Adventure Inn San Jose

Amazing Time

Adventure Inn itīs not only a beautiful place with an excellent location, itīs a place with armonius peace and comfort, and you will see a really kind person in each member of the staff, all of them amazing in fact the best guy ever itīs Hans the bar owner, he is like your best friend with a lot of beerīs and the best music. I spent an awsome time there and iīm sure ill be back there.

Adventure Inn - Perfect For Me

I stayed at the Adventure Inn(AI) twice during my recent vacation this past June.

I found this hotel to have everything that I needed. Extended cable, air conditioning, restaurant / bar, little jacuzzi, friendly staff, American on staff...the works. The hotel is near the airport, but also relatively near downtown San Jose. This hotel is very reasonably priced and seemed to be a good jumping off point upon arrival.

For me, the American restaurant / bar manager added the personal touch. Hans was very knowledgeable about San Jose and helpful with answering questions and offering advice. What a happy person.

I stayed at a lot of places in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. One was $200 per night and another was $30 per night. But, I found the AI to be a nice balance between comfort and cost.

Robin

Hillsboro, OR

Great Place, Great Price, Great People!!

My wife and I have been guests at the Adventure Inn on four different occasions in the last year and have greatly enjoyed each visit. The rooms are exceptionally clean, comfortable, and spacious. The hotel is beautifully maintained and is located in a very safe neighborhood. Without exception, the people employed by the Adventure Inn are exceedingly warm and helpful. Also, the food is excellent in the Moon Glow Lounge and Hans and the gang always greet us with a smile and a cold Imperial. The breakfast is just outstanding with Gallo Pinto, cheese, mangos, watermelon, banana bread, excellent Costa Rican coffee, passion fruit, and numerous other local treats. The evening menu has something for everyone such as fresh fish (our favorite), steaks, and Hans' special TexMex specialties. I would also mention, don't worry if you cannot speak Spanish as the employees at the front desk speak excellent English. In all, we love this place.

Excellent Choice

WOW I have read some of the reviews about the Adventure Inn in San Jose Costa Rica and I can only say one thing. These people from our elite society must have left their butlers at home and thought they are provided for you in these other countries. First of all we requested that someone from the Adventure Inn meet us at the airport upon our arrival from Ontario Canada. Low and behold there was someone at the airport to pick us up and take us to the hotel. We arrived at the Inn to english speaking attendants. They took us to our room but I carried our luggage even though we were asked if we needed help with them. The room was very clean, bigger than we imagined and a beautiful fresh smell. It was a pleasure not to smell stale smoke for a change. We had a great sleep in a very quiet room. We got up the next morning to a typical Costa Rican breakfast of fresh fruit still hot baking and freshly squeezed drinks. Certainly got us on the right path for the day. We meet Mr. Robinson after breakfast and asked him what he suggested to see this only day we were free to sight see. He suggested the volcano. We took off with his directions and we enjoyed the sights. We got home later that night and went for supper around 10 pm that night. We had a beautiful steak dinner with all the trimmings and paid less than what we paid for bacon and eggs for two in Niagara Falls. It was a very romantic setting in the restaurant and we were pampered all night until we headed for bed around mid night. Unfortunately we took off the next day for our destination and for the week we were there, there was no comparison at any other Inn that we stayed at. We have been to Costa Rica 4 times and there is only one place to stay in our eyes. THE ADVENTURE INN SAN JOSE COSTA RICA. Mr Robinson and staff, we are so looking to stay with you next year.

What you must know before you Go!

We booked into the Adventure Inn for two nights at the beginning and two nights at the end of our Costa Rican adventure. It seemed like a great idea, as it was midway between the airport and the city, in an upscale suburb, near a mall, with breakfast for only $69 (plus tax= 81).

Our first impression was pretty good- the room was big and clean. Several of the staff were friendly and there was a computer room with free internet access.

Warning #1 Eat before you get there. The overpriced restaurant closes before the late flights get in, and there is NOWHERE nearby to get anything to eat. But we figured this was our own fault- late arrivals can't expect to be fed.

Warning #2 This hotel is in the middle of nowhere. The next day the hotel arranged for someone to drive us into San Jose, which is much more than 5 minutes away. But his vehicle broke down, so we thought we'd just get a taxi back. The city taxi drivers, however would not take us back.

