The best hotel I’ve ever been privileged enough to stay at. Barcelo San Jose this Gorgeous building, and it only gets more breathtaking when you walk in. High quality rooms and high quality service. Excellent property and very convenient to USC activities. Front desk staff is extremely efficient, pleasant and helpful. Property is clean and has a fantastic old time charm.
Great location in the heart of San Jose, within walking distance from all the city’s attractions. As a Hilton member, we were recognised with a great upgrade to a nice and modern room. The daily breakfast was sumptuous with local and western options. The evening happy hour was incredible and the best selection of drinks we’ve ever been to. Would also like to thank several staff who helped us during our stay - Anthony the bellhop, and Carlos + Marcela, severs at the hotel’s restaurant. One suggestion is for the reception counter staff to be more friendly and approachable. The perception we got was they were cold and rushed.
Good communication, via e-mail, prior to stay as I needed a refrigerator in my room. That was arranged in advance for me. Primarily due to traffic the property is about 30 minutes from the airport. Check-in was smooth. I think this is an older property, but my room was clean comfortable, no obvious wear and tear, renovated bathroom with standup shower and actual towel hooks (seems to be a rarity at many properties these days). All staff was very friendly. The property is somewhat misnamed (at least for a non-resident). The property is not within safe walking distance of the well known La Sabana park. By ‘safe’ I mean it appears that there is at least one major highway that has to be crossed. The grounds around the pool are well-maintained. Plenty of loungers, towels, a couple of covered beds available, but I didn’t see any umbrellas, so the pool was a non starter for me after although some shaded areas in the afternoon. Also, strong wifi in the pool area. The wifi just outside the lobby area was not great. But the wifi at the sports bar in the lobby area covered the front of the property. Note that a password is needed for both the hotel and the sports bar. I did get a takeaway dinner from the restaurant. Food was substantial. A bit strange in that I couldn’t charge it to my room, but if I ordered the same via room service, charging to my room would have been OK. Not a big deal. The breakfast buffet, which I tried once was good with made to order eggs, albeit a bit pricey I thought. The sports bar food was OK, weak house alcoholic drinks. There is a walkable neighborhood behind the hotel. The property uses Gold’s Gym for its gym (free of charge for guests). There is also a sports bar, a Denny’s, a Subway, a supermarket, a ******, and a pharmacy all within a minute walk of the property. Maybe there is a tennis court in the vicinity? I saw many women (but not as a group) with tennis rackets walking through the property. It is a no smoking property, including outdoors. That is a plus. Also, my floor had a filtered water and filtered ice machine. Uber into downtown San Jose works well, but allow for traffic. One trip took me about 15 minutes, returning from the same location, midday took 45 minutes, Plan accordingly. Normally, I’d give a 5*, but in this case just a 4*. I am a IHG Platinum, asked for 1 PM checkout (one hour late). Front desk said all arranged (I re-verified on the morning of checkout day). I had a meeting at noon and didn’t want to be interrupted. Front desk assured me that housekeeping would be advised accordingly. Sure enough, housekeeping was knocking on my door at 12:05 asking when I was leaving the room. The lack of communication between departments is very frustrating. This was a multi-night stay for me as I needed to be in the vicinity for a bit. With the exception of the housekeeping knock prior to my agreed upon checkout time, no complaints.
We felt that for an upscale hostel, this place was on a whole, a great experience. My only suggestion is that the rooms need more ventilation. Our 4 person dorm room had a tiny window blocked by the beds. Putting a vent fan in the window would solve this issue. Otherwise, for what it is we loved our 2-night stay here. This was at the end of our 3 week trip and had been to many towns and places across the country, I'd say we met the most friends here and had the best time. The cafe could use more larger/common tables but we were able to meet people easily regardless. They have activities and events to encourage interaction as well as a bar and pizza oven. While these amenities are overpriced, they were convenient and similar to other hotel restaurants/cafes. We didn't feel the staff was pushy at all and if we just wanted to hang out in the cafe we weren't bothered and didn't feel forced to buy something. (and probably because of this, we usually did buy food or drinks) The location was good enough - we could walk to the central market / pedestrian mall in 10 minutes. It's walkable (during daytime) from the 7-10 bus station and the Tuasa bus to the airport. The co-working space we felt was a good value, and fantastic. High powered wifi can support video meetings and it's just across the street. Also somewhat social and a good environment to work. The staff and regular patrons were amazing and we felt that we had new friends as soon as we arrived. The place had a warm feeling that I can't quite describe, created by both the staff and the guests. We didn't want to leave.
VVerified MemberPlace is about half an hour taxi ride from the airport. We originally booked it since the listing here said check in was 1400, but were later emailed that check-in was actually 1500 and when we arrived at 1500, the host said they aren't finished cleaning it and we had to wait in the lobby. The room was nice, although we didn't find the bathroom to be entirely clean. Included breakfast only consisted of coffee, fruit bowl and toast with jams.
The staff are extremely friendly, helpful and informative and can't do enough for you. The hotel is very clean and the rooms are spacious, modern, clean and practical. The pool area on the rooftop is a great addition with sitting areas and sunloungers and is also very relaxing. The food is varied, well cooked and tasty. Restaurant is also spacious and inviting. There is a variety of artwork throughout the hotel for the art lovers. There is also a tour office in the hotel reception offering a variety of tours including a trip to a volcano and coffee plantation. Definitely recommend and would stay here again. Ideal hotel for a transfer to San Jose airport.
TTessa_assetUndiscovered gem of a hotel near San Pedro.
Pros: We were looking for a place on the lower end of the price spectrum that was a one night romantic getaway for two, that I could also use my free trip coins at toward the cost of the room. Preferably including breakfast and a swimming pool with jacuzzi 😉 Not much to ask!
We booked one of the cheaper rooms on the ground floor.
Before check in we took an Uber to San Pedro mall to do some essential shopping and see a movie. Then we checked in and I relaxed in the jacuzzi under the San José night sky while my husband enjoyed a full workout in the gym/weights room. TV with cable was great for my husband who enjoyed the football while I enjoyed the hot shower and relaxed in the bed afterwards. We had an amazingly comfortable sleep and a delicious breakfast in the morning of gallo pinto, fresh tropical fruits, freshly squeezed watermelon juice and hot coffee. A generous check out time of 12pm meant we had more than enough time to get our things together and leave when it suited.
Cons: Not many cons at this price point and value. The guy at the desk was a bit weird when we asked him for a second glass for water as there was only one in the room but not a big deal. We also had to ask him for the TV remote. The towels were a bit small like a mini dress on me after my shower. But good quality (with a third extra towel for the jacuzzi) and high quality bed linen. It also is in a slightly rough looking neighborhood but this is not a problem if you travel to and from the hotel by Uber or use a hire car (which you can park privately inside the property).
Overall impression: The other photos on trip.com and similar booking sites do not do this hotel justice - it looks far better in person. It has real character since it is a restored historic hotel from an era bygone, but that is why everything is such high quality from the bed linen to the floor tiles. Everything is also in good shape and freshly painted. There a little hidden nooks around the hotel that make it very charming. The breakfast area is lovely and the jacuzzi, pool and water slide were a real highlight. We WILL be back.
Iisa.mendezThe exteriors and the pool are nice but the rooms are very old and the smell was very bad inside, i think maybe because the carpet looks also old and dirty. I had to change from the first room because of that and the second one wasn't much better. The breakfast is buffet but very basic with a few options so i just got it one day. The a/c very old and noisy during the night.