Outdoor dining

Reviews of Hotel Santa Maria Inn

2.5 out of 5
Hotel Santa Maria Inn
Rio Segundo, 800m NE of Pacific Gas Stn, Five minutes from SJO Intl Airport, San Juan, Alajuela

Reviews

7.6

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 30 out of 116 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 52 out of 116 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 19 out of 116 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 7 out of 116 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 8 out of 116 reviews" "

8.2/10

Cleanliness

8.2/10

Staff & service

6.4/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

4/10 Poor

Krystal

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Raquel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Arturo on Feb 26, 2024
Thanks so much for your feedback, Raquel. We are glad you had a wonderful time. thanks!

6/10 Okay

Lorna

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
No airport shuttle, air conditioner didn’t work, no hot water in sink in our first room. Stayed on our way through and again coming back home. Not safe area to walk to restaurants but was able to use Uber eats and Uber to the airport and bus station. Close to airport so that was good. Hotel owner was a great help and very friendly.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Arturo on Feb 18, 2024
Hi Lorna Thanks for taking the time to submit this review. Being close to the airport is our advantage :) and yes we recommend using Uber eats since there are plenty of options our guests can choose. We will check the air conditioning but it works in all of our rooms.

2/10 Terrible

Andrea

Travelled with group
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Pro: close to airport. Con: everything else. Also, place has bugs. Not sure what type but we all woke up with bug bites everywhere. Would not stay here again.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from Arturo on Feb 12, 2024
Dear guest,Thanks for taking the time for your review. We apologize for all the inconveniences and will make sure our staff takes all the necessary actions to correct our mistakes. We take cleanliness very serious and do our best to keep to standards.

6/10 Okay

Lilia

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Arturo on Jan 21, 2024
Thanks for your review. We hope to see you again in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Lauren

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This hotel is in a nice neighborhood in the foothills above the airport. Very tranquil setting with a garden and parking.very secure . The host makes sure your stay is comfortable.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from Ricardo on Apr 16, 2023
Hi Lauren! Thanks so much for your kind review. We hope to see you in the future again! Indeed, our location is perfect for a good night sleep during your first or last night in Costa Rica!

8/10 Good

Maurice

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023
Response from Ricardo on Apr 16, 2023
Hi Maurice, Thanks so much for your review. We hope you had a pleasant stay with us. Hope to see you again soon!

6/10 Okay

Todd K

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023
Response from Ricardo on Apr 16, 2023
Hi Todd,Thanks so much for your review. We hope you had a pleasant stay with us. Hope to see you again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Anna

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023
Response from Ricardo on Apr 16, 2023
Hi Anna,Thanks so much for your review. We hope you had a pleasant stay with us. Hope to see you again soon!

8/10 Good

SHERRI

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This was a very basic Tico Inn. Our flight arrived late and after picking up our rental car we were less than two miles from Santa Maria. We had both emailed to prepare staff for late arrival and then called upon landing. We arrived and staff opened the gate within 5 minutes of ringing their bell. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was good including fruit plate, eggs, sausage and toast served on an outdoor patio/garden with hummingbirds feeding on the pretty foliage. As I initially said, it is basic, but for the price, it was a safe convenient place to stay.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Elvin

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
God place to rest
Response from coa on Dec 27, 2022
Para servirleGracias

2/10 Terrible

Cecile

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The shower knobs were hard to turn. At least the water was hot. They advertise free cont. bfst but there was nothing not even any coffee made; I had to make my own coffee and this area was dirty. People had eaten pizza the night before and just left the empty box there. I had told the guy that checked me in the night before that I would need an airport shuttle which they advertise as free. He acted stunned like no one ever asks for it but he didn't say it could not be done. I was in the lobby at 9:30am and there was no one at the desk. Finally a woman wanders in that works there and I tell her I've booked the shuttle. She knew nothing about it. The guy didn't tell her. Thank goodness she was able to find someone who took me. The customer service here is horrible. The staff just doesn't care😟
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Lindsay, Camarillo

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel was lovely, though we were there for a quick sleep before an early morning flight. Expedia dropped the ball for the third time in our Costa Rica experience and didn't actually book our reservation. Luckily the hotel let us in the closed gate and found a room for us. It is off the beaten path and we had a little bit of a struggle finding it. We found a tourist bus parked and asked for help; he escorted us. The staff was wonderful and helpful.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