So we took a local bus, and got held up at gunpoint near the mall. The staff at reception that day spoke so little English that we couldn't even explain this to them.

Warning #3 The website gives the impression that this place is run by a Canadian man who is full of useful advice and happy to help first time travellers.

The place seems rather to be run by a local person who is not easily found, and the Canadian man is only around on weekday mornings. Otherwise, he is not available to help.

Minor warnings: The hotel has no elevator or bell hops- you will need to shlep your stuff upstairs yourself. The smoking courtyard is right below the non-smoking rooms, so the smoke comes in the louvered windows.

If you are familiar with Costa Rica, and speak Spanish, and you are fairly independent, this is a clean, cheap hotel which might suit you fine. If not, you might want to look elsewhere.

About that Photo!

Be advised! The on-line photo showing the Adventure Inn is apparently quite old. The photo implies that this place stands alone, with nothing around it, with the hotel offering beautiful views of the valley and mountains. In reality, the hotel is surrounded by development, ringed in the rear by private homes and tall trees which visually block any expected views. This fact was a real disappointment, and contradicted one primary reason I booked this hotel.

Directions to the hotel state it is a located a kilometer from the exit off the main highway between the airport and downtown San Jose, but the access road to the hotel is actually a frontage road next to this busy, noisy highway. While access to the hotel when coming from the airport is quite easy, getting back onto the main highway to go either to the airport or into town, or when coming back to the hotel from the city, is far more complicated, and involves driving well over a mile and making several turns, which can be quite disorienting, especially at night.

While the content of the complimentary "tropical" breakfast was as discribed on-line, it is served in the dark room which doubles as the hotel's restaurant and bar. I did really enjoy the tasty mild white Costa Rican cheese served.

There are three upstairs computers providing free internet access, but they are old and slow, with small 15" screens. But I suppose beggars can't be choosy, and any free internet access was appreciated.

As far as feeling welcomed at check-in, there was noone at the front desk upon arrival (and when viewed a number of other times during my stay), and I had to ring a bell to catch anyone's attention.

When I booked this hotel I requested a second floor room in the rear of the hotel, as I am a light sleeper. While I appreciated being complimentarily upgraded to a "suite" because of requesting that location, my suite seemed like it was just a slightly larger two-bedded room. Not sure why it is considered a suite, other than having a jacuzzi tub, and I would not pay the extra $20 a night normally charged for them.

The main advantage of the Adventure Inn are what have to be considered the reasonable rates charged when paying with cash. Even though I did not consider my room to be "deluxe", they are fair sized and clean, with good air conditioning.

It'll be very nice when it's finished!

We stayed here for 3 nights on our arrival in Costa Rica. The Adventure Inn is just down from the Melia Cariari by the gates to the Los Arcos residential area - the posh end of town! That said, it's also a stones throw from the Pan American Highway!! Not too intrusive from the hotel, but as there are no grounds you're rather trapped unless you go and sit at the duckponds down the street - very nice, we sat here and ate pastries from the supermarket further down towards the Melia Cariari!

Facilities at the hotel are limited, we certainly found no sign of the nature trails or swimming pools mentioned in the blurb!! The trips that can be arranged from the hotel are magnificent though, and so if all you want is a bed for the night, you'll get a very comfy one at the Adventure Inn.

The hotel is under new management, formerly known as the Traveller's Inn so ask for that at the taxi ranks and they'll know where you mean.

There were renovations going on at the time we were there, with electric sanders starting at 8am, sometimes before!! Not very restful!! There were no apologies for the noise and solvent fumes during breakfast - the breakfast room being separated from the renovation work by a thin cotton sheet! We thought that with it still being high season, they could have waited a couple of weeks before starting major works, as the low season has now begun. Maybe we're spoiled here in the UK, but noisy machinery is not allowed before 9am - and certainly not until after at least 10am in a working hotel!

Once finished, however, the hotel will be much better, and I would recommend it as a cheaper alternative to the Melia Cariari down the road, albeit without the facilities. The staff at the Adventure Inn are friendly enough and the rooms very clean.

Don't be fooled by the advertising blurb, although in the hills it's not the mountain retreat we were expecting!! It's very much suburbia!!!