Any Suggestions for a SJO- Nature Air Layover?
 

Hi,
I will arrive at SJO at 6:28pm and have a Nature Air flight the next day at 1pm. Could someone suggest a hotel that is nice and has a pool, that would be easy to travel from these two airports.

I am also considering adding a day between flights. Are there tours, markets or other things we could do in the area (without a car) with an extra day?

Thank you in advance for any advice (hopefully soon- I need to book our tickets)!
Gem

If you add a day, consider taking the "Highlights of Costa Rica" tour available through most companies. It is about a 10 hour tour of a loop north and east of San Jose. It covers 5 of the 7 provinces! Well worth the money--which is about $80 per person. You will see SO MUCH. . .feels like you've been all over Costa Rica by the day's end! I was on this tour with about 12 others (not a soul did I know); we had an excellent guide. .I think it was Ecotours. . .I booked it through the very helpful Juan Carlos at the Hotel Don Carlos. . .most hotels have a way to book these things for you. I am just very partial to the Don Carlos. . .they are very helpful with many things!

Hotel Bougainvilla would be fairly easy to access from SJO as it is between the International airport and San Jose. Pavas is about a 1/2 hr ride from there. They have a shuttle to and from San Jose if you want to go into the city.
Another option would be the Courtyard by Marriott in Escazu. I don't ordinarily like to suggest places like that but they have a pool, Escazu is a pretty suburb of San Jose, and it is very close to Pavas. There are two very good Tico restaurants overlooking the city lights, one I believe is Valle Azul but can't remember the other. Can find out if you are interested. We were there about 3 weeks ago and the sky was clear, the city lights twinkling and the moon rise over the mountains on the other side of the central valley was one of the prettiest I have ever seen. The American Embassy is there and if you just can't get away from North American food, there is a TGIF.
As was mentioned, most hotels will have a list of tours you can do and have a tour desk to help you set things up.
Don Carlos (no pool) is a fun place to stay and I have stayed there on several trips although not in about 3 years. If you do think about staying there do ask for a quiet room. Otherwise they will give you an atrium room or a street side room and those are incredibly noisy. The Amon district where it is located is in the historic area. Some of the buildings are very nice to look at. Just out the door to the left and around the corner to the left is a nice street. If you go just a couple of blocks there is a little coffee shop right on the corner on the opposite side of the street that has good food. The Dunn Inn and the Hemingway Inn are in that area also. You can also walk towards downtown. The park just below the Holiday Inn Aurola a couple of blocks in the other direction was really being spruced up about 3 years ago. Lots of shops around there to look in.
Hotel Grano de Oro has a rooftop Jacuzzi.
If none of the above work out I am sure we can all put our collective heads together and come up with more ideas.

I HIGHLY recommend a day to explore San Jose. The museum of natural history is fascinating and cost the equivalent of 70 cents. The market area is really fun, and there are lots of great places to eat. I always stay at Casa Grano de Oro, but they have no pool

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will get to work and check them all out.

Suzie- have you been to Granada? I really wanted to get your opinion of it if you had.

Thank You,
Gem

Hi Gem,
Haven't ventured that far up yet but I am sure it will happen someday. I just stuck my toes into Nicaragua this year at a resort just off the Rio San Juan on the Rio Indio. It is in the middle of a 700,000 acre reserve there with nothing but Rama indians and the resort.A fascinating place but even the Rama indian who we were using for a guide gave in and used our bug spray because the bugs were so bad.