I'm a platinum member at Marriott and this one lives up to all the standards of a courtyard though its more like a marriott class with the duvet bedding and other furniture. Didn't visit the other Marriott in San Jose, but this one was more than fine and seemed to have a better location. Youre right across from a high end plaza with some of the better restaurants and shops in the area. If thats not enough, there's also a nice high-end mall across the highway. This area seems like where the rich costa rican's go to eat and party.

The Courtyard Marriott in Escazu is a great place to begin or end your stay in Costa Rica. It is a very short taxi ride ($2.00) to a large mall with movies in English and fast food restaurants. The plaza located next to the hotel is very nice with an Outback Steakhouse and Hootersrestaurant with several other interesting restaurants and small shops. There is even a BMW dealership in the plaza. There were mostly Ticos and not tourist that seem to keep this plaza cranking. The Outback was very crowded with locals. However, the steaks are not prepared as well as what you will see in the states and it certainly is not cheaper than the states. Shrimp app was like $17.00.
The hotel was great with free Internet Access. Unlike the Marriott Costa Rica that charges for this and has expensive restaurants within the facility.I have stayed at both facilities several times and I prefer the Courtyard for the convenience to the mall and the fairly reasonable taxis that are at the facility.

Background:

We came to the Courtyard for one night prior to our morning flight home after 12 days at Los Suenos Marriott, which was amazing.

I stay in Courtyards regularly, so I won't compare this hotel to the Marriott (not a fair comparison). Most of the other reviewers have covered the features of this hotel well. My "items to note" below cover the items that I think are valuable tips to share with others.

Hotel:

This is a typical Courtyard hotel. The rooms are King or 2 Queens, and have the standard amenities, including free in-room internet, and wireless in the lobby.

My room had a nice sized balcony overlooking the Hooters and Outback restaurants (there is a shopping center with a bunch of food options, a short walk right across the parking lot). Lots of security staff--felt safe while staying there. There is an in-room safe for your valuables as well. Didn't have any noticeable noise.

Some of the rooms have whirlpool tubs. Note that there are both smoking and non-smoking rooms--so make sure you get what you have been guaranteed with your reservation.

For those without a laptop, there are two computers available for your use free of charge (they were occupied most of the evening, so don't expect to waltz in and get one). I thought it was a nice perk for tourists/vacation travelers, but I stuck to my laptop.

Check In:

As a Platinum member with Marriott, I was disappointed to be given a bad-smelling smoking room when my reservation guarantees a non-smoking King (Yes, Marriott still has smoking rooms outside of the US). I asked for a non-smoking room, and the front desk person said that they were "full",and could only give me two Queen beds. I mentioned that I was Platinum with Marriott, and all of the sudden a NS King room with a whirlpool tub magically became available. The manager did a nice job of correcting the situation--but it should never have been an issue. The hotel was definitely not full.

You can also pay your departure tax at the front desk ($4 "convenience fee" applies to each person). The staff were very helpful with making sure we were all set with the departure tax and shuttle options.

Internet:

The wireless in the lobby worked great--but the staff never gave me the password when I asked them about it. Luckily there was a nice gentleman who shared the password with me, so I didn't have to go back and ask again.

The internet in the room didn't work until I was online with the wireless in the lobby. Then it was great. Others I talked to had no problems connecting. Nice and fast.

Items to note:

-This hotel is not "close" to the airport. It looked like the Marriott San Jose is a bit closer. Free shuttle does not equal close to airport--our driver said to allow 30 minutes from the Courtyard to the airport, particularly during rush hours. I was fine with this, but it's good information to know when planning.

-The hotel does offer a free shuttle to the airport (good). It begins at 5:00am, so if you have a really early flight, plan accordingly for a taxi. A taxi would run you approximately $18 to the airport.

-Definitely worth taking a tour of downtown San Jose if you have time. We paid our driver to give us a tour, and you could tell he was really proud of his city. There are some unique buildings, embassies, craft markets, and other points of interest that were very interesting.

-There is a large shopping mall across the highway if you are interested in shopping. The hotel is apparently in a very nice part of San Jose, and the mall reflects that.

Overall:

An uneventful stay overnight. Nice standard Courtyard room. Staff were friendly for the most part.

It's what you expect from a Marriott Courtyard. The room was clean, the bathroom was clean, the internet worked, and it was quiet. The front desk staff were never busy and were always polite and helpful. The breakfast was fantastic with waffles and omelets made to order.

The location was great for the business we were conducting and we were right next to a plaza that had some wonderful restaurants and shops.

We had a few hours to kill one morning. The tour desk was very helpful. While our schedules didn't permit any of the tours that interested us, they were able to arrange for a taxi to take us to an area where the locals shop (no tourists). We spend a few hours there and had a great experience.

I would recommend this hotel and would definitely stay there again.

Eric Wittkopp