6/10 Okay

Horace

Stayed 1 night in May 2022

2/10 Terrible

Selim

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I had to wait nearly 10 minutes in the street to be let in, then was told that there was no shuttle to the airport and I would have to pay for a taxi, then I found a cockroach in the hallway, a variety of insects in the room, and to cap it all, a bed without pillows.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022
Response from Estimado Huesped on May 2, 2022
Todas nuestras habitaciones son limpiadas y desinfectadas diariamente, y cada cama sin excepción cuenta con dos almohadas, el transporte al aeropuerto tiene un horario de 7:00 am. hasta las 11 a.m. En este caso se llamó un taxi a las 2:45 a.m. por lo tanto se encontraba fuera del horario establecido.

10/10 Excellent

Jessica

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2022

10/10 Excellent

Noela

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2022
Response from Arturo on Feb 27, 2022
Noela, Thanks for taking your time and rate us with a great score! We're happy to know that your stay was pleasant. Hope to host you again soon!

8/10 Good

James

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
My room had a number of issues that were not individually horrible but they added up! The staff was extremely nice and seemed to care for my well being. That is always nice! Super close to the aiport and my room was economical.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022
Response from Arturo on Jan 21, 2022
Thanks for your feedback, James. We will check our rooms and make sure everything is up and running. We're glad you had a positive stay and our staff was able to meet your expectations. Hope to have you again soon!!

4/10 Poor

Craig

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We waited 40 minutes for someone to let us in the gate. There were holes in the door, windows with no glass, toilet dirty. One good thing-- breakfast was good!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022
Response from Arturo on Jan 21, 2022
Craig, We apologize for these unfortunate events, that's how definately we do not operate and is not aligned to our standards. We will make all the necessary changes to improve our customer's stay. Thanks for your feedback and for staying with us.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2021

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The lady was nice and helpful. It was in a residential area so it was a weird location. The key was hard to get into the room. You have to knock in order to get into the yard so that was not a good look for me. Overall it was a decent stay for the price. Not expensive so You cant expect anything spectacular.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2021

8/10 Good

Patricia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
irport hotel
A little remote if you haven’t got a car. No shops or restaurants on road. No English spoken, trying to confirm the free taxi to the airport 24 hrs before arrival proved a problem.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2021

10/10 Excellent

sabrina

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful friendly employees. Breakfast was amazing. Great place to stay by the airport
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020
Response from Ricardo on Mar 8, 2020
Sabrina, Thank you so much for your feedback. It's always our goal to offer the best service in town, just 10 min away from the airport. This motivate us to keep improving our customer service and our amenities.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
The bed was comfortable, and it was quick getting to the airport at 5am, but it was located much further out from the center of Alajuela and the airport than I realized. While the website seems to offer airport transportation, it was only for one way, and I had to pay US$15 for a cab during rush hour. Friendly staff, but next time I'll spend a bit more money and stay closer to the town center/SJO.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Response from Ricardo on Mar 8, 2020
Dear Guest, We apologize if your expectations were not aligned to our services. We do are 10 min away from the airport but of course with rush hour that can change a bit. We offer airport shuttle but yes, only for a one way, but for free! We are in a suburb area which is better to have a good night sleep and avoid city noises. thanks and hope you can stay again with us.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
I porter would have been helpful. I had to take my bags to the second floor on my own, no elevator either. Overall, the hotel was fine.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Kim

Liked: Staff & service
Average for one night stay in San Jose. The hotel is ok
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean budget hotel with great airport connection in quiet neighborhood.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2018
Response from Ricardo on Dec 30, 2018
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for your nice review. We hope you had a great time in our hotel. For our guests, we offer free airport shuttle to or from the airport (one shuttle included). Hope to see you soon!

10/10 Excellent

Katrina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place
This place is not far from airport , the beds are cozy,staff awesome, quite, and great place to hang out.😁
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2018
Response from Ricardo on May 9, 2018
Hello Katrina, Thank you so much for your nice comments. We are glad to know that your stay with us was full of pleasantness. We hope you had a great time at our hotel. As you remarked, we are just 10 mi away from the airport. And shuttle is included! Even a better reason to why stay with us. Hope to see you soon!

