Although San Jose isn’t necessarily the main draw to visit Costa Rica, it is the country’s capital so odds are good that the majority of visitors will be making their way through the city at some point.
The choices of hotels can be overwhelming, but since I was taking a tour of the country I went the easy route and opted to have my stay in San Jose arranged by the tour company, who booked me at Auténtico Hotel.
At the time, the reviews for the hotel were pretty mixed so I was a little nervous about my stay, but I have a suspicion that the range of reviews was a result of ongoing refurbishments.
I arrived to the hotel late at night and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a clean and modern looking lobby along with 24- hour reception. I was also happy to see free filtered water available since I was completely parched!
I was given my key card and sent to my room, which was a huge 550sqft Junior Suite complete with a “living room” area and two comfortable beds (well separated from each other!).
The bathroom was admittedly a bit small, but by the time I arrived from my disastrous travel day I was just happy to shower.
Since I also stayed here at the end of my trip, I was able to compare this luxurious Junior Suite to the entry category Standard Deluxe room. At just about 215sqft, the Standard Deluxe room felt shockingly small after the spaciousness of the Junior Suite.
Still, the beds were comfortable- and still separate, if significantly closer together. My only real complaint was that the ground floor window of the room looked out onto the popular pool area so the blinds had to be drawn at all times.
That isn’t to say that there was much to look at out of the Junior Suite windows, however. The hotel is located about a 20 minute drive from the San Jose Airport, and just a short walk from the Parque Metropolitano La Sabana. It was far away enough from the hustle and bustle of the city center to feel quiet, but close enough to walk to the Central Market.
I took advantage of the nearby grocery store to pick up some snacks for the rest of my trip.
Although I enjoyed my rooms (regardless of their size), my favorite area in the hotel was the pool! The pool was situated in a lush oasis of greenery in the middle of the hotel. The deck area had several lounge chairs set out, which I did enjoy relaxing on even if it was a bit too chilly to go swimming during my visit.
There are also tables set out nearby in conjunction with the on-site restaurant. I didn’t eat here, but I did enjoy a nice coffee while sitting out in the open air.
Most bookings at this hotel do have breakfast included, but since I booked through my tour company, this was not added to my stay. This was pretty disappointing to me since the breakfast seemed to be included for every other guest of the hotel, but I suppose that has more to do with the contract with the tour company than with the hotel itself. Still, this means that I have little to no opinion on the food served at the hotel, but it is nice to know that breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all available at the hotel.
The hotel also offers transfers to and from the airport at $40 per transfer. This is pretty steep in my opinion, but I did get a little overwhelmed trying to catch a taxi from the airport (let’s blame it on my bad travel day), so the peace of mind may be worth the price!
Overall I really enjoyed this hotel. If you’re planning on spending a lot of time in your room, I’d spring for a room with a little more square footage, but with such a beautiful pool area and plenty to do in the surrounding city, the Standard Room will suit the needs of an unfussy traveler perfectly well. Auténtico Hotel definitely suites its 3-star rating, but it seems to be trying to stretch the upper limits of the 3-star standard and I wouldn’t hesitate to book another stay here in the future.
Apologies for the limited photos- I was very busy in San Jose and seem to have forgotten to take pictures!
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