Hotel Don Carlos

I stayed, briefly, at the Hotel Don Carlos in May. The hotel is within walking distance of a park, museums and restaurants in San Jose. The staff is friendly and helpful, offering unsolicited, but valuable, advice about currency exchange and safety. They also offer a voucher for a free drink from their cafe (though I never used it), and arrange seamless transportation. Best of all: (1) there is a huge gift shop with wonderful Costa Rican treasures; and (2) the internet service-connected to two computers-consistently worked! In terms of decor, the hotel contains authentic Costa Rican artifacts, such as elements of an oxcart, a horn speaker music player and paintings. My room featured a cheesy yet cute macaw on wood-paneled walls, a small working safe, and a large shower-complete with hot water- in a fully-functioning bathroom.

I recommend this hotel for a stay in San Jose. Now, whether one should opt to stay in San Jose at all, versus skipping it in favor of a more scenic base in Costa Rica, is a separate question. If your stay in San Jose leaves you convinced that you should have skipped it, as mine did, all I can say is: don't blame the hotel!

I've spent a couple nights at the Hotel Don Carlos on two different trips. Both times were at the end points of my trip to Costa Rica. If you want to spend some time in downtown San Jose before going off to the country side and beaches, and you want a nice, moderately priced hotel, then I'd recommend it. It is in a nice area of the city (Barrio Amon) which is just a few blocks north of the main part of downtown (Avenida Central) and within walking distance to a great restaurant (Cafe Mundo). The rooms were nice and the staff friendly. I plan on staying there again during my next visit to Costa Rica.