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Reviews of Hotel Santamaria

2.5 out of 5
Hotel Santamaria
St. 2 and Ave. 4, 50 mts West from Banco Popular, Alajuela, Alajuela

Reviews

7.6

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 24 out of 103 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 47 out of 103 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 25 out of 103 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 5 out of 103 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 2 out of 103 reviews" "

8.0/10

Cleanliness

8.2/10

Staff & service

7.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Roberto, Montreal

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel close in downtown, close to the shops, restaurants, market, bus terminals (Wagon, TUASA). Daniel is a good host.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018
Response from Aldo on Nov 14, 2018
Thanks so much!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018
Response from jorge on Sep 27, 2018
thanks

8/10 Good

Nele, Costa Rica

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018

10/10 Excellent

Not Provided

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very cozy and comfortable. Staff was exceptional and very helpful
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

8/10 Good

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
A great hotel for a night near the airport. The area looks rough....window bars and razor wire abound, but I think it's just because it's inner city. No AC, and the fan didn't do much to cool the room. Room was small. Breakfast was a nice surprise, simple but good and delivered to the table.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Convenient location. Close to the airport. The staff were friendly.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

2/10 Terrible

jon, MalPais

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A true balla’ never frowns
Got to hotel and the guy said my room wasnt available. Flood he said. 10pm at night in an unfamiliar part of this city and im standing on a sidewalk with all of my crap and no hotel room. I asked why i didnt get an email and the guy says he sent one letting me know that room was unavailable and i was being relocated to the hostel down the street. Nope. No email. Should of taken a sec and sent me one. Whatever. The guy is lucky I know a little secret about this country. Everything is alway just fine....
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Aura

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Near the airport and quaint little town.
My husband and I stayed here for the night before we headed onward. The hotel is located 1.3k from the airport and if you are ambitious enough to walk it, you could. Hotel provided us with taxi help in the morning with taxi cab costung no more $4-$5. Our one night stay was perfect. In the evening when we got in we walked around the square and the near by mercado. There are lots of great coffee shops and restaurants around. The following morning we woke up to a free continental breakfast. Fresh fruits, toast and coffee. The owners are really nice and attententive and really want you to feel at home. Definitely recommend staying here especially if you have a layover or early flight. Or even if you want to check out San Jose area.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2017

6/10 Okay

Jed

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Hot night\Cold wake up.
Staff was very nice but somehow I missed that it is in the city (I knew) and didn't have air conditioning or hot water. I picked the place because of the proximity to the SJO airport (4 KM) since I had an early flight. Without AC or the ability to open the windows because of the city noise it was hard to sleep, but the cold shower at 3 am certainly woke me up fast.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2017

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not sure how the value compares to other hotels
The man at the front desk was very nice and helpful. The room was small, bed was uncomfortable and the sheets were paper thin. There was a fan, but no a/c. Had to pay for overnight parking at a lot a couple of blocks away. Breakfast was toast with butter/jam, coffee, juice, and fresh fruit.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Wolfram

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great hostel in Alajuela
Can't say enough good things about our experience. Very kind and helpful manager, extremely clean and well-kept facilities, excellent amenities. Definitely a great place to stay.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Basic, clean hotel. Would stay again
My friend and I needed a cheap, basic hotel for one night near the airport and this was an awesome option as oppose to a hostel. We checked in late and the reception guy (owner?) was so so sweet and friendly. Our room was super basic but very clean bathroom and bed with a powerful fan. Would stay again

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Decent hotel for a one night stay
We stayed here for one night after flying into San Jose. The staff was nice, and the room was OK- a bit loud and no hot water. If you're going to/fro the airport, Uber is the way to go! (about half the price of a taxi)

8/10 Good

Cesar A

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
One night stay
The hotel is very close to airport. There are restaurants near by which makes it a great one night stay. No A/C but did have a fan. Clean room and beds.

8/10 Good

LN, Quebec, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
very close to airport
We stayed in hotel santamaria for only one night when we arrived in san jose by plane. Everything you need is there and the staff is very friendly ready to help. very close to the airport but a bit noisy because you are in downtown Alajuela. Perfect for arriving/leaving costa rica.

