I am in San Jose for 3 weeks for work. On the weekends, I'll be doing some nature trips that should be great fun. But during the week, I will be in the city interviewing people. I'll have some time to tour museums, etc, when I have gaps in my schedule. I know everyone says don't spend any time in San Jose, but I really have no choice. Do you have any recommendations for me for things to do? I'm staying in the Holiday Inn downtown because I liked the location (easier to walk to museums whereas the hotel everyone loves seems to be off by itself). Also, I can get a king suite 2 rooms for only $150/night, which is a great deal. I need good internet as I'll be working in the room as well.

Any suggestions, tips, places to avoid - anything about San Jose at all - would be really welcome.

Thanks!

We haven't spent much time in San Jose, usually just the first or last nights of a trip, but the Jade Museum and Gold Museum are popular, as is the Central Market area, and the National Theater. There's also a National Museum. Grano de Oro hotel has a wonderful restaurant if you want a nice meal out. I would avoid walking by myself at night and take taxis instead. Parts of San Jose are pretty rough, razor wire and bars on the window and all that just like any other big city.

Just a few restaurant tips: Esquina de Buenos Aires, Kalu Cafe, Tin Jo, all very close to your hotel. Also, new contemporary French bistro, Le Terrasse, or something like that, inside nearby Mansion Parque Bolivar.

Food has really never been great (except right when they opened 15 or so years ago), but the ambiance is great at Cafe Mundo...

check out www.costaricaeats.com, my food blog about Costa Rica

Thanks very much for the advice! I am sitting the hotel lobby because the internet is no longer good enough in my room. I am thinking about changing hotels just to get decent internet. Does anyone have any suggestions for hotels with reliable good internet?

Surprised the internet/WiFi so bad at the Holiday Inn. Not too many options right downtown. You might check out the nearby Mansion del Parque, Don Carlos and more cookie-cutter Sleep Inn (which I think was recently re-named). By "the hotel everyone loves" I'm assuming you mean Grano de Oro. It's great. Close to it, and even better for walking to the La Sabana Park (and great Museum of Costa Rican Arte) you'll find Tryp La Sabana, Parque de Lago and Crowne Plaza...

Grano de Oro has had reliable internet access when we've stayed there. They cater to a lot of business clients. Adventure Inn is a popular affordable place to stay; you could check with them as well.

We stayed twice at Hotel Clarion Amon Plaza. There was a WiFi signal for each floor. You could choose 4th, 5th, 6th , etc., and all were strong and fairly fast. I liked the hotel, as did others, in our group. I don't know if it is loveable or not. Perhaps the people who actually love this hotel (as well as 10 or 20 other hotels in San Jose) just aren't on Fodor's forums every day to tell about it. On the down side, the hotel has a little casino.

Thanks everyone! I spoke to the management and they were very apologetic. They brought a router right into my room to fix the problem, and now I have no trouble with the internet. I'm very happy as I'm very close to the people I need to see down here. Thanks again.