www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I agree with Florida John. SL girls are usually in the 6 category sometimes into the 7 category when the house pigs are not there to pull the rating down. There is change in the air. But SL is still the best place for food, drink, and hanging around.

The REY is at the point where it is almost pathetic. The lighting, lack of windows, overweight pigs at every turn, obnoxious Dominicana bottom feeders trolling for a victim. Sorry to have to see it die a slow death.

_________________
I am NOT a Cien Boy!!

[quote="GlobalVillageIdiot"]"The past isn't what it used to be, and it never was."

In any kind of "scene", there's always someone who says "It was better last month/year/decade".

I'm just gonna smile and look forward to my first visit ever in January.

I don't have to land someone who's a 9 in looks to have a good time. I think service and attitude count a lot more than looks do, at least for me.

What matters to me is that the scene in the Gulch is legal, well-mapped-out, and as a result, safe for newbie mongers like me. I'd like to get some more experience before wandering off where the terrain isn't as well known.

And one thing that ROCKS is all the people here who are willing to put up with my inane newbie questions.[/quote]

I've answered a bunch of your questions, and they are good ones (and read some of my past posts; I have zero patience for idiots, especially the older I get )

Ah, the HDR....guys have always been posting it was better last year, in the past, and so on - All I'll say is in well over 30 trips over the past 15 years I have never had a bad one - and in May, just a few months ago, it was one of my best ever Then again, I've always been a 1/2 full kinda guy

I've made no secret that I really don't like the HDR, either as a bar or a hotel - why? The value proposition is somewhat lacking.

But what (some) guys do is spend their time there and don't venture out - without writing "War and Peace" trust me - go to Sportsmans, MP's, bars, and you will soon have your own list of "contacts" - if the DR disappeared tomorrow it would not effect me.

OTOH, in my business life I have seen many examples of businesses highly dependent of the public's taste (restrauants, bars, stores, designers, hotels) that looked "bulletproof" "can't fail" "never going out of business" "the exception to the rule" that failed.

Nothing lasts forever, and the DR should keep this in mind.

i thought i was just there on bad nights. maybe 6x in last 2 years, didn't see anything i'd pay for. very nice place though i have never stayed there.

Strongly suggest you don't destroy" the fantasy by doing so

(Seriously; rooms are really basic, to be kind)

really, they look nice on the website, but i have read it is a little loud and that's a premium for me, i have found the sleep inn 3rd floor facing delrey extremly quiet, nice hotel, good free bk, but chica fee. i'll pay it if i can sleep until 8.

I've kinda got my groove down here in CR. I'm not gonna say I got it going on like Eddie Murphy had it in 'Coming to America' with the bath girls and all, but I do have it good.


What I was saying was , if a guy has been here "35 times", then he may need to try a different venue.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

That is true. Not alot of Nicas in Medellin either for you.

i have been to many other places, panama,aruba,curacao,DR, but this was the worst time in the del rey in my 35 trips there and it has been so for the last year and a half.

If you go in the DR between 9:30 pm and 11:30 pm you can find some very nice chicas. Any other time it's hit or miss

Quality has decreased in Del Rey and Sportsman IMO.

_________________
Koolaid in the House!

As had been said many times before; the DR has some serious detriments that really don't exist to the same level elsewhere; but what the heck, I am on my lunch hour, so here is my take on the negs:

1) Cheating and scheming bartenders who systematically take your change and don't give it back and a lot of lesser evils that I am not subjected to, because there is no way in hell I will buy one of those thieves a shot of anything, but bile.
2) The usual suspects who are barred at the SL, for some misdeed, usually involving theft, are free to ply their trade at the DR.
3) The usual "first time in the gulch" moron who gets everyone stirred up in one form or another; usually by buying the cheaters in 1) a round of "fake" drinks.
4) the scam artists out front; the cigar vendor, the fake nurse, who now, sans fake uniform, works in concert with the cab drivers, to try and get you to use their theft services, and the other assorted miscreants.

All and all, its more of a quick in and out visit there as quite frankly, I don't feel as safe there as I do at SL or HLH: Bottomline; too much riff-raff.

_________________
“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

That late or no change at the Blue Marlin thing is annoying, so I run a tab and they will make a notch on my piece of paper at my bar spot every time and I keep an eye on it. After $20-25, if you don't have a room number, they ask you to pay. Fair enuf, I guess they have gotten burned, surprise, surprise. But I try to give them close to the exact amount and I say the amount that I give them out loud--that's another one I noticed--"you gave me X colones or dollars", no I gave you a fifty". I drink the Imperials even though I get sick every time I do but still love em, that's how stupid I am, so it's pretty easy to figure what I owe.

But your right, that late delivery or no delivery of change happens so often, for years, that it can't be just a busy cashier thing but if you watch it, that's what it appears, only certain ones can cash out, they just drop it off by the box and away they go. But that doesn't explain the occasional short change, "Remember I said here's $50? Oh, I sorry".

I never noticed them pouring themselves fake drinks but that doesn't shock me. I'm going to see if I can catch that next time

I haven't seen the nurse thing--what kind of scam is she running? Should be pretty funny.

Some disheveled, middle-aged gringa was outside the HDR in late August asking for donations for some orphan Ch*ldren (aka her crack habit).

She - or someone else w/ the same modus - has been there for years - although in 35+ trips, I've never spotted her - or didn't notice.

I suspect you are correct in your assement - nothing is for real outside the HDR - from the blood pressure checker, to the fake rolex/cigar/sunglass et al sellers