www.CostaRicaTicas.com

About 6 weeks ago I came down to CR for 2 nights. The plan was to spend 1 night in the Pres, and then go to Jaco for night #2. Well, best laid plans of mice and all that, guess what? It's freaking raining (yeah, I KNOW it's the rainy season, but I'd hoped for the forcasted sunshine that the weather channel gave, which NEVER came).

The booking:
I emailed the reservations desk at the pres, and ask for a room. They say they have 1 spa suite left, so I tell them that I want it... I then mention that I am a CRT member, and I get the "we have to check if the discount applies" email... I guess it did, because before I could respond I got an email from another person at the pres that said that my rate was XXX, which was about $5 or $10 more than what I thought the CRT rate was, but regardless it was an awesome price for the suite, and I had nowhere else to stay in SJ, so I booked it!

The room itself:
We arrive SUPER late to the hotel, because SOMETHING is going on in town, I don't remember what, but it took like 3 hours to get to the pres from the airport, and my flight had already been delayed some...

I walk into the spa suite, at the Pres and it's HUGE. Very well decorated, although the plastic couch leaves something to be desired of. The description of the suite said "balcony" If 4 inches out from the wall, and a gate mean balcony, then, I guess there was a balcony... It was pretty, but it wasn't a balcony by any stretch...

The shower/tub/spa/etc were AMAZING - 4 people fit quite comfortably in the tub. The kingsized bed was quite nice, as were the pillows.

The room service menu stated that they stopped serving food at like 9 or 10, but it was 11:30 and we were still able to get room service... go figure. What I did notice was SIGNIFICANT spelling and other mistakes ****ON THE SPANISH PART**** of the menu... I don't remember seeing any glaring ones on the English part... WEIRD...

The room had nice windows, and a good view. There was a couch, a desk with a chair for it, a round table with 2 chairs, and a coffee table, as well as 2 oversized chairs, which along with the couch encircled the coffee table.

Parking:
Parking at the Pres was a breeze, and free - a big bonus in my book.

Internet:
Worked well with wireless. Not a great signal, but it worked.

Staff/Service
Here's where the Pres falls flat on their ass...

I have NEVER met a more discourteous staff in all my years of travel. I get the distinct impression that if I were dying of thirst in the desert and they had all the water they would rather see me die of thirst than give me a sip.

The bell boy was an ass, and flat-out refused to carry my girl's bag. When checking in they did not want to register her as a guest, but did so grudgingly. They wanted to charge me extra because she was Tica, even though I had made the reservation for 2 people.

The people behind the desk gave me shit when I handed them an AMEX card, as well as when I asked for 2 keys to the room.

When we go in and out of the hotel they KEEP ASKING my girl for her cedula and to register... the SAME person repeatedly asks... WTF??? Each time the response is: "She's a registered guest, leave us alone".

At 9am I called the front desk and asked them if I could stay in the room an extra night. I was told FLAT OUT: "NO", and then was hung up on. I called back, to ask why, and was told that they were full. At this point I asked if I could have a late checkout. I was told "12:00 is checkout, you must be out of the hotel room by then" no if's and's or but's... No explanation, and there was no questioning of it either.

I hop online, and check around and find Hotel M, and book it (review to come), and start to pack up.

At 12:01pm I get a call (I'm not kidding, it really was 12:01) saying that we hadn't checked out, and we must do so NOW.

We pick up our things and head downstairs - no bellboy this time, I'm done with this place.

We get downstairs and before we checkout, the guy at the desk says that they do indeed have a room for us, if we want, but it's a standard room, and they can't offer me the CRT rate for it, so do I want to stay... Phuck NO is my answer.

We pay the hotel, and exit stage right.


Overall impressions:
This hotel is physically very nice, and has nice amenities. It's location is fantastic, and the cafe has good food/breakfast buffet. I have eaten there twice now, that breakfast, and one lunch previously. The food is decent, and the service in the restaurant is good. There's wireless in the restaurant as an added bonus.

Despite all this, I find it hard to believe I will ever stay there again. I expect to be treated better in a Mexican jail than I was treated by the Pres staff. It wasn't just 1 person, but all of them.

I know that the Pres has several policies for dress code, and is trying to portray a "family oriented" hotel atmosphere, and I know that several people have noted that there seems to be a bias against mongers... I'm here to tell you that I don't think it's against mongers. It's against everyone.

The staff, in general made me feel like I would never in a million years want to return. The amenities make me want to consider it again, as does the price, but for the attitude of the employees, I think I'll pass...


qbf

Actually, I've yet to find a tico hotel (ie, one that isn't run by a gringo) that allows late checkout. One hotel, out in tamarindo would allow it, if I paid an extra $50... for 1 HOUR!

While I think you were indeed treated poorly, I think you may have aggravated the situation by reacting poorly as well. I know, the customer is always right, but in a hotel that is almost always full, they can largely do whatever they want. And, they know that based on your location, and if you have a tica with you, it's a 90% probability she's a working girl. I would cut them some slack on that. It may be the hotels policy to challenge any tica, every time.