10/10 Excellent

lowell

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great staff and location.
staff were extremely helpful especially Katra(sp?) and ceasar. convienient to airport everything looked new or recently refurbished. dont be put off by "hostel" in the name this is a small but very nice budget hotel.

4/10 Poor

Darlene, Regina, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Good location
This hotels greatest asset is the wonderful helpful gentleman who works the reception at night. He is great. Hotel room was very small without a window. The furnishings are very old and tired. Only one picture in the room so one feels as if you are in a jail cell. Room is clean. Great location if one needs to catch an early flight the following morning. For $50.00 US I would expect better. Breakfast that is included is very disappointing. It consists of coffee, 2 pieces of very thin toast, and 3 small pieces of fruit.Room was very hot. Had a fan but with no windows it never cooled off.

10/10 Excellent

Christopher

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean, convienient, friendly and Central hotel!
Awesome experience, really friendly staff and owner, close to airport and central location! Loved it!

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent service, convenient, clean. Great value
Great stay, service was phenomenal. Jorge answered questions, helped me with rental car options and even offered me a ride so I wouldn't have to hassle with the bus. Easy access to airport.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
You get what you pay for
This place was you get what you pay for. Inexpensive but a little run down and shoddy looking. However, the staff were friendly and accommodating and the breakfast was pretty good, fresh fruit, toast, juice and coffee.

10/10 Excellent

Klaus

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The stay was excellent and the staff was extremely helpful in helping me with my future travels and reservations. I would highly recommend this hotel for the safe area, great service, and room cleanliness.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
For us a fine hotel; we were only staying one night prior to collecting our hire car and heading out of the city. The proprietor was extremely friendly and incredibly helpful!

10/10 Excellent

Melissa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Helful and friendly staff
The gentleman that checked me in spoke English and was very helpful and friendly - he helped me with arranging a taxi to the interbus pick up the next morning and allowed Tex to access a small backyard area so she could stretch her legs a little after the long day of travel.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Nice hotel close to airport
Only stayed here one night but owner was very nice and booked a cab for us at 5am. Only bad part was lack of AC which they made up for with 2 fans.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Every thing went wrong
Booking my room in advance and leaving a special instructions that I would be checking in at 1:30 in the morning after an 8 hour flight and going to the hotel and the manager tells me he's full with no where to go I spent the night in my rental car. the town is scary to stay in kinda like Tijuana Mexico so I drove to a secluded spot an hour away and pulled over and tried to sleep. not only did the hotel turn out to be a bust the rental car company screwed me my rental car it was set up way in advance for 600.00 us dollars when i arrived to pick up my car they charged me 1200.00 us and a 3000.00 us credit card deposit. what do you do at 1:30 in the morning . you pay there price I'm still down here so I won't name the car rental yet just look for it on rip off dot com after Im home . thank god I had the rental car or id be walking the streets with my bags. Yes the manager sent me a very nice apology email said it was his fault he didn't see his email . Costa Rica is very beautiful once you get to the coast ,inland is just like Tijuana Mexico . ill never come back here.

8/10 Good

Sean, Austin, TX

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice comfortable hotel near SJO airport
I enjoyed my stay at Hotel Santamaria. However, I don't feel as though it's in a very safe part of town. I didn't feel safe walking around in the evening/night hours (even though I did). The hotel itself was nice though. There was a computer in the lobby that we used to check into our flight the next morning. The front desk staff was nice and helpful. Called us a cab for the airport at 5:45 AM. Also gave us recommendations on where to eat. It's only 5 minutes away from the SJO airport so it's a good, affordable place to stay before flying out. The room has no AC but they provide a large fan to help cool the room, which was appreciated. Also, we didn't hear any road noise even though the hotel is right next to the road (although I don't think that road is used too much) so yeah, all in all, it was a nice stay.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great layover hotel
Great place to stay the day you arrive or day before you leave because it's close to the airport. Has free breakfast and the staff is very nice!

