody else found a decent hotel with decent sheets in CR? BTW Im not bitching that much because the hotel rates in CR are very reasonable. But if there were a decent busineman out there in CR hotel land then he would capitalize on this inelastic demand.
I have not stayed at SL do they have decent sheets/pillows? Bill seems like a good owner operator who has his finger on the pulse.
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I dropped maybe 5,000 colons in the slots, and left. It was @ about 8:30 at night while I waited for the Spratt to get dressed. No one ever approached me in the casino about any discounts and I did ask...

The girl shrugged her shoulders and said …… “See Nixon"

As far as a comp rate goes. You can book the same room on line for $95 a night with a full guarantee through Expedia . Choice Hotels International offer a free night if you are not a 100% happy..
That is what I wanted, and they refused. If they had even made an attempt to even work with me I would not be still bitching a week later, but that was just not the case…

Oh my God. The sheets issue was something else. The Spratt sprung a leak and why the maid could not see that she was menstrualating, is beyond me. Blood is blood and it was all over the center of the sheets. They never even bothered to change them even when I kept calling. In the end, the Spratt spread out the newspaper so that she would not have to lay in her own juices. YUCK… :shock::shock:


Admin1 informed me that I was the only CRT member to ever have a bad experience there…seems that there is trouble in Paradise with Amon Plaza and maybe the Admin should personally address the situation so that the next CRT member to stay there gets the red carport treatment…

If I ever find that I have to stay there again (and I personally doubt it) I would never book through Nixon... NO SERVICE AFTER THE SALE….. :evil::evil:

Iggy...

NW,
You are correct that the rate is the casino comp rate.

HOWEVER, that rate is offered to CRT VIP's regardless of whether they play or not. There was NEVER any stipulation that we had to play in the casino to receive good service.

Ig, Yes I understand your frustration that sheet/newspaper fiasco is vividly nasty. I would be ticked as well, you have a right to be pissed about that.
There is serious mileage and carnivorous activities riding these sheets in CR Im surprised they or someone does not make it a point to be the best/cleanest sheets in town.
Anyway IMHO if they would clean up/sanitize their shiitty sheet situation their hotel should sure shine like the gem it could be.

I think this thread should be moved to the Hotels section.If someone is doing research a hotel this would be very usefull.

Orange yes you are right about that, I think they are hoping to win you as a gambling customer, and casino comp rate kind of implies that you might try the casino at least. But you are right it does not explicitly state you must play in the casino, yet with "casion comp rate" it is implicit IMHO. Regardless there is no excuse for poor service in a hotel just because you might have come through one sales channel vs another sales channel.

Just give me my clean crisp sheets, thats all I ask of a hotel is it really that hard, is it really asking that much?
I would sacrifice the decent breakfast and other amenities if I could get those damnn sheets to be decent, without cigarette holes in them. In fact Im going to start bringing my own 600 count egyptian cotton sheets with me on travel I may even try to find some 800 count if I can, I bet those are tough to fold/find. Maybe even a eurostar down pillow as well. Hell Im going to bring my whole heavenly bed down there.
Side note.... If one thinks high grade girlfriends dont notice the difference between good sheets/beds and bad ones then you need to reevaluate all that money you spent on the turbo porsche 911.

Good to here the negatives as well as positive reports. Thanks!