El Escondite Calle 54

A perfectly okay place to visit.

For $20 in Costa Rica, you can find a much better place. The room itself could have been fine, but it was dirty when we arrived: hair all over, a full bathroom bin, and sheets that had only been made up, not changed. We got there at 5:30 PM and were told none of the rooms had been cleaned because the cleaner had an unexpected problem. Towels didn't show up until the next morning, and the TV remote was missing, apparently after falling into water. The shower wasn't working the next morning, and no one was around to help. The cleaner let us use another room, but that one still needed cleaning too.

The bed was comfortable, but the shower barely had any water and it was cold. My partner and I stayed two days, which is about as long as this hostel is worth. There were cockroaches in the room, and seeing them where there was no food made me wonder what a casino would be like. I'd look at other options if you're considering staying here.

This was easily the worst place and treatment we had in CR, and I feel bad leaving such a negative review, but I couldn't find a way to make the stay work. The cabins were dirty and windowless, with rooms divided by drywall that didn't reach the ceiling. The first one smelled awful, so he offered another, but it had no bathroom door. There were no sheets, only a tiny airplane-style blanket that couldn't cover two people. It's hard to find and there's nothing nearby. There was no sign, the place was closed, and a man on the street had to call them to let us in, even though it was only around 4:30 p.m. You really need a taxi or car to get there. The price was another problem. He asked what our reservation said, and when we told him $20, he said card payment would cost more despite the reservation showing taxes included. We later learned extra charges for card payments are illegal in the country. We had just arrived without cash, so we went to an ATM, which only gave us colones. Even after we showed him the official exchange rate, he tried to short us on the change. He agreed to 11,000 colones, then said he couldn't return the rest because the ATM had given us 20,000-colon bills. We agreed he'd give us the change later. He first offered 5,000 colones, then said he'd be right back when we asked for all of it. He never returned. At checkout the next day, he had left, our taxi was waiting, and we were still owed 9,000 colones. In the end, we worked it out with the bar waitress, who paid us from her own pocket and said she'd complain to him because he hadn't shown up or explained when he'd pay.