www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Two weeks ago I purchased Bavarian Light at the Del Rey snack bar and stuck the receipt in my pocket as a souvineer.

When I got home and was pulling all the crap out that I had collected, I looked it over and this is what I found:

Heineken/Bavaria...853.66
Servicio.....................85.37
I.V..........................110.98

Total (Col.)...........1050.00
........(US$)..................2.23

In otherwords, they're adding tax and tip (10%) to every drink you buy.

I always knew it was standard practice to add the tip at a restaurant but I never knew they were adding to each drink bought.
Interesting.

I've noticed the same thing at other bars also.

Zebra

Adding tax and tip is standard practice at almost all bars and restaurants in CR. Some places do not print out the details on the receipt but the total is calculated 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

Wit, Always was that way. That is why the BM bartenders are probably the highest paid folks in the entire country..........

I have noticed that the News Cafe does the same thing on drink tabs.I am sure it is common practise at all gringo places.

It is true in local venues such as bars and resaurants as well.I have had locals tell me that.rbc100

This has always been the case! The price you are quoted for a drink includes all that!

Any beverage or food you buy in a bar or restaurant wiil have the usual 23% added on or included in the price. 10 % for service....who knows if they get it all but I think they do and the other 13% is for government fees!

Its automatic gents!!!! you are not getting screwed!

And your hotel bill will always include 16.39 % Tax unless you got a better deal!

Just my observations on my first virgin trip 12 trips ago. I even spoke with Greg from the DR about this, just like their chica fee. So if you really want to add up all the costs and come up with an average cost per pop, get out you calculators boys and start doin youre numbers!!

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GG
"Last time I said no......I misunderstood the question!"

YO Tax Turkeys:

And I get ridiculed because I take my mini vodkas and beef jerky into restaruants and bars. Hell, I can live with that.

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Damn if I'm going to repeat this shit again. I need a drink.
I've been drinking vodka every day for 45 years and I have certainly never found it to be habit forming.

Hell, I bring a bottle of water or CocaCola Light into the Del Rey all time.If I liked Vodka much I might carry that around too.Just call me the frugal traveler but hate to overpay.rbc100

I dont know if it's just coincidence but

the delrey has double charged my credit card on 3 different stays and

has done the same thing to 2 of my buddies just recently

RBC100,
I do the exact same thing very often. I usually pick one up at the kiosk down the street for about 1/4 to 1/2 of what they charge at the HDR. Its not just being cheap. I'm usually popping in and out of there anyway, so why not pick it up where it costs less if you're walking by there anyway. I guess the HDR is charging what the market will bear, so you can't really blame them, but it just seems to me like they're taking advantage of the herds of guys that pass through and their reputation among newbies as "THE" (only) place to go. Bringing in a fairly priced drink is my way of saying "up yours DR". Its not like they still don't manage to get plenty of money out of my pocket while I'm there.

Rico,
The HDR has overcharged you on 3 seperate occasions and have done the same to at least 2 other guys you know and you wonder if its just a coincidence!? Out of how many visits? Maybe it would be a coincidence if it happened twice, but having happened at least 5 times that you know of it seems improbable to me. Have they ever missed one of your charges or do they only make accidents in their favor? If it was just an honest mistake and bad management of their billing department, it seems to me the mistakes would be nearly as often in both directions. How many guys do you think they've doublecharged that haven't picked up on it? Even if it is just an "honest mistake" don't you think it is time to consider a different hotel that has its billing system a little better together so you don't have to go through the hassle with your cc company of getting the charges removed?

Prolijo wrote:



Why single out the HDR? I have never been to a hotel bar, in the U.S. or CR, that did charge more for a beer, water or wine than I would have had to pay if I purchased it at the local 7-11 or from a street vendor.

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

DD,
Its true one generally pays more for drinks at hotel bars in the US. But the HDR is even at the upper end of what other hotels in CR normally charge. Also, if you want to compare the HDR to hotels back in the US, how many US hotels charge $10-15 everytime you bring a girl up to your room? True, many mainstream hotels in CR charge that much or even much more. However, in those cases it is usually as much because they're trying to discourage that type of traffic as it has anything to do with making money. That is a high rate for a supposedly "chica-friendly" hotel that derives 100% of its business from guys likes us. Even without the chica fees their room rates are about $5-15 higher than what its nearby competitors charge for similar quality rooms. Running down the list, similar comments could be made about their restaurant and casino operations. Overpriced or lower payout compared to nearby competitors. And now this observation about cc charges. Any one point by itself would not be so damning, but taken together it paints a picture of, at best a business that takes full advantage of its justified popularity or at worst takes advantage of the ignorance of so many newbies that there are other better and less expensive alternatives.