8/10 Good

Shauna, Calgary

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel for a 1 or 2 night stay
We needed a hotel to stay at so that we could get to the airport the next morning. It was just under 2000CRC to get to the airport from this location. The rooms were comfortable, the bathrooms were clean. They have a large fan and ceiling fan but no A/C which would have been tops. Kitchen and fridge for guests to use, and very secure with a locked gate out front. Walking distance to market and nearby restaurants! Only 8 rooms in this hotel so it was quiet other than some traffic out front. We enjoyed our stay here probably a lot more because we had been backpacking for so long. Having hand soap and a bath mat seemed like a luxury haha

8/10 Good

Maureen, Kamloops, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Super convenient!
Great small hotel close to the airport and reasonably priced. Service was good and the location is close to amenities like restaurants and groceries.

4/10 Poor

victor, Toronto, canada

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
once there, I decided not to stay.
there is no place to park a car. The hotel looks like... not a hotel. The lady that was there didn't speak a word in English. So my wife said that she prefers to sleep in the car. So I had to resign and look for some other place to go.

8/10 Good

Michael, Manitowoc WI

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Gracias for the nice hospitality!
Great overnight stay and friendly staff. Close to airport for future flight and price was very reasonable. Close to restaurants.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cheap, clean, near the airport.
I just needed an overnight on my way down South. The place is no frills, as you'd expect for the price. The fan in my room didn't work and they probably would have fixed it, but I got in after 1am and didn't want to bother. You're in the middle of a neighborhood, so don't expect silence. I slept in past breakfast so I can't comment on that. They called a cab for me when I was ready to leave, All good. $4 to airport during the day, $8 when it's late.

8/10 Good

Dennis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

William, Houston, Texas, USA

Disliked: Room comfort
the breakfast was bad and useless 3 pieces of fresh fruit with 2 industrial toasts and industrial jam and industrial fruit juices....

8/10 Good

Nona Marie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

4/10 Poor

Hakon, kelowna

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
convient
Close to airport, good for starting and ending a trip

8/10 Good

Robert, minneapolis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
ny stay
nice small hotel in great center city location spoke english spanish

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Good, inexpensive hotel near airport
Good, cheap hotel near the airport and right in downtown Alajuela. Not much to do in the area, but good if you need a place to stay near the airport before traveling elsewhere.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean, quiet and friendly staff. Just what we were looking for when staying for one night and catching a flight the next morning. Would stay again.

8/10 Good

Michael, North Vancouver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good Value Close to Airport
The second time that we have stayed. After 3 weeks in CR we came back on our last night to stay for an early flight the next day. Five minutes from the airport. Rooms clean and comfortable. Good restaurants nearby but closing at 8 to 9pm.

10/10 Excellent

Marissa, Texas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cheap, clean stay near airport
Needed a place to stay after arriving to the airport close to midnight. Hotel was a $6 ride away. Hotel was pretty old but very clean. The older man who checked us in was very nice. Showed us everything in our hotel and asked if we needed a taxi the next day. The next morning our taxi was ready to go right on time. Highly recommend if you need a cheap stay near the airport.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice place to stay close to the airport
Everything went well.

8/10 Good

william, sacramento

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
simple and safe
One nights stay awaiting flight home. Soda,park,grocery were right there. Helpful management and well secured property. Cozy kitchen area and overall good for the price.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Michael, N. Vancouver Canada

Liked: Cleanliness
clean small hotel 5 minutes from Airport
Basic clean good value friendly staff 5 minutes from airport

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Exceeded our expectations.
We needed to stay close to the airport in order to catch a very early flight. This was the first time we stayed at this hotel, but will not be the last as the experience exceeded our expectations. The room for three was very clean, comfotable, sufficiently large as well as being reasonably priced. The hotel is in a very safe neighborhood with several restaurants nearby. If you have a car, secured overnight parking is nearby. The owner, Jorge, is very friendly and speaks English as well. Ask about his collection of masks from around the world that are on display in the lobby. Highly recommended.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
It was fine. We just needed a place to stay near the airport before we went up north to explore other regions, and it was super close to the airport and fairly inexpensive.