Hostel Finca Escalante — Hotel in Carmen

My boyfriend and I needed to find a place to receive our bags, as we needed them for work. We called the hostal and the guy attending the front desk, Warren, said no problem. He even mentioned that he was the owner. He offered to take care of the bags for us saying it was no big deal at all. So we booked with him a private room, which was expensive, but we decided that since he was doing us a big favor then we can spend this money. The bags kept getting delayed so we stayed more nights in a private room. Finally we decided to leave as we needed to start our job outside of CR, as the bags were taking too long to arrive. At the moment, Warren kindly offered to take care of the bags again. My boyfriend left first and so before I left, I arranged everything and made things clear that in case that the bags would get stuck in costumes he had all the required documents and the legal right to pick them up, as he promised that he would do. He was so kind, that I even bought him a bottle of wine to thank him for this gesture. Fast forward to a month later, when we were already working outside of CR, the bags finally reached San Jose. I called Warren to ask him if he can go to the costumes as we arranged before since the bags were stuck there until someone would physically go there to vouch for them. Yet he never did, instead he kept postponing, making up lies about him eventually going there, hanging up the phone or not answering at all. This attitude of dishonesty cost us a lot of money. Fast forward to 10 days after the bags' arrival, my boyfriend and I were fed up, and had to pay a LOT of money in order to go back to San Jose and pick up the bags ourselves. On top of that, every day the bags were in the costumes there was a fee to be payed. All for nothing. Money wasted staying in the hostal, thinking that Warren would be doing us a favor which he never did, although he promised. We realized that he just took us for a bait, and that he would say anything as he just wanted our money and would promise anything to get the costumers. We wonder if this is the policy of the hostal. Our stay in the hostal was alright but the only problem is Warren, as before he said he is the heart of the hostal but if this is so I would never come back to this place. Nonetheless lesson learned....

NOTE: Shortly after my Booking.com review my reservation was changed to cancelled - even though I'd paid via credit card at the property. Maybe they didn't like my review? Or is it something about going through Booking.com and commissions? Strange either way as I really was there and have the receipt and photos to prove it. REVIEW: The location of this over-hyped property is perhaps the only thing going for it. If you're seeking an actual hotel instead of an afterthought of a room look elsewhere. The breakfast is fruit and pancakes or toast, plus coffee. Not nearly as fantastic as reviews would indicate but at least it's offered. The floors were filthy and if you walked barefoot your soles would become dirty in minutes. See picture. To make matters worse the desk clerk in essence told me that since I didn't say anything at check-in I was the one who made them dirty. No offer to have them mopped. The TV remote didn't work, but I didn't mention it because if their response to dirty floors was that it was my fault maybe they'd want me to pay for a new TV? The room I was in had no electrical outlets near the bed for phone charging. Luggage had to go on the floor - no little table. The sofa was best used as a place for unpacked stuff. The towels and sheets were worn. The room itself seems to have been built onto the side of the existing old home, with one side being the home's exterior wall and the other the property line wall. The walls were so thin you'll need earplugs to block out noise at night. The water pressure varied between little and moderate and when showering you'd go from lukewarm to cold and back again as it spit out air in the plumbing. The internet would likewise go from functional to no signal or no internet access. Perhaps others stayed in the main house but this room was an afterthought and not at all what the reviews had me expecting. Bringing these matters to the attention of the desk clerk was met with no resolution - except as noted to blame the guest. Please note that I've lived abroad for 8+ years and have stayed in a variety of properties in Latin America and Asia. I don't offer reviews based on a USA-centric point of view. The basics still apply: clean room, helpful staff, accurate representation. None of these existed...

Lovely hostel with lots of greens and good location however, I don’t suggest you stay in this hostel if you aren’t a spanish speaker as the main receptionist only communicates in spanish and not accommodating to non spanish speakers, he gave me a different dorm than the one i booked and when I complained he kept saying “No Entiendo”

The worst thing about this hostel is the receptionist as he is very hostile and not welcoming, I booked mixed 8 dorm, however he gave me a different dorm without even informing me. It didn’t have a mirror/locker/curtain/electric outlet in the other bunk like the photo in my reservation. Lockers and curtains are a must for me when booking especially being a woman. So when I complained he kept saying I don’t understand then when my spanish speaker friend came, he kept telling her that this is hostel world fault and refused to take responsibility and kept ignoring us in the middle of the conversation to attend other customers, also he demanded us to pay more if we want to change??!!LOL. And he denied that there was lockers in the hostel although there was and it was mentioned in the information. Truth to be said, The worst thing about my experience in that hostel was the receptionist, not only for me but to other guests too, he shows severely poor customer service and aggressive behavior and misdemeanor. He created a negative vibe and poor experience to many of us which we don’t look for on a vacation.

Later, I went ahead and complained to hostel world then he moved me and suddenly he spoke English.

I also witnessed him yelling couple of times and his attitude towards other staff which reflects poorly on the place, he was yelling to another employee who was very sweet and genuinely helpful for maybe an hour nonstop infront of everyone. Which I didn’t appreciate at all. I don’t know what is that Andree guy issue but definitely he needs to work on his behavior.

Cleanliness was to be desired too specially in toilets...