We stayed at Hotel Santo Tomas for New Year’s 2012/13, and it was a great place for us. The hotel is owned by a long-time resident of the country, although he was originally from the United States. He has put lots of effort into making this a nice place to stay, and his hospitality is evident by his attention to each visitor and his willingness to do anything to help you have a good time in San Jose and Costa Rica overall. The rooms are spacious with very comfortable beds, and the hot shower was perfect after a swim in the pool/spa on a cool December evening (a note that the hot water in the showers take a bit to get there at night when no one has been using it so be patient). Although the hotel is on the edge of the main part of San Jose, we felt generally secure and had a very safe place to park our car during our stay (something like $11/night). Also, because it is near city center, it means a quick walk gets you to everything in city center that you would want to go to. The free breakfast is nothing fancy but still nice (gallo pinto, eggs, toast, juice, and fruit), and the staff were all courteous and helpful. Also, a note that the wireless internet in our rooms was not the best. They did have wired internet too but we were not able to use it given there is not a connection on a MacBook Air. Oh, for good wireless internet... In total though, this was definitely a very good place to stay for the price and helped us enjoy our time in the capital city of Costa Rica.

We really enjoyed staying in Santo Tomas for 2 days. There are some great public areas including the pool which are great for relaxing outside of your room. We stayed in a really nice 'deluxe' room on the upper floors which was really nice and then a cheaper room downstairs the next night which was obviously much smaller. The inclusive breakfast was adequate and the restaurant staff were always nice which goes a long way. We ate dinner 1 night in the restaurant and it was ok. Met Tomas a few times and he was very nice. Very fast wifi available throughout the hotel. Location is only 1 block from a large supermarket.
Definitely recommend staying here.

nice central city hotel, book only the renovated rooms, breakfast is not great (another guest asked for a second piece of toast and was denied), dinner is slightly better but not much -- typical casados. Otherwise service was ok. One of us missed a flight connection and the hotel didn't charge us for that night. Prices seemed adequate.

(4 for the rooms and service, but only 2 for the food)

I stayed at the hotel for 9 days in February. I used it as a base for taking day trips in all directions of the city. Thomas and his staff were very helpful in sitting down with me and planning out those trips. I also had a great time walking around the downtown area which is within a few blocks of the hotel. My room was on the first floor and I found it quite adequate. Although dated, it was clean, had hot water in the shower, WiFi, TV, in room safe, and I felt it was quiet. The breakfasts were basic but filling. I would stay there again and will recommend it to others.