Hi there,
On our trip to Costa Rica, we made San José our first stop because we had a large suitcase that would be stored in the hotel until the end of the month. We arrived at the airport and saw that the bus stop was too far to go so loaded, so we started negotiating with the taxi drivers.
The first curious thing is that they give you the prices in dollars and then they make the change to colones. When the logical thing is that you charge in your currency and make the change if the foreigner asks you to pay in another currency.
We paid $20 for the taxi. On the way to the hotel, the taxi driver told us that he had lived in the United States and that Costa Rica was even more expensive. That he could afford to take his family out to eat once a month, but only for sodas because restaurants are so expensive.
Soda is a typical cheap restaurant where locals eat daily, that usually closes in the afternoon.
The first impression from the taxi is that everything was ugly. But hey, that happens in many cities where, what is around airports or train stations, are neglected areas.
We arrived at the Hotel Milan that we had reserved because it seemed quite new and clean, in addition to its proximity to the center and bus stations. The room is basic and the bathroom tiny. The ladies at the reception were a love.
That night we went out to dinner and found that the hotel area was ugly and there were many people sleeping in the streets. We had a gallo pinto for dinner at a fast-food joint and returned to the hotel.
Here I tell you that in all the research we had done prior to the trip, it caught our attention that no one recommended visiting San José and that no one stayed there for even one night.
The next day, we went to the center to change money and then dedicate ourselves to exploring the city. There are few things to see, and the old town is nothing special. I was expecting something like Quito or Lima and San José was nothing like those cities.
For lunch, we went to a soda called El Rincón del Sabor where there were only locals and we ordered two casados. Casado is the typical Costa Rican dish that comes with rice, beans, meat, salad, picadillo (vegetable mix) and fried ripe plantain. The menu cost 3,000 colones per person with drinks and dessert included.
After spending a whole month touring Costa Rica, I have to say this is the best place we ate. In the rest of the country, the ingredients of the casado vary and it does not usually include a drink or dessert.
The hotel we were in at the beginning also seemed bad, but at the end of the month, after having stayed in authentic shacks for 25 to 50 dollars per person per night, it didn’t seem so bad anymore; in fact, it was the best of the ones we were in Costa Rica.
In addition, San José was the only place where we received good treatment as tourists and the Milan Hotel has its faults, but it is the only one where the service was perfect.
At the end of the month, we went back to the same hotel and had a whole day before we left. We investigated to go to the volcanoes of Irazú or Poás. Both volcanoes are very touristic and what they have is a 15-minute cement road to see the crater, so there is no trekking experience in virgin nature like we had in Cerro el Chato. In addition, the Poás had been erupting and had been closed. In the end, we decided to go to Cartago, where there are only a couple of things of interest, and we also went to the Orosi viewpoint. Nothing special but nicer and quieter than San José.
In conclusion, San José was the cheapest in the entire country in terms of accommodation and meals. The city can be seen in half a day, but it is a good base if you want to visit nearby places and go by bus. The area we stayed in was ugly with a lot of people sleeping on the streets, but we never felt unsafe.
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