www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Can you tell me a bit more about the El Rey (in particular the layout)? I will be staying there for 4 nights during my Veteran's Day weekend. I was a bit nervous about it's proximity to the bar and the noise that might inhibit me to take my afternoon naps. Not too worried about sleeping at night as the SL is really quiet after the bar closes. I don't want to hijack this thread so feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Thanks for highlighting the door lock situation as I will be sure to check it out upon arrival and seek repair, as needed.

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OK, I Admit It....I have an Asian Obsession. But I also have a Latina Obsession, too! Perhaps I just have a Pu**y Obsession? -----------------------------------------------------
Next Trip: SJO - April or May??????


Someone PLEASE STOP Me.................LOL

I believe that True Sportsman was simply pointing out that there were many people in and out of El C's room. He is, after all, a social and popular fellow. His room was very convenient and I can recall several times when El C, myself and several other guys and chcas used the room to catch up on current affairs, etc, all con ropa as I recall.

TS's point was that it would be a tremendous invasion of privacy to try to research the possible scenarios. Rightfully, in my opinion, he is respecting El Ciego's option to have as many guests in his room as he likes and he is respecting the privacy of his guests who frequented El C's room.

As for the door lock, someone had evidently banged into the door frame portion of the latch, bending it back so that the latch in the door wouldn't drop into the slot deeply enough to securely catch. I bent tge latch back out with a $100c coin, leaving it stuck behind the latch to ensure that it didn't get pushed in again. I believe the SL staff made more permanent repairs shortly thereafter.

I know El C meant to point out a few minor issues he had with his room. Note that none of this will deter him from booking with Sportsman's Lodge because the overall experience is unmatched in Costa Rica. Personally, I think these issues would have been better handled privately but that is just my opinion.

As for sex of the bar staff effecting the level of service: the problem is cultural, not sexual. Costa Ricans are just not as concerned with with lightning fast service as their US counterparts. Never have been, never will be. If you want a little better service, get to know the bar staff by name and get their attention. You are just not going to find wait staff sitting on your elbow waiting to grab your empty glass and refill it in Costa Rica. It is not their culture. Pura Vida.

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"Your love gives me such a thrill
but your love don't pay my bills,
I NEED THE MONEY!" - John Lee Hooker

Disclaimer: The above is merely the opinion of the author unless specific scientific data is included.
Your mileage may vary. https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 978#206978

At least you guys didn't rearrange the furniture in EC's room again.

I have not stayed at the Sportsmens as many times as most people have (I don't come down as often) but, I haven't had any problems. I am staying here right now in the penthouse and my cousin is staying in Felicidad <-?. I was gone to the Del Rey last night and my cousin wanted to come up to the penthouse and get in the jacuzzi with his "date" but Bill would not let him up there even though he is my cousin. Kudos to Bill even though I told him he could go up there but Bill said no unless I was here. As far as the slow service goes, I only had to wait 4-5 minutes when I sat at the table in the back by the open air. The closer I sat to the bar, the faster the service. If you don't like waiting a couple of minutes, drink Jager Bombs! Just my two cents.

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El Gringo

Sometimes it's tough to get the bartenders' attention when it's busy, but service at Sportsmen's is certainly no worse than any other similar establishment. And I would single out Lauren and the newer girl Carol (what a doll, BTW) for being very attentive and providing exceptional service when I've been there.

Agreed.

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El Gringo

It's kind of funny to hear so many noise complaints about the new wing now - it's getting to be almost on the level of the courtyard rooms. Of course, it's still generally quieter than the courtyard, but having stayed at the hotel a good 8-9 times before the new wing even opened up, I still have kind of a soft spot for the original rooms, especially Pura Vida in the back clubhouse area and also Buena Vida. In fact, even this year, I still booked in those rooms rather than the new wing, and for the money, I still find them a good value.

Concur.

Pacifica55 suggests with some merit that the issues I had with the room might have better been handled back-channel. Normally I would agree, however the original post has prompted some good discussion here, which was partially my point in posting in the first place.

Noise: No problem for me.

