Hotels Near Iglesia de Barrio San José de Altagracia in Birri

I arrived in Costa Rica and this is where I spent my first two nights as I prepared for an extensive journey through the national parks. This hotel provided a fine room. The building is in the shape of an ”O”, with the pools and dining areas in the middle. There were many different types of birds flying around, the traffic noise was minimal inside the pool area, and I enjoyed relaxing in the pool area. Breakfast was excellent and available to all guests. Dinner was purchased in a smaller bar/dining area with an overhead view of the pool area. I ordered salmon, and it was surprisingly good! This is not a destination hotel, but it was just what I needed, as I got my international bearings. There is a tour desk, in which one may schedule a variety of tours and day trips of San Jose or areas around Costa Rica.

PROS: Very clean, air conditioned and modern for a good rate. Wifi and decent breakfast included. The stromanthe triostar plants in the lobby were very nice. CONS: Staff is miserable and takes no accountability for customer service. Stephanie literally lies to your face and tries to overcharge you. Examples: -”oh your safe is broken? just reset with code 123456.” nope. the safe code was set by a previous guest and left open so this didn't fix the problem. We had to take all our valuables on a 13 hour tour because of this - very inconvenient. -”oh, you need another towel because we only gave you 2 despite 3 people in the room? we'll send someone up right away”. no one ever shows. when you call back, if they ever pick up, they say the same thing. -”your shuttle from the airport is confirmed and the driver will have a sign with your name on it” nope; after a long trip we had no one to pick us up. The driver didn't have my booking (he had another name on the sign), so he called the hotel and they confirmed nothing had been booked for us. -”well there's no booking because you obviously have to book it in advance; how would we know you need a shuttle?”. Excuse me? Yes, in fact, I did book it in advance and showed them the email chain (7 emails) with her own confirmation 3 days earlier! -”ok so you found the driver, perfect”. No, not perfect as we've been searching in the sweltering heat, walking up and down through the crowds for 45 minutes with a small child after a long trip. An apology, not a dismissal would be more appropriate in this situation. After speaking to the driver and Stephanie (we are still in the heat outside the airport), Stephanie who confirmed the booking by email then blamed her colleague who in fact didn't book it, And, they still charged us $16 USD for it - which was like rubbing salt in the wound. -”it will be an additional $20 USD for the shuttle” - when they previous told me $16 USD (thankfully in writing) -”it will be $16 USD to have a child in the room” - when my confirmation clearly shows children stay free (thankfully in writing) -guests aren't ”allowed to use the stairs”; long wait for the elevator

I appreciated that the room was spotlessly clean, with all sorts of amenities. The staff was very proactive and helpful, and the location right across from the airport was the main reason I chose it. The problem, though, is that our room (#135) had no window curtains to block out light. All it had was a flimsy screen that you could easily see through. I imagine anyone passing by the first floor room would have been able to see inside the room, because it was easy to see outside through the screen. At night-which comes very early in the tropics-the light from eight powerfully bright lights in the parking lot lit up our room. There was no way to darken the room, the light was so bright you could have read by it. None. Hence I got NO sleep because the room was lit up. Please, put up black out curtains.

Like every Selina Hostel there is love in every detail - decoration, lights, good furniture. We had the deluxe room with a lot of space, a table, a sofa, own bathroom and good comfort. The bed was very cosy. We had no warm water for 2 days in our room, but the staff reacted instantly, tried to fix it and we got a free breakfast and some money back. Clean kitchen, enogh fridge space and a cool sofa space in the living kitchen. In total we had a nice and relaxing stay amd would definitly recommand this hostel.

The staff are so attentive and kind and friendly. I don’t have one bad thing to say about them. The maid was top notch. She left our room spotless with extra towels, soap, lotion and waters ever day we were there. The service at the reception desk, restaurant, bar, valet, bellhop etc. were so professional and welcomed us with a smile no matter the time or request. The staff in the restaurant were outstanding. We got to breakfast late our first morning (we thought it ended at 11 but it was 10) and they welcomed us in, left all the food out for us to fix plates, brought us a huge plate of delicious fruit and let us sit until we were ready to leave. Sheila was an absolute delight and welcomed us every morning with a big smile and a kind word. I would absolutely stay here again and would recommend this hotel to anyone staying in the San Jose area. Oh…the view on the mountain side is spectacular!

With friendly and helpful staff, this hotel is sweet, easy to get to, and shuttle every half hour for domestic and international terminals. The food was pretty good - though breakfast is expensive. It would be nice if you could order ala carte.