After reading several reviews listed here, I guess I got lucky to receive a good room. I was looking at several hotels in San Jose and didn't find any at this price. I was pleasantly surprised by the clean and quiet room (faced away from the street) for around $50/night. My boyfriend and I stayed at the Gran Hotel for 3 nights and really enjoyed it. We loved having the complimentary breakfast on the outdoor patio that lies on the main square. One warning - Don't walk in the square where the hotel lies late at night, as my boyfriend (who is from San Jose) and I were targeted to be robbed (but averted it). I look forward to coming back to stay here again on my next visit!

Memories of the many lukewarm reviews I've read about this hotel momentarily receded as I stepped into its relatively opulent lobby. "Ain't bad," I thought to myself.

But momentarily it was as we were led down an old hallway to our room where my first thought was, "I ain't taking my shoes off in here." Old, but not in that charming and comfortable sense, basically sums up this place. The bathroom, with its flickering neon light, is a scene from a slasher movie, but only if its water pressure could have mustered the accompanying soundtrack. The bed was lumpier than your college futon and the rumor of bed bugs could not be ruled out.

To its credit, the hotel provides free internet and a rec room. The best part is the free breakfast that was outright impressive. Stay outside of San Jose if you can, there's not much here and definitely not much at the Gran Hotel.

I want to say I have just returned from my trip to Costa Rica and I have a few concerns about the hotel Gran Hotel. The comments I read from other travelers were pretty true in that it is a beautiful hotel, the mattresses are very firm, the hot water runs out, if you are on the front side of the hotel you get to hear all of the noise from the traffic both foot and vehicles however, my biggest complaint and only one is that there were never any face cloths available! From the very first day I had to call the front desk and every day it was a problem. The hotel food was pretty good. We took the Arenal Volcano Tour the hot springs was the highlight of my trip! Plus we got to see lava shooting from the volcano. The La Paz Waterfalls was fun too! The Southern Caribbean side was a disappointment because the water was a dirty nasty brown color! I was so disappointed looking for that beautiful blue sea! The only good thing was a restaurant in Puerto Viejo the food was excellent! Lobster & Red Snapper oh and the steaks!

Date: 11/15/06
Joe and Joan, Bend, Oregon, USA
We stayed here one night after arriving in Costa Rica. We were not interested in staying in San Jose for any longer then a stopover till we could hit the road to other parts of country and we came back impressed with this hotel. Though old, it definetely has its own romantic charm and history. It is centrally located in the center of the city, albeit about 14 miles from the airport. The staff was helpful and friendly, the room a little on the small side (compared to newer USA rooms), but very clean. Breakfast was good.
We will stay here again on our next trip should we stopover in San Jose.
Happy Trails!