I have been to Aurola Hotel several times during this year and I think is the best option in Downtown San Jose. I have been in this hotel for business and vacations and I love it. The staff is always very friendly and attentive. Rooms are fresh and clean and I always take time to enjoy the indoor pool. The breakfast is always very good with a variety of choices

On october 15 I stayed with my wife at this hotel ,at reception everything was ok nevrtheless our first surprise was that breafast was nos included and sincerely we always booked hotel and is actually very common that breakast is included even buffet. When we got to the room was clean but some humidity was on air then I tried to open some windows to get fresh air but they were completly locked. Then I decided to get some coffee before dinner using the machine and coffee at the room that mentioend costarrican coffee and to my surprise was old and but quality.
The we got dinner and was good but again i ordered coffee and waitter told me was a well know costrrican brand "Brit" but again was like water. AT breakfast we ordered eggs,,juice, toasts and fruit were charged $15.00 per person what we consider very high
Finally when you try to book this hotel in some places mentioned 5 starts and other 3.5 starts bu for me it is just 3 starts

We stayed here overnight as part of our tour package to Costa Rica. It is one of the highest buildings located in the busy central part of San Jose, right next to Parque Morazan which is quite busy during the daytime with a live concert going on when we arrived ~ 4p.m. on a Sat. in August. The check-in was quite efficient with our luggage delivered to our rooms within 1/2 hr after we arrived. Very convenient with 2 computers available to check on our departing flights and we were able to print out our boarding passes. The rooms are decent size and our room offered a view of Parque Morazan. Actually it is located at quite a busy intersection where there is a constant flow of traffic- public buses and cars so crossing the streets are a bit challenging but not a great problem. It is only about a 3 block walk up to the downtown area of San Jose.
Our dinner up on the 17th floor at the El Mirador Restaurant was good- we had a choice of sea bass, prime rib, or free range chicken as the main dish. I would recommend staying here if you wanted to walk around the downtown San Jose without having to take any public transportation as everything including the National Theater, Gran Hotel, and Parque Central are just about a 10-15 min walk down. Lots of people for sure, but it's not a problem walking around. Need to be somewhat careful of the uneven cement crosswalks as they are not all that level. It is best to walk slowly than run. Anyhow with so many people around, it is difficult to run in the area.
Also, despite having an early departing flight out the next morning, the Holiday Inn had a breakfast available prior to our 5a.m. departure to the airport.

Great location, if you're looking to explore downtown San Jose. All the usual amenities of a Holiday Inn, so that was nice, although the bed was rock-hard. And when we arrived (9/14/12), the hot tub was in disrepair, filled with cold, dirty water and broken tile. In addition, our bathtub stopper didn't work, and the maid told us "they're all like that - the tubs aren't for taking a bath!". Despite that, we complained to the front desk, and to their credit, they upgraded us to a suite that had a working tub stopper, although the water wasn't hot until we complained yet again. In summary - in the states, the kind of service we got would not be acceptable, but in Costa Rica, I'd say it wasn't too bad.