oops...shuttle service would be great due to late (early) arrival.

The Hampton Inn seems one of the closest.

I used to try to get from one place to the next In Costa RIca as quickly as possible. Now that I have been a few times , I enjoy the travel part much more and tend to take later flights and buses if possible...enjoy leisurely mornings wherever I am as those are my favorite part of the day.

That flight in to PJ is just lovely over the Central Valley and along the coastline. You must be very excited!

steph are you flying out next morning on Sansa, or Nature Air? How soon are you leaving?

We recommend Country Inn and Suites, its reasonable clean and very close to the pavas airport. It is halfway between the intnl. airport and san Jose. And directly across the highway from the cariari mall. We have used this hotel as a home base of sorts for touring around the country without having to deal with the downtown traffic. Have Fun!!

www.adventure-inn.com

my fav cheap clean close to airport

even better boutique BB

www.casabellarita.com

Casa Bella Rita, Hotel Los Volcanes, Casa Antigua, Hostel Maleku - all good and all less than 15 minutes from SJO. Yes, you could stay at either the Holiday Inn Express or Hampton Inn -- but why? It would be just like staying in a hotel in the US.

If you are going on Nature Air, Isla Verde is good in Pavas, not far from the airport.

@Tully - trip is the end of March (24). I probably should have waited to post this question until I knew which flight Leonardo is getting for us...probably Nature Air. We've flown both. I just want somewhere reasonably priced, clean, and safe...shuttle would be nice - we are literally going to sleep for like 5 hrs (if we're lucky) and head out - we don't need any "amenities" like a pool, etc.
@hsmithcr, qwovadis, rivet, blizzardcpl- thank you - going to check them out now!

Have a great trip, steph!

Another place you may want to look into is Palma Real. It's a chain hotel but I've always got a room for $70 or so and free breakfast. It's on the N side of Sabana Park and is less than 10 minutes from Pavas.

thanks vg! promise to post a trip report. tully, thanks...checked out palma real as well as the hotels mentioned above...of course they all get good reviews on trip advisor...so no process of elimination there. i also googled hotels between pavas and sjo and came across plumboy's thread from 2 years ago now i just need to hear from leonardo and make the decision! thanks again!!!

received confirmation from leonardo this morning for nature air. we will arrive on a late flight at midnight in sjo and then fly out the next morning for bdc on the 8:30 am. so i'm thinking palma real may be the best choice?

Can't hurt to check their prices. As mentioned it's nice and close to Pavas and they have drivers on hand. On their website check out on the left the Special Offers, you can usually get 10-20% off. Like I said, it's a chain hotel but my 2 stays there have been good for value and closeness to Pavas.

Just a few weeks away! Have a great trip. Mention to Philip you are a member of Team Puma

Thanks again Tully...Team Puma eh? wiil do, and yeah, I'd like to see the puma...not too close of course I offered to take stuff down again for Kim...still waiting to see if she needs anything...I can imagine that part of living there can be tough at times!