We stayed 15 nights starting in December and ending Jan 8, 2008. The hotel was centrally located and very near all the museums, market places, good restaurants, bars, etc. The Staff (restaurant, reception, maid service, security, etc.,) were courteous and always willing to help out. The food quality and service was excellent in comparison to the food and service at the President hotel across the street . The rooms were comfortable and always kept clean. The maid service included delivery of ice at 5:00 pm every evening. . The only drawback was that the bar closed fairly early around 11:00 pm. and the travel agent at the hotel was not the most helpful about what were the best tours to take in Costa Rica. Considering these minor drawbacks , the overall hotel experience was excellent

I stayed at the Balmoral in November and enjoyed my stay.

The staff at the hotel was friendly and accommodating. They copied my passport free of charge, and the currency exchange rate was very fair. The attached restaurant, El Patio Del Balmoral, is fantastic. It features a retractable roof, great food, and is buzzing with life. It seems the be a central meeting point for business people and tourists alike. The lobby is classic looking and attractive.

I liked the complimentary internet access room and the fact that the Balmoral is on a pedestrian street with no cars. That makes for a very quiet stay and my room overlooked the street. The rooms are not modern in style, but they were clean and featured an in-room safe. I was impressed with how quiet it was at night, and how dark the room was when I drew the shades. When traveling, those are the three most important things to me - clean, quiet, and dark to sleep.

I have read someone complain about the neighborhood. Well, it is in downtown San Jose, on the pedestrian Avenida Central. Right in the heart of town. If you don't like walking around San Jose at night, that is one thing, but it is not the fault of this hotel.

This is not Disneyworld, and it is not the Four Seasons. Nor does it charge like those hotels do. But if you need to be in the center of San Jose, and want a safe, solid choice the Balmoral is more than adequate.

The highlight of this hotel is the staff: all the ones we spoke with were warm, courteous and helpful. The bedroom was decent, the cable t.v. was a nice perk. There are no safes in the room but there is a safe in the lobby which you can use free-of-charge, which helped me feel at ease in a city setting. The bathroom was clean, although the florescent lighting brought back memories of my work bathroom. My biggest concern was the highly suspicious pillow that made my face itch and break out in these tiny bumps. But I had endured less-than average luxury for the travel prior to this in Guancaste so I wasn't that concerned.

The area is not the most welcoming...it reminds me of downtown Los Angeles where the wholesales fashion market is. It's sorta depressing.
But again, I was only there for a night so I didn't get to fully explore the capital. I had a room next to a garden which was pleasant but since we were there for a few hours in order to catch a flight back to the U.S., our expectations were not so high.

To sum it up, this is a great hotel for a stopover since it is centrally located. I heard from another American traveler that the restaurant and bar is great (I only got a peek though and it looked nice).

The only good thing that I can say about this hotel is just about the staff because the rest is horrible. The rooms are decorated without any taste, the area is full of prostitutes and they think that every single guy is $$$ + the area around the hotel is NOT safe at all (during the night). Please people, barrio Amon is the best place to stay and find a good deal with a hotel (Kekoldi Hotel is very cute and cheap), and also is walking distance to everything. I left the next the day from El Balmoral and believe me NEVER AGAIN. PLEASE PEOPLE DON'T STAY HERE!!!!!