Need recomendation for San Jose hotel

We usually stay at Orquideas Inn in Alajuela but since we will be traveling without a rental car this trip we will need to spend out first night in San Jose so that Interbus can pick us up in the morning and take us to Puerto Viejo. Since we'll have a day to kill we would like to stay somewhere near downtown where we can walk around and keep ourselves entertained.

Any suggestions?

A hotel in a central location is the Hotel Ambassador, but nothing special. If you are looking for something nicer you could stay in the Grano de Oro, the restaurant there is excellent!

We stayed in Santo Thomas hotel, near downtown, it was quite nice. Taxi ride from the airport costs $8, and it's close to El Caribe bus terminal, so I suppose it'll be quite convenient for your Interbus driver too
See here

HOSTEL DEL PARQUE, AVE 3 & CALLE 19, HAS PRIVATE ROOMS FOR $35. PER, DORMS $10. A NICE 4 BLOCK WALK THRU THE PARQUE NATIONAL TO THE SUPER MARKET, ARTESINS MARKET, AND THE CENTRAL WALKING MALL. AROUND THE CORNER EAST ON CALLE 21, GABRIELS BAR SERVING THE BEST BOCAS I'VE FOUND IN COSTA RICA. HOSTEL RUN BY OLD ESTABLISHED TICO FAMILY, VERY HELPFUL, THAY ALL SPEAK ENGLISH, GERMAN AND ESPANOL AND IT'S NEW, NOT IN GUIDE BOOK YET SO YOU'LL BEAT THE CROWDS. A REAL FIND AND CLASS ACT...SAFE AREA TOO. ENJOY!

THE GRANO DE ORO IS ALSO A EXCELLENT CHOICE.

dunn inn bario amon suits me just fine arpund 35 bucks for a single tv ac a real shower and within walkind distance of all the night life . has a nice bar and resturant on the premise too. don

Find all accommodations on San Jose Hotel map.

what are u looking to spend? what do you need for ammenities? etc

either interbus or grey line, i forget which, picked me up in alajuela. If you are flying in then many will do airports pick ups. Unless u want to go into san jose for the night anyway.

Dunn Inn is a nice family run place. The owners, well owner, now a widow, her husband owns New York Bar, and also part of Nashville Bar near Parque Morazon, he was killed in a early morning robbery outside his bar in Mantra Equador, has many friends in San Jose and CR, a original pioneer of CR in the 70's...

Its also near the road leading south to the Caribe RT 32, so all the better.

Also, Santo Thomas, La Amistad, and Hemingway Inn are all good options around $40.

The Hotel Don Carlos is a wonderful little place to stay downtown in a good location.

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<hr>what are u looking to spend? what do you need for ammenities? etc<hr></blockquote>
Preferably under $70 or so. Don't really need anything special as far as amenities. Just a private bathroom with hot shower is all we need. A bar in the hotel would be nice

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<hr>either interbus or grey line, i forget which, picked me up in alajuela. If you are flying in then many will do airports pick ups. Unless u want to go into san jose for the night anyway. <hr></blockquote>
Unfortunately, they leave Alajuela for Puerto Viejo at 7:30am and out flight arrives at 10am.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

If you don't have to spend a night in SJO - why loose a day? Just take a public bus, the last one leaves El Caribe terminal ~ 3PM IIRC, you'll have plenty of time to get from the airport to the terminal, it's about 30 minutes taxi ride ($8). There's was a bus leaving shortly after 1PM, should be convenient for you.

IMHO, a night in PV beats a night in SJO anyway

You can bus to Limon at many times of day and then catch another bus to PV and its actually cheaper than the direct bus!

Thanks for the suggestions about the public bus.
How safe is it to travel on the bus with a lap top?
Are the directo buses air conditioned?

Absolutely safe, but as everywhere else - it's a good idea to keep an eye on your belongings. I don't think all the buses are equipped with A/C, but we rode a non-AC bus and were not muchly inconvenienced anyway. Time wise - it's about the same as interbus, and you can't beat the $7 price. I don't know how cheaper is a connection in Limon, (does anybody care about saving 1 or 2 bucks, really?) but direct bus is less hastle and you won't loose time on connecting two legs of the trip. Of, course if you missed the last direct bus to PV - it's a perfect option to connect in Limon

$70 bucks will get you the Dragon Fly Inn near airport, dawn is great....she will pick you up too...no worries!

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<hr>$70 bucks will get you the Dragon Fly Inn near airport<hr></blockquote>
Thanks Tim but Interbus dosent pick up from Dragon Fly

I'm even thinking about renting a car from POAS, loading up of groceries (were staying in a house for 2 weeks) and then returning it to their office in Hone Creek the next day. I'm not sure if they'll let me do that.

Otherwise I think we'll stay the Dunn Inn in Barrio Amon. We walked around that part of San Jose last year and I'd like to check it out again and then have Interbus pick us up in the morning

We always send our guests to Casa Tua It is located right by museum. $35 nite for 2 and includes breakfast. Very secure and room with Satellite TV.

They have driver also that will pick u up at airport and drop you off each way for $15.

Ditto on the Don Carlos....just make sure if you stay there that you get a room that is not on the street...can be a bit noisy at night...and it is a bit pricier than some of the other places....but we really liked it there. If you take the 6am local bus to PV, you will be there by 10:30 before it gets really hot and you can actually enjoy a day there...if you take EasyRide or the others, chances are you will not arrive until about 2 or 3pm which pretty well is the end of the day, as the sun goes down by 5:45. This is the reason i travel this way, not the economy.

Don Carlos is an awesome hotel and the staff extremely friendly and helpful with tours etc.

The local bus ride is not bad- no A/C and as lap top safe as any public transport in the US. I recomend a direct bus to Puerto Viejo.