Flying into San Jose, Costa Rica - where to book hotel?
Just booked a flight and have no idea what city/area to stay at...never been to CR so want to visit! Would like to enjoy the beach, jungle and volcano's if possible. Please help, need to book soon! Thanks.
Costa Rica - 4 Answers
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Hotel Playa Bejuco is down the street from a beach. Its a little rough (riptides) but is beautiful. About an hour drive away is Manuel Antonio National Park (also hotels around there). This national park was beautiful. There was about an hour walk through the forest (we saw sloths, howler monkeys, white-faced monkeys, sleeping bats and iguanas) before you get to a wonderful calm beach. White sand and the water was much warmer than expected. Make sure to bring sunscreen though, the sun burns in a jiff. I would suggest for the a hotel near Manuel Antonio National Park for sure. If you check out a volcano, I would definately go to see the Arenal Volcano. If you go at night, you can actually see the volcano erupting and lava flowing down the sides. It was a sight no one would forget!
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The question is two part. First should be do you need a hotel for the night in San Jose? This will depend on what time you arrive. The nearest coastal town, Jaco, is an hour drive from San Jose. By the time you get your luggage, go through immigration, etc, you might be too late to go anywhere. So first let me recommend a hotel in San Jose but another issue is whether you plan to rent a car or not. A few good hotels near the airport but not under the flight path are the Adventure Inn, (budget around $60), the Ramada Plaza Herradura (around $95 with tax) or the Hotel Martino ($95 including tax but you'll want a car or will need to arrange a driver for the next day). The best place to book is on Expedia. The least expensive rental car company is www.Vamos4x4.com but any of the majors from expedia will work. The advantage of Vamos is they don't whack you with the tax and insurance like the majors do. Now for the coast. The two towns most visited in the central Pacific region are Jaco and Manuel Antonio (actually it is Quepos but the nice part of Quepos is referred to as Manual Antonio, the name of the national park that sits there). Jaco is a surf town but a number of developers have recently built high rises there and are trying to change the area to a more upscale tourist market. The Sonesta, Daystar and a few others have built high rise hotels there, one of the few areas along the coast were Costa Rican law has allowed development within 50 meters of the beach. Unfortunately many of the high rise projects were stopped short of completion when the real estate downturn from the US hit this local market. The area had been overbuilt with supply and inadequate demand. Check Expedia if you want to stay in Jaco but it would not be my first choice. It is easy to get to however at about an hour from San Jose. You can get a taxi at the airport to take you there for around $50-$75 depending on your negotiating skills. The surfer undertone still reigns in Jaco and with it came both drugs and prostitution, the later being legal in Costa Rica. The result has left Jaco in a kind of limbo between a sustainable tourist market and a haven for back packing surfers and riff-raff. Kristina and I don't recommend Jaco as a spot to visit but is an interesting place to drive through. Don't leave luggage or valuables in sight in an unattended car in Jaco. Being the beach town closest to San Jose attracts some elements looking for opportunity to take stuff from unsuspecting tourists. We don't ever leave luggage or valuables in our unattended car anywhere in Costa Rica, nor would I in many parts of the US. The town next to Jaco (to the north and closer to San Jose) is called Playa Herradura and home to the Marriott Los Suenos resort. As one of the most successful Marriott projects ever built, the resort features an 18 hole golf course and full service marina. It is quite expensive however and once inside the gates you'd think you were in Miami instead of Costa Rica. It makes up in amenities what it lacks in Costa Rican charm or experience and many an upscale tourist raves about it. It is a good place to find the typically "ugly American" and although the staff will greet you with a smile, they are often treated as servants and there is an undertone of resentment that is well founded. Between Jaco and Quepos are some small towns, good for surfers but not much to do unless you have a car and not many restaurants, parks, etc. These towns include Playa Bejuca, Esterillos and Parrita. Parrita is probably the lowest choice for a tourist. The other two are sleepy towns without much going on. Manuel Antonio on the other hand is a laid back tourist town. It is about a bit over a 2 hour drive from San Jose now that the new Caldera toll road has opened. It has the most visited national park in the country along with a soon to be completed marina. Quepos is the sport fishing capital of Costa Rica and the fishing is great. The town is definitely a tourist town, a great place to visit, lots of activities, resaturants, etc The national park is a great destination and we typically see more animals there in a short visit than anywhere else in the country. We spend two days there on our ten day tour for good reason. Although hotels are pricier there, the town has nice hotels, plenty of good restaurants and a laid back feeling that is soon to go away (the Wyndhan hotel chain is now building a 200 unit project that candidly doesn't belong there. Up until recently the town was known for upscale boutique hotels with kind of a bohemian flair. We recommend the http://www.costaverde.com/hotel and specifically the units facing the ocean in their Costa Verde II building. The units are huge with commanding ocean views, complete with kitchenettes. These units do lack AC however but they typically get a nice ocean breeze and each room has a number of ceiling fans. Most of our tour clients sa
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if you really want some info I can answer all the questions but itll take forever - send me an email and Ill give you my number and you can write down all the info you need. I just got back and did all that stuff. definately all that is possible.
