cosmosmama

I am traveling to San Jose on my honeymoon this August and need some hotel help. We are arriving on Aug 1 at around 1:00pm into San Jose and we need to be picked up in the San Jose area to go rafting for two nights, return to our hotel for one night, pick up a rental car and drive to another area.

I originally planned to go into the city and stay at Hotel Grano de Oro but when they lost our reservation it got me thinking that maybe I could stay somewhere NOT in the city so we wouldn't have to drive on the city streets with the rental car. Does anyone have any suggestions? We would still need to be close enough to San Jose to be picked up by Rios Tropicales for our rafting trip. I also want to avoid having to pay the airport tax on the rental car, so would prefer to pick it up at an office other than the airport office. I don't have a car reservation yet.

Thanks!

glover

Which direction are you going once you return from rafting? That would make a difference in what people would recommend. We stayed one night at the Hotel Le Bergerac (a great hotel on the eastern edge of SJ). They arranged a car rental for us thru Adobe, who brought the car to us at the hotel.
This was a convenient spot for us because we were driving east in the Cartago - San Gerardo de Dota - San Isidro direction. Since Bergerac was just a block south of SJ's main drag - Avenida Central that we would take out of town, it make our small bit of SJ driving hassle free.

dfarmer

Rios Tropicales picked us up at the Hotel Brittania, however that too is in the city.

Have you asked RT for a list of hotels they pick up from? If they could provide you this, I am sure people here could advise you on those options.

In SJ, we were pleased with Hotel Britania.
Outside SJ, I can recommend Vista del Valle Plantation Inn, Peace Lodge (too far I am sure for pick up) and Orquideas Inn.

Another question - are you having the car delivered to your hotel? Or taking a taxi/shuttle to the car rental location? If it is the latter, then it may not make a difference.

Kathi

I just returned from a quick trip to CR which included a 2 night stay at the Hotel Grano de Oro and a full day of rafting with Rios Tropicales.
We had a wonderful stay at the hotel and it's location to San Jose was perfect for us -- a short walk to "downtown", but not in the middle of it either. 2 blocks from the hotel is a Budget car rental, so it would work out well for you to get dropped off at the hotel, go rafting, return to hotel for night and just pick car up there. You should easily be able to get out of there without having to drive on too many of the city streets.

ConnecticutJohn

I also just stayed at Grano De Oro and it was really a fantastic hotel. The service was wonderful, so I'm surprised to hear they lost your reservation request. The rooms were beautiful, and the food there was very good.
I rented from Dollar which is a short walk from the hotel. I also used taxis to go to sites in San Jose so I would not have to drive, and they were very inexpensive. There was always one available right in front of the hotel. The hotel even arranged for a driver to meet us at the airport with a mini-van upon our arrival which turned out to be money well spent.

cosmosmama

we are heading to the Caribbean Coast and I might be driving (my companion doesn't drive stick) and I am scared of those crazy San Jose streets! So an easy navigation out of the area is a big concern for me. It seems like it might be worth it to just book Grano de Oro again...I just hated San Jose last time I was there, so I have no real desire to taxi into the city unless there aren't better options. Thanks!