Someone should start 2 seperate surveys, one for relative newbies (<4 trips) and one for relative vets (4 trips or more), which asks "Do you...?"

A) Stay at the HDR and do the majority of my mongering there.
B) Stay elsewhere but still do most of my mongering at the BM.
C) Stay elsewhere, do most mongering elsewhere but still take home new BM chicas fairly regularly (at least every other day)
D) Stay elsewhere, occasionally manage to weed out a decent BM chica or stick mostly with regular BM chicas I know to be worthwhile, but find most of the rest have become too hardcore for my tastes.
E) Go to the BM mainly to hang out with friends, enjoy the spectacle, and occassionally or rarely take out the handful of hidden gems.

Assuming everyone only responded to the survey that correctly applies to them, it would be very interesting to see the comparative results. I know there are a few vets like Lee and Bing that still swear by this place and like to stay there, but I think they are in the minority.

Being one that strongly defended the HDR up until just recently in May, I can tell you that price-wise, and to a large degree also kitten-wise, HDR is not the wisest choice, ESPECIALLY for those that are budget conscious.

Let me tell you, I'm one who puts all drinks and meals on my hotel tab, thus paying a big lump sum at the end of the trip. For that reason, I tend to try to eat all my meals and do most of my drinking at the hotel I'm staying at. It was a nice change to see a $450 tab when I stayed at Sportsmens as opposed to $1k+ I always had for stays of the same length at HDR. The food and drinks, though not that bad when comparing to U.S. prices, seem extremely inflated when comparing to CR prices. If you bring many kittens into your room in a span of a day (which i tend to bring a few...), that $10 fine will add up to several hundred by the end of the stay! Not to mention, the rooms are not in the best of conditions and are priced at a range where you'd probably expect more... Sportsmen's and Presidente rooms (especially Presidente) are nicer and in the same ballpark range.



This is very much true... this is mainly for the newer guys to enjoy wheras the vets have moved on to trying, and PREFERRING other options ... and the only reason why newbies are willing to pay those exhorbant prices are mainly for two reasons... one, because most don't know better, and two because they are willing to pay the extra money for that novelty that only HDR can provide. For those of us that have been there enough times, however, that novelty tends to wear off and you find that, although not as exciting, you can find just as much fun at the other local MP's, strip clubs, bars, etc.

Personally, I still LOVE BM and KL, and I enjoy making my entrance and saying hello to all the honeys and employees I know there. But unless I have no choice, I will NEVER stay there again. In terms of the honeys, my extraction of kittens from there has been VERY minimal... As a matter of fact, in the last two trips, I've only extracted one new girl from BM (Eva) and one from KL (Nameless Nica), which in comparison is nothing to the 2-5 new girls I would session with PER DAY on my first two trips form there. There are just better options for me these days, such as ZB, Oasis, Sportsmen's kittens, Grillion, Pantera, etc.... where the cost is quite less expensive, the sessions for the most part in my experience have tended to be on par or better than most BM/KL girls, and the hardcoreness of is all is not so in-your face as you risk to encounter in HDR.

I think their prices and their level of business will remain the same or increase even more as time goes by, so long as there is always a new crowd of cherries coming in for their first time. And, hell, I still recommend to ALL newbies to stay their on their maiden voyage, as the thrill and excitement of being there is like no other place in San Jose. I still look back fondly at my first three trips, and even with all I know now, I wouldn't have had it any other way for my first few experiences.

Now for us who have been there and done that several times already... well... let's just say we know better.

Ruffnutz

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EVERYONE'S A ROCK STAR IN C.R.!!
"Just when I thought I was out... They pull me back in." -- Ruffnutz on trying to quit CRT

How about option F): Would NEVER stay there, only venture in under severe duress, and usually start looking for the nearest exit within five minutes.

Like everyone else, I was blown away the first time I walked in, but now the bloom is definitely off the rose. C'mon, even the chica quality really ain't that hot on the whole. For those of you who still think otherwise, enjoy...