4/10 Poor

Gerard, USA

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Cheap hotel close to SJO airport
They gave me a room facing the street. There were dogs barking and loud people until the wee hours of the morning. Open air inlet at top of headboard had no screen allowing mosquitos in that buzzed around you and bit you all night. Loud people in small lower lobby were smoking and very loud with no staff around to see what was happening. Parking was poor and hard to access. Don't go to this place unless you are desperate!!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018
Response from John. on Mar 12, 2018
Dear Mr. Klempner. We Apologize for the problems you had with us. We'll work to improve our service and we'll make sure it won't happen again

8/10 Good

magellan wizard, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Place to Stay Near Airport
The Santa Maria Inn was a good hotel close to the airport with a free shuttle and free breakfast included. The property itself is well kept and the rooms are in good condition. In addition, there is a restaurant and super market within a 15 minute walk.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018
Response from Santa Maria Staff on Mar 6, 2018
Hello thanks for such great comments! We work hard for our clients satisfaction, comments like yours makes us happy!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good place. Breakfast was great Place a little hard to find at night I would stay there again
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018
Response from Santamaria Staff on Mar 6, 2018
Thanks for giving us a review, we really appreciate it! We hope to see you again here!

8/10 Good

Larry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Not bad for price. But few things to do
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018
Response from Santamaria Staff on Mar 6, 2018
Hi Larry! thanks for your comments, we're going to work hard to improve our service!

4/10 Poor

Tia Ceci, Costa Rica

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very uncomfortable stay
The room was not bad but the beds and pillows were awful. Our backs still hurt. The staff disappeared after they checked us in. It is a gated and safe hotel but also hard to get in as you have to ring the bell several times and wait for someone. We never got towels and there was nobody to available to get them. This is more like a bed and breakfast and the hotel has potential if they improved the rooms and had staff available to help. I was trying not to spend a lot of money on our last night in Costa Rica since we were only staying a few hours but next time we will pay more to get a good night sleep!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018
Response from Hotel Santamaria Inn on Jan 18, 2018
Hello dear costumer, we apologize for the inconveniences you had with us, we work hard to improve our service. Thanks for your review we'll make sure all these problems will never happen again so our costumers have a pleasant stay with us.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Accommodating and thoughtful of our needs.
We had a very short overnight stay between airline connections. I would like to have earlier arranged transport through the hotel, which is available, and will next Time.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2017
Response from Ricardo on Nov 20, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you for your review. We hope you have had a great time during your stay. As you remark, we have free shuttle from and to the airport, but has to be booked on time! Thank you

6/10 Okay

Paul

Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Maybe in the future!
I felt like we were in lock down! They lock the door at night so you can’t get out! And then you have to call them for them to open the door! Or if you wanna go out at night you can’t! The shower wasn’t good you have to wait for a while for hot water! The breakfast wasn’t even presented in the morning! Good thing we were staying for one night! And the air conditioner was covered by blinds! Look at the pictures to get a better understanding
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017
Response from Ricardo on Nov 20, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking your time to give us a review. We are sorry if you did not had the best of your experiences. But as you said, we close doors at night but all of them remain open, also, if our guest want to go out, the time isn't an inconvenient due that we have front desk 24 hrs. Even tho, we will try to fix every inconvenience so every guest can feel at home. Thank you

8/10 Good

yonel

Liked: Staff & service
Response from Ricardo on May 23, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for sharing you experince with us. We are glad to know that your stay with us was full of pleasantness. This motivate us to keep the hard work going. Hope to see you back in Costa Rica.

6/10 Okay

KSG, Toronto, Canada

Liked: Staff & service
Reasonably priced hotel close to the airport.
For the price, the value is good. The only (and biggest) issue we had was that there was no hot water in sink or in shower.
Response from Ricardo on Apr 25, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. This help us improving our service every day! Just to make it clear to everyone else, we do have hot water in every of our rooms, but in Costa Rica sometimes the shower key is twisted and it is the opposite, may be that was what happened. Also, as you remark we are an airport hotel for a good night sleep, even tho, there are shopping centers, restaurants really close by and also daily tours available! Thank you.

