www.CostaRicaTicas.com

The Contractors told me Mid August - So probably not . But most of the major renovations will be completed. The workers work from 9 am to 6pm so there is not to much disturbance on less your a late riser. Unfortunately there is only so much you can do!

Matt

Matt , do you have a website?

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Shawn

Here is the old one, not sure if you knew it or not

http://www.hotelamistad.com/


See you at HH on the 5th

The website is old for now. we will update it with the new photos when the construction is complete. we have people working on a new website and reservation system that should be up and running in about a month. We do have drawings of the new hotel for anyone who is interested. Email us at WWW.Hotelamistad.com and we will forward them. Look forward to CRT members visit. Alot more fun then the church groups

Matt

I stopped by for a tour of the hotel yesterday. I'm not sure I would pay almost $50 (with CRT discount and taxes applied) for one of the standard rooms. For now, I will reserve final judgment until the renovations are completed. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. I caught a glimpse of the breakfast that the guests seemed to enjoy...it was impressive. I look forward to checking this place out when construction is finished.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

Standard rooms are $37 a night with CRT discount. Deluxe rooms are $51 with crt discount. Stop by and take another look when you get time. I agree - If you review my comment to wman2 - i also feel that the standard rooms are not going to be to most crt members standards. Thanks for the comment

Matt

Your CRT discount page quoted:



15% off that brings the price down to $42.50 per night. Another 16% in taxes added back on makes the price to around $50 per night for a standard room. I'm not sure if my misunderstanding was due to a typo on the webpage or my poor math skills.

https://costaricaticas.com/sponsors.php

Does that standard room rate of $37 include tax?

Thanks.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

I was going with the weekly discount of 25%. We cant get around taxes. I know some hotels offer (and advertise) no taxes on cash payments. We unfortunately will only due this for monthly cash rentals (which is still not quite legal but we consider it an apartment rental at that time.) I look at this way. Costa Rica derives most of its tax revenue from the sales taxes it brings in from tourism. It is good to give back to the community in which we all play. We cant complain about crime, roads, services... if we are not willing to pay a few extra dollars for tax. Note - I am not getting on my soap box , if i (and other establishments) really believed monthly rentals were apartment rentals and not hotel room sales we wouldnt charge the tax on credit card monthly sales. Its a grey area. Either way we hope you give us a chance in the future when renovations are complete. I know it is hard to visualize at this time. Myself included at times. We are updating all the rooms and furniture in the renovation and invite you to a night on us when complete .

I'll be in town during late July, staying at the Presidente, but will stop by here to take a look at how things are coming along. I'm definitely interested in the Amistad. I have a short trip planned for the end of September, might be staying here at that time.

From the posts I have seen from Mkink I think we have another innkeeper in the mold of Bill at the SL. He seems to be on top of the situation and willing to go the "extra mile" to insure guest satisfaction.

What a great deal two places offering a CRT discount and guest service Sure hope it works that way

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I spent a week at Amistad over Memorial Day, along with HolaB and El Ciego. I am very picky about where I stay and I found Amistad to be quite enjoyable. Clearly there are some things that could be different and better. However, I found the staff to be "can do" and extremly pleasant, including Matt, the owner. Matt is one of us and will bend over backwards to help. For example, most days I was there, I got up a bit late, and when I stumbled down for breakfast, Matt told me to get the cooks to make me breakfast to order instead of eating from the buffet line. He is extremely affable and will share any info he can regarding Costa Rica. He is always around (when in town) and willing to help.

The atmosphere at Amistad is extremely informal and comfortable. The renovations being done are extensive and should present well when finished. I stayed in a deluxe room and while it was not as nice as the new wing at SL or as large as my Jr Suite at Amon Plaza, it was certainly comfortable enough. I had wanted to stay in one of Amistad's suites, but they were unavailable (although HolaB talked his way into one). All the rooms have mini fridges, high speed wired internet, a small but adequate television on the wall, desks, decent sized closets, nice bathrooms with decent counter space (but no shampoo). I did have trouble getting ice, and but for HolaB knowing his way around the kitchen, my late night cocktail would have been intolerable.

The close proximity to SL is ideal and it takes only two minutes to travel from one to the other. Another plus is the close location of the hospital and thus, several farmacias and sodas nearby. Taxis also know the location of the Amistad hotel a bit better than SL.

The free breakfast rivals any other I have seen in San Jose. Of course, gallo pinto, pineapple, papaya, banana, juice, toast (with good bread), a variety of cereals, eggs to order (and they actually know how to prepare over easy eggs), various hot dishes, including pancakes, papas, bacon, etc. Additionally, the tables are arranged more in a family style, so like it or not, you will probably meet some new folks at breakfast. Also, Ticas eat breakfast for free.

I have only stayed at the SL, Amon and Amistad, so my knowledge base is limited. Nevertheless, I would heartily recommend Amistad, and think that it will become as popular with the brethren as other nearby hotels.

Ciaociao

On thier website it seems that there isn`t AC or a refrigerator in the standard room unless you upgrade to the deluxe standard. By the time I do this there isn`t a big difference compared to the standard at the Presidente which does have the better location.IMHO

After staying in both neighborhoods often over the last 10 years, I'll take Amon, Otoya (sp?) over the gulch in a heartbeat. What location is better for a 2-3 night fling is maybe a different question, but the better air and quieter surroundings are a big plus a few blocks to the North, at least if you are staying for a while.

Joker

We are currently renovating all the rooms in the hotel. we are going to combine many of the standard rooms into suites. All rooms will have air, fridge. Many will be made as suites. As in the past, if you book a standard room and we have an upgrade to give you we will gladly do it at no cost. Weekends are almost always full! So if you book for a week at the standard rate and we have a delux available for 5 of those days we will gladly upgrade you for the 5 days. It really is personal choice. Many of our standard rooms are quite large and include refrigerators, i have not updated the website as we are going to use a new website alltogether. If you note - our website still shows wolfgang as the owner. Email me the days you want to stay and i will check availability!!

Matt

I fly in the morning so thought I would write this in while it is fresh in my mind...
The hotel is in the mist of a complete face lift, construction is in full swing from 9 till 5.. right outside my room on the second floor, so no afternoon naps for me... no biggie, sleep is overrated anyway.. .
New tile looks very nice and the area on the other side of my room got new hard wood floors including a beautiful high octane finish, the smell should be gone soon .

The Review:
Coffee is good and always on,
Breakfast buffet is excellent and worth getting up for,
Staff is accommodating and the room was cleaned everyday.
Location is walking distance from everything, a block and a half to SL, 3-4 blocks more gets you to NF, another 4-6 to ZB then turn left up the hill and thru the park to HDR and the prez, there is also a very nice restaurant across the street if you don’t want to walk far.
The room is not exceptional but nice, beds are tica standard issue, A/C is newer and worked well, bathroom is nice with plenty of hot water and the shower is big enough for two , Internet is hard wired and did not miss a beat, electronic safe same as most other places, big enough for all my valuables including my laptop, hotel sized refer also new or newer.
Price I believe is around $51 + tax CRT discount included

If I had any complaints it would be this room gets a lot of lobby noise (absolutely no road noise) and the construction, which should be over soon.

Would I stay here again… Sure… J

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