Hotel Casa Antigua

The staff were kind and helpful both times we stayed, and made it a pleasant place to stop while traveling to and from San Jose. On our first visit, our flight was badly delayed and we arrived late at night, but the man at the front desk stayed up to check us in. When we came back for the night before our departure, he arranged a taxi for our early flight before I even asked. They offered us water and snacks and gave us dinner recommendations. Such a nice welcome.

We arrived at Hotel Casa Antigua at 1:00 AM with my 13-year-old son. I had a confirmed reservation for a room with two beds and had told Henry by phone that we’d be arriving late. My name was on the check-in list at the front desk, but they said they’d given the room away. The owner seemed grumpy about being woken up. His proposed options were for us to share one twin bed or use the lobby WiFi to find another hotel ourselves in the middle of the night. We only got a bed because another guest from our flight, traveling alone with a queen room, kindly agreed to swap and move into a twin. The owner didn’t apologize. He berated me, blamed me for arriving late, and threatened to put us out on the street when I asked for a price adjustment for the downgrade. When I paid cash, he threw the change back in my face. As a professional hotel owner and operator, I find this behavior appalling and completely unprofessional. If a hotel overbooks, it’s its responsibility to find the guest another room, not leave them stranded in a lobby at night in a country they don’t know. To then berate, threaten, and insult them is beyond belief. I don’t trust the owner or management with my family’s safety. Henry had specifically asked me to book directly by phone instead of through Booking.com so the hotel could save the commission. I understood and agreed, but that left me with no recourse. I never thought I’d wish I’d booked through a third party, but this showed everything that can go wrong with booking direct at a small business. My sincere thanks to the kind stranger who showed more hospitality and compassion to a fellow traveler than the owner, whose job is supposed to involve doing exactly that.

My companion was injured the day before we arrived, and Hamid was incredibly kind and helpful. He brought us a shower chair, scissors for cutting the gauze wrap, and even water bottles to help with swallowing antibiotics. His adorable, sweet kitten welcomed us in the lobby, too. Hotel Casa Antigua gave us wonderful service in a difficult situation, and I’d recommend it to travelers looking for comfort.

We were grateful to find a room at 1am after a long day of travel. Our originally booked hotel had given away our room, so we were in a bind. Still, this one cost double what we’d first reserved, and the stay felt like a premium price for a subpar room. If I could rate it 2.5 stars, I would. The night security guard was pleasant, though he seemed unsure about the credit card machine. He said the included breakfast ran from 6 to more or less 9am. The room was tiny, dingy, dark, and worn, with a large blacked-out window onto the very loud highway. The sink was in the sleeping area, and the toilet and shower were behind a rickety plastic accordion door. It seemed clean. We were exhausted and hoped to nap before breakfast, but turning on the air conditioner for white noise filled the room with dust, irritating our eyes and sinuses. We had to take antihistamines to sleep. In the morning, we noticed a large skylight, though the room still felt gray. At about 8:30 we went for breakfast and found no food and nobody around. We checked the kitchen, thinking it might be self-serve, but a young man appeared and seemed annoyed we were there. He said they don’t provide breakfast when it’s slow, and wouldn’t let us make coffee ourselves. When I asked if the water was safe to drink, he exasperatedly poured a cup and drank it to show us, then made coffee for us. He said there were no cafes within walking distance. I tried to be friendly and complimented the lovely courtyard, but he wasn’t receptive. The courtyard is sweet and quirky, with beautiful flowers and a peaceful feel, shielded from the road by the building. Its shallow pool looked clean, though a bit worn. The shower had decent pressure and hot water, and the bed was reasonably comfortable, but it had a faint urine smell and the mattress cover crinkled when we moved. I can see the place being charming for half or less of what we paid, but we felt our bad luck at the other hotel had been taken advantage of, and we didn’t get the breakfast we’d been told was included. Sadly, I wouldn’t recommend it.