We booked this portion of our trip through Visa points, which was part of the reason we ran into the problems we did (there was some confusion with vouchers, which eventually got worked out) however, I had to repeatedly ask the woman at the front desk to calm down (after I had arrived after travelling for more than 10 hours...)as she was freaking out about the situation (the worst case scenario would have been that we'd have to pay for the rooms and later have our points refunded, no big deal). Eventually then we went to our room and it was pretty brutal! Horrible beds/bedding, old bathrooms, etc. It is also located quite far from the airport (which is not the way that it advertises itself!) and is noisy. I would stay elsewhere... or skip San Jose altogether!

I liked this hotel although I don't know why. The bedspreads were old and mismatched, the curtain was torn and the room didn't have enough lighting. But it was clean, quiet, the staff was good, and the food was good and reasonably priced.

How wonderous it is to enjoy the exquisit natural wonders of Costa Rica! That's a "given".

Another "given" is the beauty of the Occidental Grand Papagayo, which is a man-made edifice errected in such a way as to blend into the natural landscape, and -if it's possible- to enhance it.

But with out the service, the spirit, the kindness, of the people who work there, it would be an emplty shell.

From the manager, Harold Rojas, to the host and hostesses, the wait-staff, the drivers who drive the vans around the grounds, to the bar people, the porters and maids, they must have all been schooled to do their individual jobs gracefully, and designed to give the guests more than they expected.

We mentioned Harold Rojas first because he sets the tone for the entire staff. He is one in a million who made us feel very special as I'm sure he did for all the other guests.

We would not hesitate to recommend this resort with its special personnel to all our friends. We plan to return some day to relive the joy we experienced.

After staying in the beautiful Occidental Gran Papagayo in Guanacaste, we booked a room at their other property, the Torremolinos in San Jose. What a dissapointment. The hotel is dated and worn. The shower stall doors were of the cheapest quality, difficult to open and in need of replacement. The closet in the room smelled terribly musty. It's on a principal street, so some of the rooms are noisy. The hotel restaurant food was not good at all. The buffet breakfast was just mediocre. The free internet access in the lobby must have been on dial-up, it was very slow. The towels, sheets and table linen were threadbare.

However, the service from the staff was very good.

The place needs a facelift and a better chef!