We stayed twice at the Gran Hotel Costa Rica on our trip over the holidays. The first time was fine and we liked the location of the hotel so despite the service we booked it again for our departure which we now regret.

After one night in the Gran my girlfriend and I both woke up with bed bug bites up and down our bodies. It was disgusting. When I approached the front desk to let them know that they had a bed bug problem, they did not show a sign of concern. This is obviously not the first time this has happened. I would highly advise avoiding this hotel.

We stayed here two nights just before Christmas, due to late arrival at airport and the fact we couldn't get into our hotel in Manuel Antonio for two days. We thought it might be fun to see the capital of Costa Rica and this hotel sounded well placed and historic. It IS historic, but badly in need of restoration. Our room was extremely small and totally lacking in charm, the bathroom even worse. The windows wouldn't close, which was a problem because of the noise outside the room. We turned on the air conditioner to drown out the outside noise, which worked in a good/bad way--it sounded like a jet plane. As for seeing the capital of Costa Rica, we should have skipped it. Enjoyed the Pre-Columbian museum quite a lot. Did not enjoy the stage that had been set up exactly next to the hotel with a blaring DJ and band for several hours. It meant no one could sit in the outdoor restaurant or terrace. Believe all the other reviews about this hotel and about San Jose--I should have.

Hotel is very old and it has nice architecture but is not well kept. The rooms are very old and in need of renovation. The restaurant is ok with average food. Our bathroom had a leakage and even after complaining it was not fixed. The air conditioner leaked all night and made our luggage and shoes wet. We complained couple of times but they were not able to fix the problem. But after we came back to USA they refunded my money for the night but they did aware transfer and that cost me $ 35 for no reason. I would not be staying here again.

Great location in the centre of San José (not much to do there anyway).
Hotel in need of renovation, rooms dirty and bathroom in a terrible state.
The breakfast was very simple with basically fruit, cereals, egg and cheese.
It's a wonder how this hotel can have 4 stars. Bad value for money.