My husband and I have just returned from a trip to Costa Rica. We stayed one night in Puntarenas and opted for the Alamar Hotel. We did not have a reservation and this appeared to be the best hotel on the beachfront. It was better than we expected, at $90 (peak season) and we asked to see the room before we committed. We liked what we saw, spacious with a huge King bed, overlooking the pool, TV, A/C, WiFi and a nice clean bathroom. The reception staff were friendly, helpful and the young man that checked us in had perfect English. The pool was a little noisy, which is normal, and we could hear music coming from the reception area - there was also a pool table there, but by about 10pm it was quiet. The beach was ok, very festive at night, with markets and a fun-fair and live music playing.
As far as I could see one would only be in Puntaneras to take the ferry to Nicoia Peninsula - there would be no other reason to spend time in this little town.
We parked out on the street, there was a guard and we were told this would be perfectly safe. It was, thankfully. Breakfast the next morning was ok, fruit, scrambled eggs, toast and gallo pinto (beans and rice) fruit juices and coffee/tea etc. This was included in the cost of the room.

The hotel is on the main tourist avenue in Puntarenas which runs along the beach. The road is between the hotel and the beach. The beach is nothing special. Ugly brown sand and not clean so there isn't much advantage to being on the beach except you're close to the cruise ship dock and a lot of restaurants that cater to tourists. We looked at a lot of the rooms in this hotel. We opted for a "superior" room for $75 a night in October which is off season. Our room was clean and nice but we looked at some other rooms in the hotel and they were either for families or in the back and a bit dark. We checked out other hotels on this road and none were as nice as this place and prices were all in the $60 to $75 range. Breakfast was included but was pretty bad. No butter or jam for the toast, only scrambled eggs buffet style and the coke machine and other machines in the corner made a huge racket. Protected parking behind the hotel but you had to get your car by walking out with a staff member which was sometimes a pain. The pools were not heated and too cold to use. Decent hotel but look at your room first.

Hotel is the only moderately priced hotel recommended in Frommer's guide for the city. There are no expensive hotels recommended. Puntarenus is a vacation area for the Costa Ricans. The Hotel has a long wide brown sandy beach in front of it.
The Hotel grounds are attractive with two swimming pools. The staff is friendly and helpful and the rooms are basic with a high tech A/C in each room.