Our trip was from February 1 to February 17, 2008. We stayed at (and wrote reviews for) the following hotels (if you are interested in the others):
Hotel Vista Caribe, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Doubletree Cariari by Hilton, San Jose, Costa Rica
Cabinas Espadilla, Manuel Anotonio, Costa Rica
Garden Court Hotel, San Jose, Costa Rica
Days Hotel - Greenspoint, Houston, TX, USA

My husband and I stayed at the Doubletree on February 8th before heading out to tour the country. It was a beautiful hotel with all the convenience you’d expect from a Doubletree. After a week on a family trip, this was a nice way to start relaxing on our own. The hotel seemed to have all the business amenities you’d expect. The breakfast was great and the room had a very welcome mini-bar since we arrived so late at night. The staff was very friendly. We wanted to be near our car rental place, and were a little further than we thought so we’d probably do the Garden Court or Hampton Inn right next to the airport if it was another really short stop over (the noise there is annoying though), but if we had the better part of a day or more at the edge of San Jose, this is where we’d go.

The hotel is okay. Do not pay more for the, "Royal Service." It is not worth the extra charge,

We stayed at the Melia for the first three nights of our honeymoon. We thought it was great. The entire staff was quite friendly and we liked that it was not in the downtown area. The hallways to the room are really beautiful as is the lobby. The front desk helped us a lot with restaurant selections and calling for reservations.

The breakfast buffet was wonderful. A very large selection and the food in the bar and casual restaurant was also great although the prices were a little steep.

The steak house is excellent and the prices are what you would pay for that type of meal anywhere we felt.

Our room was nice and big and also very clean.

The only thing we felt the hotel was lacking was a vending machine or mini convenience store. Nothing in the mini bar seemed appealing and we were quite hungry upon our arrival at midnight the first night.

We did tours with Swiss Travel (there is a desk in the lobby) and all of those went great as well.

I chose this hotel for our final night in Costa Rica as we needed to fly out of San Jose the next day. I read the positive reviews and thought a resort type place would be a nice way to end a vacation. It's in the suburbs of San Jose and it's super close to the airport. In all honesty, I feel like we wasted a day and I would try someplace else if I flew out of San Jose again. Think the Ramada by the aiport with more amenities and you'd have this hotel. Not bad, just not special. Although not outrageously priced (the Internet rate in September was $150/night without taxes), I honestly think you can do better elsewhere. I could see why people like the facility for conferences.

The pool looked inviting (although it rained when we were there) and the breakfast that was included was excellent. It was an over-the-top "Vegas" type breakfast buffet. The choices seemed endless.

I used the beauty services at the hotel and the facility is at best on par with a salon in a mall in the States - nothing glam. However, the service was absolutely excellent and I enjoyed my manicure / pedicure. I also had a massage (which they do in room) which I would recommend ($45 for an hour).

The room was spacious and clean. There were two jewelery type shops on the premises and a casino. For dining, there was a steak house and a casual restaurant, with a lounge attached. We ate lunch in the casual restaurant and were not impressed and almost surprised by the prices that were on par with Disney World. $19 for a turkey club... C'est la vie.

There is a mall up the road with a cute little restaurant row featuring a variety of cuisines... I would recommend venturing out there as the food was better (we went to the sushi place) and cheaper. Also, walking distance (right outside the front of the hotel), there is a casual grill restaurant that was open for lunch, an AM/PM grocery store, and a souvenier shop.