I was a little hesitant choosing a place a bit off the beaten path, but went ahead on the strength of the reviews here. We planned to use Casa 69 for one day on each end of our trip to Osa.

Definitely take the directions Kurt sends you for your taxi driver - it's not well-known but our driver found it no problem. We weren't sure since it's down a small side street with no signage and only a 69 on the door. In fact, we made our driver wait until they answered the door and confirmed we were at the right place.

The service was great - from check-in to helping us with our bags and help finding restaurants and getting oriented. The rooms are small, but clean and perfect if you need a place to sample some of the local culture instead of staying at a chain hotel. Great coffee and fresh fruit and breads are included in the rate, and for an extra $5 they'll whip up an omelet for you.

There is a university around the corner with lots of students walking around and we felt very safe in the neighborhood going out to dinner in the evening. Toscadero, I think is the name of a great restaurant Kurt recommended a couple blocks away that we enjoyed. He also stored our extra luggage while we were in Osa without a problem.

On our return leg, we had time to walk to the downtown area - again we felt very safe and were happy with our location. We went back to Toscadero that evening.

We had an early flight the next day and had to depart Casa 69 at 5:00 a.m. - Kurt insisted on getting up and making us coffee before leaving. Very nice gesture.

The only consideration - it's on the far end of San Jose from the international airport. A taxi and early departure can be a challenge, so I might consider something closer to the airport in that situation. But otherwise, I fully recommend Casa 69.

Casa 69 is a charming bed and breakfast owned by a friendly German, Kurt. The other staff we met were Carlos and Ricardo, both friendly and helpful. Carlos gave us excellent recommendations on where to eat (Cafe Mundo) and on local sites. The place is gay friendly which was important for us, although its name has nothing to do with sex. It is the actual street number for the property.

There is a nice living room to relax, and a breakfast area outside. There is a small rooftop terrace. And the property is within walking distance to all the attractions in town, such as the National Theater (I suggest doing the tour, which comes free with the price of admission. Alexandra was great.) We also enjoyed the cafe there. In addition Casa 69 is close to a market where you can buy local crafts. Overall Casa 69 is far enough outside the town center so you feel you are in a neighborhood, but close enough to walk to whatever you need.

We stayed one night at the end of our trip and was very happy with our choice. This place is very comfortable and the decor is very eye-catching. The area is actually very convenient to different places to eat that you can walk to. The staff very friendly and the minibar was very reasonable.
The reasons why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars are: 1) The water temperature was very hard to control (the hot water was very hot initially but within 1 min it all ran out!) and 2) the free breakfast was good but very simple. Other B&B's I've stayed at usually give you at least a choice of cold vs hot breakfasts. The breakfast consists of fruit, juice, and bread with jam. They offer other foods but they do charge for it. Reasonable prices, but I was just a bit surprised.
Overall, I definitely recommend this place.

My wife and I recently spent 2 months in Costa Rica. We had reserved a condo in Jaco for the first of March 2008 and decided to arrive a few days earlier to visit the San Jose area. We found Casa 69 on tripadvisor.com and read pretty much all of its reviews. Like many, we were a bit skeptical with some of the reviews, but decided to give it a try anyway for the first 4 days of our 2-month trip. Wow, our room and the whole place were very nice and clean, and Kurt and his team made us feel right at home. I remember telling Kurt that we would be back for the last few days of our trip as well.

Once in Jaco, we were informed that the condo we had reserved for 2 months had been rented to someone else. A friend tried to help us find another condo to rent, but since we were approaching la semana santa (the holy week), the only places still available in Jaco were way over our budget. After spending almost a week searching for a condo in Jaco, we realized that this place was too hot and humid for us anyway and decided to go back to San Jose where we could try to find an appartment to use as a base for visiting other parts of the country. The first thing we've done then is call Casa 69 to reserve a room for a few more days while searching for an appartment to rent for 2 months in the San Jose area. After visiting only one appartment in San Jose, my wife and I decided that it would probably be better for us to simply use Casa 69 as a base for the rest of our vacation in Costa Rica. We've then ask Kurt (the owner) if he could accomodate us that way and ... we ended up staying in what we think is the largest room in the place at a price that was simply unbeatable.

From Casa 69, we made many short trips to other places of interest in Costa Rica and each time, even though we enjoyed visiting those places, we were always happy to come back 'home'.

The ambiance in Casa 69 is unique. Kurt and his team were among the most friendly, kind and welcoming hosts that we ever met while traveling. The whole place was kept very clean and breakfast was always great. We soon realized that we were not the only ones feeling that way. We heard many guests expressing the same kind of feelings about Casa 69.

After spending nearly 2 months at Casa 69, we are convinced that you won't find a better B&B in the whole San Jose area even if you pay a lot more. Give it a try and I am convinced that you will also agree that you can not find a better value for your money than Casa 69 in the entire Costa Rica. No doubt for us anyway, the next time we travel to Costa Rica, we will stay at Casa 69 again.