Scuba1 wrote:
Mike321 wrote:
Scuba 1
I agree Bill has created a nice experience for guests and girls......I also think that almost all Bill's guests visit the del rey/key largo at some point in there stay.
I get it you hate the del rey but until something comes along that really competes with it that's where the majority of girls will work.
My points were simple - the HDR is not that great but the competition is worse
I confirm that Bill has done an excellent job, and deserves every bit of success he has achieved (its not easy to make a go of it in his business - anywhere - but he has and should be praised for what he achieved - period
My bitches against the HDR notwithstanding - I think its a shitty hotel, the last time the rooms were renovated and /or redecorated Jimmy Carter was in the Whitehouse (and not the one in Escazu

)
Plus, I think they charge US prices for their food and drinks - their right to do so, as so many business catering to the gringo do.
But my main gripe is really with guys that never expand their horizons past the HDR, and the KL - some of these guys would have you believe they "know" Costa Rica - they don't - I think - hell, I know - that so much exists outside of the walls of the pink palace that more guys should experience.
I've talked to jerks that (let me say.....if you like the HDR, that's your right - what I'm talking about here are guys that know nothing, but think they do) swear by the place - its the only place to meet girls in San Jose - its great, on and on ad naseum - its the idea that some will never expand past the place - and that's OK - just STFU about how great it is, and how much you know about CR - that is the thing that gets me about the place.
I have been going to Costa Rica since you were knee high to a duck. (Actually I don't know how old you are, but I've been going for 23 years.)
I started out at the Del Rey and Key Largo but soon ventured into the old Zona Roja over by the Hotel Principe. Went into places over there that probably NO gringo had been. I certainly didn't see any when I went there. I went to all those places over there and even had a couple good times over there.
Went to most if not all of the massage parlors. Went to places that don't exist any more.
Yet I will tell you that there is no better place to pick up chicks than the Del Rey. Period. That's my opinion. I could go into WHY but this thread isn't supposed to be about this so I'll drop it here.
As to getting ripped off, it can happen anywhere at any hotel. I guess I've been lucky in Costa Rica because I've never been ripped off. If the place doesn't have a safe I have a good hiding place that has always worked for me and if I can't use it (for reasons I cannot say) then I'll figure out another good one. I have had up to $19,000 cash American in one of those safes at the Morazan! (That was out of necessity, not out of choice!)
One thing I wanted to note is that if someone had started a similar thread about the Sportsmen's Lodge it would have been deleted right away. Why is one about the Mona Lisa allowed to stand? Seems there is a double standard at work.
Without proof it's just hearsay, legally. I understand that the guy who started the thread is a stand up guy, sure about it and all but nevertheless anyone COULD get drunk or confused for some reason and think money was stolen when it wasn't or went to the bathroom when he thought he didn't or whatever. I don't think it's right to accuse any hotel of theft without some proof. It could be considered slander, no? IMHO.