Gran Hotel Costa Rica, Curio Collection by Hilton

We were disappointed by several parts of our stay, despite a mostly clean room and some good service. Room service was very good and arrived quickly, and the afternoon valet was friendly and brought my vehicle to the front as expected. The room Wi-Fi was extremely poor. It only worked near the door, and elsewhere the network couldn’t even be found. Some outlets by the bed didn’t work either, which I only noticed in the morning when my phone was at 12%. The worst moment was finding a huge spider, literally about the size of an orange. My wife and I were freaked out and checked around the room constantly after that, nearly leaving to book somewhere else. In the morning, the valet just handed over my keys and told me where the car was. Other valet cars were parked so close that I couldn’t get out, and I had to ask them to move several vehicles. The language barrier made that difficult. We also waited by the restaurant’s “wait to be seated” sign around 7pm while employees passed by without acknowledging us. We finally left and went out to get McDonald’s. And several messages I sent to the front desk through the hotel app with questions never got a reply.

Breakfast came with breathtaking panoramic views from the restaurant. The hotel is in the heart of the city, right beside the National Theatre and Culture Square, and it’s a beautiful historic building with a stylish, modern, comfortable interior. It was the highlight of my San José trip, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone wanting to stay centrally.

Our time there was short, but the rooms were clean and lovely, and the bed was comfortable. Our flight was delayed eight hours, so we didn’t get in until after 1am, and our tour company picked us up at 6am. Even at that hour, someone greeted us in the lobby, took us to the desk, checked us in quickly and efficiently, then walked us to our rooms. From what little we experienced, it seemed like a very nice hotel.

The tour company in the foyer was a big help, arranging our transfer to Monteverde at short notice. We also found the staff friendly, the breakfast fantastic, and the rooms roomy and comfortable. We really enjoyed our two nights here with our young children.