Room layout: A short hallway leads into the suite, with the large bathroom on the right, door opening toward the king bed. There is a night table at the top right corner of the bed and a small table diagonally opposite. There is a lockable door (a far better lock than the main room lockset) to the left of the head of the bed which leads into a small but serviceable kitchenette with sink, minibar fridge, and microwave. Facing the west wall of the kitchenette with the door from the bedroom to your back, there's a commercial plate-glass entry door with a very secure lock to your left that leads to what is charitably called the terrace, a bodega-like structure with a couple rustic chairs and a table. Two of the walls of this "terrace" are vinyl; the walls rise to within about a foot of the roof, allowing ventilation but no view. If there was not construction (and its resulting grime/dust) going on, the room would be a fairly pleasant chill spot.

Like all the rooms in the new wing, the safe box is located in the closet. There's also a four-drawer armoire which contains the decent-size television, and an air conditioner mounted in the wall next to a large window that has no real view, unless one likes vent stacks etc. on a roof approx. 4 feet below the window.

Finally, regardless of my social butterfly status, no one had my permission to knock off a piece of ass in my room. The condom was not mine and appeared after the maid had thoroughly cleaned the room. I myself didn't braille the rubber (thank God), but it was discovered along with a wadded kleenex and a cigarette butt by ZeeBraWon; I'll take his word for its presence. If Bill or the security staff in fact know who used my room, I believe it is my right to know who and when. And speaking of that, if any of you guys with whom I spent time in my room subsequently used the room for sex or whatever, now would be a good time to inform me of this fact.

Understand, I'm paranoid. I travel with some specialized electronics necessary for me to function; talking computer, talking clock/calculator, audio recording gear, etc. I am very happy that nothing was stolen during this alleged B&E, , but it creeps me out that someone might have entered my room without my knowledge or permission.

Note: A fresh bottle of 30 5.0/500 mg. Vicodin tablets was taken at some point during my stay, but not during the surreptitious entry. Probably my carelessness in not locking it in the safe.

Finally...please understand. I will (if Bill will still allow me to do so) stay again at the SL. As I've repeatedly said, it's my favorite property when I visit SJ, I wouldn't stay anywhere else.

Oh, and whoever praised Lauren and Carol above... I'm right with you. They are great, as continue to be Asta and Shirley.

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Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

nothing grows legs faster than an unattended bottle of vicodin.

Am I losing my mind or did the title of this thread change?

Started out as concern for lack of privacy and an odor issue and it's now about how a great hotel handles problems?

I need to lay off the sauce....

Yea, it did change. I thought it was a whole new thread, and then deja vu hit me.

Thanks. I thought I was losing it.

I'm guessing SL put a little heat on due to the much more accurate thread title this was posted under.

So this great hotel dealt with the complaints did they?

I'll need to re-read this thread from the start!

Klockman,

Please don't consider this a flame, as I don't tend to do that. I just wanted to respectfully suggest that you be a bit more careful in posting about matters of which you may not have all the facts.

When I saw that El Ciego changed the title of the thread, I assumed he did so as a gesture of goodwill, understanding that the original title might be misleading. I thought it was a classy move and showed a willingness on his part to admit that he might not have had all the facts when he originally posted. To suggest that he did so because "SL put a little heat on ..." is unfair to EC as it undermines his intentions to do the right thing, IMO.

By your own admission, you don't frequent SL. You also related Laura's comments about her beef with SL and Bill. She told me the same story over Labor Day, asked me to post about it and I told her 'no.' The story she related to me didn't pass the smell test, by a long shot, and I couldn't see giving it credence by posting it.


SL remains a special place for a lot of us, and simply reading a thread on its merits (or problems) can't really give a newcomer the sense of how it feels to walk in there and feel at home. Since you have trips booked, give it a whirl, and you will see why some folks get a little defensive when they see the place dissed. And when you're there, I'll buy you a beer and we can talk about doing Laura.

Ciaociao

My bad and apologies to all, I wasn't aware that El Ciego had changed the title himself, didn't know you could do that. I did see the earlier post where rather than deal with the issue, an objection was raised over the thread title instead.

Good on El Ciego if he felt his issues were resolved, it seems only fair to note to all that he felt better about the efforts by SL to resolve things.