The Hotel Balmoral lived up to the other reviews that I read. It is located on Central Avenue - right in the midst of all things good and all things bad. There was a 'bouncer' aka security who was ever present at the front entrance. I was told to put my gold necklace inside of my shirt and to take my earrings off. I am from NYC and I am used to taking precautions and being aware of my surroundings. I put my chain inside but declined the suggestion of taking off my earrings . Note - there were 'bouncers' all over the place in downtown San Jose - not just in front of the hotels!) However, I have seen worse and been in worse areas. (both at home and abroad) I did not at any time feel threatened or in any kind of danger. I liked the location of the hotel for the time that I spent in San Jose. One day before Puerto Viejo and one day after. Shopping, restaurants and museums etc were within walking distance. Now for the rooms! It would be classified as a typical low end hotel room in the states. Small and with a musty smell. The TV and AC worked fine. The bed was ok. Only 1 pillow and I like 2! The worse part of the accommodations was listening to other people taking showers, their conversations and the toilets flushing! The walls are paper thin. The free breakfast in the hotel restaurant was quite good. We also had lunch there and it was equally as good. No real complaints about the hotel. I was not in NYC / ATL or LA . It is not the Hilton . I did not plan to stay more than a couple of nights. So it was fine. And I would stay there again - but only for a couple of days - before and after!

This was the worst hotel ever... A lady in our group got her purse stolen while eating supper in their restaurant. When we asked them to call the police to file a report, they all just stared at us. We finally got to review the security tape and it looked like an inside job. Beware! Don't stay there! The rooms and beds were horrible as well as the bathrooms.

I only chose this hotel because I went with a group from my university last March (So i didnt have a choice) Their website makes it look much nicer!! First of all when my friend and I got to our room the lock was broken so we could not get in. We had to wait almost 2 hours just sitting out in the hall with our luggage for someone to help us. When we got inside the door would no longer lock because they had to break it to let us in. They told us we would have to stay in the unlocked room until the next day!! Well our sponsor went and forced them to let us trade rooms. So 5 hours later we finally get a room. The hot water did not work so we had to take cold showers and our view was horrible. It was facing the other part of the hotel as we were in the center so looking out our window we only saw a concrete barrier.
The fitness center was very old and outdated, the treadmill so old you had to use a crank. Not to mention the location of the fitness center was very secluded in scary!
The location of the hotel was good UNTIL we found out the red zone (VERY DANGEROUS) was right behind it! We spend 3 days there before going somewhere else and then came back and spent our last night in costa rica in this hotel! The only thing I enjoyed was that it was close to the Casino.
Also the bar upstairs only served beer!

Having stayed at the Gran Hotel at the beginning of our trip (please see my review), I had hoped that we would end our trip at a nicer hotel before flying home. But that was not to be.

If the Gran Hotel was just OK, this one was not even OK. The room has a musty smell that could have come from the rug, or the bed sheets, or the walls, or just about anything. Having done lodging from prop-a-chair-against-your-door-at-night hostels to five-star hotels I am not your average ugly American who whines just about anything not found at home. But the very least I would expect from a hotel is a feeling of comfort, a place I could plop my weary body at the end of the day. This is not that place. I recommend bringing long pants and socks if you plan to sleep under the sheets.

Costa Rica is a gorgeous country and there is so much to do. Get out of downtown San Jose and see the rest of the country, as quickly as you deplane.