Honestly, for a tico hotel, I think your treatment was about average.

QBF,
Sorry about your experience at the Prez buddy. It's weird because I was in the same boat as you the first week of Nov and received very good, courteous service.

I emailed them for a rate quote ( sales@hotel-presidente.com ) and William Vargas responded quickly with a my CRT discount and with no problems. Did you email directly or email thru the website? I specifically told them that I would be checking my girl in. When I arrived solo from the airport, I checked in, told them my girl will be there later. They told me she would need to show her ID and sign the form. When we came back together, we went over to the reception desk and I told them I wanted to register my girl and it was done promptly.

On the way up, near the elevator, some guy at the desk (is that where you register guests?) asked for her ID, but we just totally ignored him and went up. We were not bothered about checking in at all after that.

I didn't have much contact with the staff (pretty much just at breakfast and reception desk), but we never encountered any rudeness or attitude.

QBF,
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience there but am not surprised since I got the same poor attitude from the fron desk and concierge durring the week I spent there. I voted with my feet and booked my next stay @ SL and have been more than happy. I dont buy the excuse that all Tico hotels are like this either but it doesnt really matter what the reason, I just give my business to the Hotels that appreciate their customers.

One thing that I do is have my girl register in her name first and me second.
I didn't even talk to them. I just showed them my CR driver's license. We have stayed one night at the Pres and many , many other hotels outside the gulch without any harassment .

I also don't buy tico-owned hotels being that way... Perhaps in SJ, but I've stayed at several in other parts, Puntarenas, Jaco, San Isidro, where they treated me great (except for not taking dollars with ANY marks on them, which I have found to be a general practice in CR).

Most of the time we told 'em to phuk off, and leave her alone, hell, I wouldn't want to get her mad...and I think they finally figured it out...

I don't know about the late checkout at most places, since this is the one and only place I've ever asked for it...ASIDE FROM ZB...

I emailed the sales@hotel-presidente.com like it says to do so on our website SOMEWHERE, I don't remember where, to speak with Willie, but got some snobby witch instead!


In any case, I as well voted with my feet, although I MIGHT go back there someday, it's because of the amenities, NOT the staff...

On my last trip, I got a late check out at ZB until 6PM for no extra charge

Eddie has done this for me on many occasions, and I hope many more to come...

The late checkout is a pet-peeve for me too. My flight home is often at 6:30pm, so I would prefer to check out around 3, not 12. And I don't like leaving my important stuff (passport, wallet, laptop, etc) at reception.

P55,
I wasn't suggesting that they hold up somebody's room for my late checkout. I'm talking about instances where they have other rooms available.

Here we go AGAIN. Let me be very clear about this....you were treated like shit because they don't want you,or your novia there,discount or no discount. If you are alone,or with a non-gringa chica,you aren't welcome there.You are "tolerated" at best. It's kind of strange how they have trained the Tico and Tica employees to disrespect the Ticas who enter the establishment. I have no idea why they even bother to honor the CRT discount any longer since they have made it very difficult for our membership to stay there.

I've never had a problem at the Prez, either with getting a room at the CRT rate or with all the TLNs I've done there with my favorita. It remains my favorite hotel; staying there for my 8-night Thanksgiving trip, $56 for a standard king room, no problem.

QBF, I have to agree.
On my last trip I stayed at the Presidente in a Junior Suite or Spa Suite. The Jacuzzi was great, the room large and the beds comfortable. I can understand the plastic furniture. I would hate to be the cleaning lady trying to get “spunk” stains out of the upholstery of a cloth couch. My only problem with the room was the necessity of turning on the light first to chase the dozen or so cockroaches away. Learned that the first night when I stepped on one, that squirming feeling under my foot bothers me.
The staff is the problem. Rude, indifferent, and a general feeling of “we don’t need your business”. I had a similar problem with a girl and repeated requests for her cedula. I realize this for security, but he had seen us come and go many times before. Do they do this to everyone or just the gringos with a guest? Their two computers for customer use are a joke, the need to be rebooted about every 10 minutes. They are pissed at the desk if you ask them to fix them.
As far as the CRT discount. I was told “no CRT discount” by the desk staff. It was 5:00 am and I didn’t feel like arguing, so I just paid my bill. I was already late to get to the airport because I had to shake the cockroaches out of my luggage. It had been sitting on the floor open so they moved in.
I will never be back to the roach motel.

Last weekend I was eating late evening at the NEW Pres restaurant(which I don't like as much as the old) and guys seemed to bringing their chicas with no problem. I had this feeling they were being treated well on their way in but I don't know for sure. Anyway, isn't the Presidente owned by an Israeli?

I like the hotel overall but would only stay their if other hotels were not available. I would like to hear the guys weigh in that have been staying their for years as their preferred hotel and have stayed their lately. A lot of guys used to swear by the place... wonder if that's changed.