Hotel Balmoral — Hotel in Carmen

We chose this hotel for its location, price, and the reviews. The hotel gets a 3 for it's location, service, and buffet breakfast. Based on the first room we booked and our initial experience alone, I would give 1 star, averaging out to 2 stars.

First of all, we arrived later in the evening around 9pm, which means that most of the stores are closed; it was dark, and my husband and my first time in Costa Rica. There was no clear entrance to the hotel or parking. I had to get out of the car, walk around half the block to attempt to ask for help. I saw an obscure gated parking lot and a small sign that said "hotel Balmoral". There, I found an employee to ask for directions on how to navigate the car (with all the one way streets) , where to park, and where to enter.. thankfully, he was helpful and walked with me to where my husband was waiting to direct us to the parking lot. Turns out, the entrance to the hotel is typically a store front, which is closed in the evening. This was all very confusing to say the least.

Secondly, we initially booked the standard room, but it was extremely underwhelming - I'd say almost motel-like. Very different from what we saw online and for their "standard", the quality was sub standard compared to standard 3 star hotels in the US. The bathroom shower stall had no curtain. We brought this up to the front desk and they seemed surprised by this as well and kindly offered to move us to the next room up. However, when we got to that room, we thought it was nicer, but the bed was downgraded from a queen (in the standard room) to a full, which is not what we had booked.

We finally decided that we wanted to avoid the further trouble of asking for another room change and decided pay for the upgrade to a king sized deluxe bedroom. When we saw the room, we felt much more comfortable and felt that it was more according to our expectations based on the reviews and photos we had seen online about this hotel. The issues we had with the room was that the power outlet did not work with the coffee maker and there was no bottled water (that we didn't have to pay for).

Overall, the issues navigating how to park and where to enter, room changes, and small, but important, dysfunctionalities and lack of amenities cast a negative light on our overall experience at this hotel.

The good news is, this hotel has many different levels of quality to the rooms. So if you want to avoid the experience we had, don't go with the standard. Start from standard deluxe and go up from there. Be aware that the entrance of the hotel is not straightforward. Be aware that the bathrooms are designed differently in a way such that the water from the shower can come out and flood the bathroom floor because there's no curtain or door to completely separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom. There is only half a glass, which looks chic but is not as practical...(or maybe we shower too liberally and waste lots of water/ #foodforthought). The breakfast is great and the location is right above the shopping centers and is close to the national theater.

Recommended,...

Arrived to be told the receptionist was not there and had to get money for exchanging dollars for another guest. Seriously the only receptionist leaves his post and doesn't send a bellhop? A line was ahead of us and we were peeved. Our Group was exhausted and it was already later than we wanted yet we sat there for at least 20 minutes. I had the Presidential suite and my friends a lower quality room, which was much more modernized and nicer than the presidential. The late receptionist at first could not find my friends reservation in spite of him clearly having a receipt in hand. Then he later forgot to give me back my passport. I raced back downstairs to once again stand on a long line to finally speak to the receptionist Joseph who just laughs and hands it back. No thought of calling or sending it up to me. What if I hadn't noticed until my flight the next day? These are not little or simple mistakes that a hotel that serves airport customers should make. His advice on transport to the airport was completely uncreditable since he had us arriving just 1.5 hours before our international flights. We ended up making our own decisions based on Waze and the required pre arrival recommendations of the airline. Seriously doubt this guy knew what he was doing. Polite enough but very inexperienced. The rooms are spacious but smelled of cigarette smoke and the tired couch sagged. Having just come from Chachagua bungalows in the jungle the whole group agreed the jungle outshines this place by a million. Sort of sad that these rooms cost more than double and were not near the same quality. Dents and nicks on furniture with stains on the fabric nevermind the cigarette reek.The location was ok although we decided to taxi it back that night after dinner since they lock you out by metal gates. A clear sign the area may not be so safe. The. Walk over to our restaurant was a bit scary so it was a taxi for sure. Be aware we had a hard time getting reservations anywhere so plan ahead. Distance wise it was about a half hour by taxi to the plane but we only experienced a little traffic since it was a Saturday. Not many options for hotels in San Jose and this seemed decent by the reviews but I think it is very overpriced. The ultimate was breakfast which offered 4 basic options and a choice of coffee OR juice but not both. The waitress was excellent and tried to accommodate but beware it is not buffet and the fare is very bland. Omelett by itself and some toast but no jam or butter. Very cheap and basic. Other than our waitress there was zilch customer service here and the city cries for some decent competition in hotels. Don't waste your money on room upgrades since my friends had a much cheaper room and it was clearly newly renovated and modern while my presidential suite was a tired stinky room with views of the other corridors of the hotel on all sides. If I had known better I would have downgraded completely or actually tried another...

Ok so to start with my family are native Costa Ricans from limon and San jose so I am not a tourist posting blah blah..I have stayed in Balmoral many times over the years, before the so called new construction ,when the hair salon was open and everything was ok , many years before covid.Simply it was my go to when I arrive in Costa Rica and before I fly out Lets get to it .Last month ,,the second week of September 2024 I booked a two bed room suite for my self and my mother who i was bringing back to the U.S , NY to be exact with a living room and a terrace ..no problem .The price doubled on line from last year it triples if you call in live at the front desk ..no problem .The staff is never the same from year to year ..no problem. When you book a single room you were and are allowed a guest . Here it is I book a suite paid double for two rooms you would think I was allowed one guest if not two ..no not the case here ..the price gorging starts they want me to pay extra ..then when you are leaving trying to catch your flight you have to wait for them to check out the room ..no problem normal practice..so yo you wait ..Here they come again sir you dirtied two towels and we can't clean them we have to charge you..I was livid ..no bleach smell on the towels and obviously they were washed in cold water..The sad part about this is I went through this with them before my family member came to the hotel took the towels to there house washed them bright white and returned them and as I explained use bleach and hot water and good soap its that simple ..so for the twenty dollars you charged me and not allowing me a guest I hope it was worth it ..you have no pool ..a closet for a gym and insult to injury no wash rags .If you do decide to stay there get your snacks from the super market by the bus station jts much cheaper..The breakfast its ok not fabulous like others suggest . Do yourself a favor shop around get more bang for your buck there greed at this point is unexceptable and unnecessary ..There new pricing is not worth it ..oh yes no ice after 9pm it has to come from the kitchen which is closed..oh yes don't get me started on the time I removed the snacks from the refrigerator when I booked a room before I hid them in a garbage bag under the bed so I can put my own in the baby refrigerator offered and not be charged triple. What do you think happened ..no your wrong ..the cleaning lady swiped the bag without asking my permission and I had to go and argue about that as well she had no right to touch or remove anything not belonging to her. Hide your valuables..be mindful and be aware . if your a player definitely...