We stayed in Hotel Inca Real for one night in March 2007. Even though the website and email communications were conducted in Spanish; when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised when the person at the desk spoke perfect English. The hotel staff were very friendly, helpful and polite. The hotel is conveniently located 3-4 blocks from Parque Espana, the Jade Museum and the Plaza de la Cultura. Contrary to other reviews of hotels in the same neighborhood, we did not feel unsafe walking to and from the hotel and downtown at night. (However, as I woman I would not feel comfortable walking alone.) In fact, it is a quick, easy and pleasant walk.

The hotel room was decently-sized and very clean. Towels, soap, in-room safe, ceiling fan and cable TV were provided. (One complaint is that the bed frames have large obtrusive wooden posts that “hide” under the bedspread and we kept whacking our knees on them.) The beds were reasonably comfortable and the shower was large and clean with plenty of hot water (no bathtub). The open central plan gives a homey feel to the hotel. However, I suspect that when the hotel is at capacity and many people leave windows (and doors) open to keep the rooms cool it may get noisy. There probably isn’t a problem with traffic / street noise as all windows face internally. Since there is a lot of activity on the first floor, I recommend a room on the second or third floor to ensure the most privacy and quiet. There is internet access in the lobby for a fee.

Supposedly a continental breakfast is included and available from 6-9am. We checked out at 6:30 and there was no evidence of breakfast preparation and coffee was available for purchase from a coffee machine only.

Hotel Inca Real was ideal for our one-night stay in San Jose: clean room, central location, helpful staff and reasonably priced.