10/10 Excellent

michael, canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great little hotel close to the airport
Love this place, small family run hotel with clean rooms and good service. Looks like the turned their house into a hotel. In the back there is a covered patio where they prepare and cook all the food from scratch... you literally see them chopping them veggies. Some of the best and freshest food that I've had in Costa Rica.
Response from Ricardo on Mar 23, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for your lovely feedback. Here at Santa Maria Inn we try to offer the best service possible on an airport hotel. We are glad to know that your stay with us was full of satisfaction. This motivates us to keep the hard work going! Thank you!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The owner's made our stay!
Beautiful little place not far from the airport...an $8 ride. Gated and very safe. The rooms are small, but well maintained with all the amenities you could need. Ours had two beds though we only needed one. It had a window unit A/C. They even exchanged our dollars to colones for a very fair exchange rate; do it with them or at a bank ONLY.
Response from Ricardo on Mar 23, 2017
Dear guest, Thank you for sharing your experience of you stay. We are a family owned hotel, so we try to offer the best customized customer service! At Santa Maria Inn we try to take care of every detail so every guest would have a nice experience, from a shuttle to or from the airport to complimentary breakfast included! Thank you!

8/10 Good

Bruce

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Close to airport.
Response from Ricardo on Mar 23, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for your comment. As you remarked, we are a family owned hotel very close to the airport, where you can have a good quality sleep with our spacius and nice rooms and also a ride to the airport so you can get on time to catch your flights! We will keep the hardwork going! Thank you, Ricardo

10/10 Excellent

Jess, C

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Countryside inn
Friendly staff, nice free breakfast, gated property, and yummy coffee candies.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great people, great place
good value shuttle included, great hot showers kh skh sdkasjh faskfhs kjhas kjsh fskjhskjfhsdjkfysysysiss

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Nice hotel with free airport shuttle
It's a nice old hotel with free airport shuttle in addition you can return your rental car while you in the hotel and the rental company drop you at this hotel for free
Response from Ricardo on Jan 5, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We hope that your stay at our hotel was full of pleaseantness! Hope to see you soon!

6/10 Okay

Rock, Texas

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Underwhelming
Stayed here two nights. The staff was courteous, but not always around. There was no airport shuttle, but they offered to call a cab for me. Unfortunately, the morning I left, they were not around, so I walked down to the road, about 800m and hailed a cab there. The bed was uncomfortable and the cover was too short to cover my feet. There was only one dim light in the ceiling, no bedside lamp, so it was impossible to read in the room. There were noseeums in the room and they bit me for hours until I killed them all. That cost me most of a nights sleep. The shower was good, water was hot. The internet was good for Costa Rica. I did not get to try the breakfast as I left each day bedore they started serving at 7. I will not stay there again. There are better options nearby in the same price range.

6/10 Okay

books, tulsa

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
comfortable but not close to center of town
well there is no free ride to airport this is confusing from webpage, but info in room advises that transport is available for fee.

10/10 Excellent

Kenya, Napa California

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect gem near airport
Arrived late because we were leaving for the airport early next day. Check in was fast and the guy who Che led us in was very friendly and proficient. They also offer free airport transfer which we took advantage of. Have attend here 4 times now and love it.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Simple
We got there late in the evening for a overnight stay. Over the phone we had prearranged a pick up from the nearby airport, which is advertised as one of their services. Unfortunately nobody came to pick us up. We had to take a taxi and find our own way. The host at the desk was very friendly, when we finally got there. The room was clean and extremely basic. The transport to the airport the next morning was taken care of by the hotel as promised.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A great little place to stay when you want to be close to the airport! The staff is very friendly, and can usually drive you to the airport themselves, no matter what time your flight is at. I find it quiet here, and having a little community kitchen area is great too!

8/10 Good

Barry, White City, SK CANADA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Costa Rica vacation
After a bit of trouble finding the hotel we enjoyed all aspects of the stay. I appreciate being able to wash my car in the parking lot and the curtesy ride to the airport. Ricardo and his sister are friendly and helpful hosts. Thank you very much we will recommend the hotel to anyone going to Costa Rica.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good and inexpensive room close to airport. Secure parking. Clean room. Friendly staff.