San Jose · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels near Costa Rica
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
These are my five favourites in San Jose, out of the 62 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.7 down to 4.2.
All five are within 1.6 km of Costa Rica.
Highest rated of the five
Hotel Grano De Oro
★★★★★4.7 from 1,749 reviews
Hotel Grano De Oro comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 1,749 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 4 star property, found under poi and around $170 a night on the dates we checked.
62 hotels in San Jose qualified for this list and five made it. Gran Hotel Costa Rica, Curio Collection by Hilton is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Bara drink without going back out
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
All five, ranked
-
1
Hotel Grano De Oro
★★★★★4.7 from 1,749 reviews
700 m from Costa Rica, about a 9 minute walk
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
- Kid friendly
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2Gran Hotel Costa Rica, Curio Collection by Hilton
★★★★★4.6 from 2,070 reviews
1.6 km from Costa Rica, about a 20 minute walk
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
- Pet friendly
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3Hotel Parque Del Lago San Jose
★★★★★4.5 from 877 reviews
1.1 km from Costa Rica, about a 14 minute walk
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Pet friendly
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4Four Points by Sheraton San Jose Sabana
★★★★★4.2 from 113 reviews
500 m from Costa Rica, about a 6 minute walk
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
5Nativus Art Hostel
★★★★★4.8 from 147 reviews
1.3 km from Costa Rica, about a 16 minute walk
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
- Airport shuttle
How this list was put together
62 San Jose hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Costa Rica second, then took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Mei-Lin Zhou Japan
Works agency hours in Vancouver and spends all 18 vacation days abroad. One new country and one repeat visit per year. Five trips to Japan and a running list of ramen shops.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.