Hostel Shakti — Hotel in Catedral

If I could give negative stars for a place, I’d give Hostel Shakti a minus ten. They did not honor my October 8, 2021 reservation (59627-514567524) and put me out on the street after ten p.m. in a dangerous part of San Jose. If patrolling police had not happened by and offered to help I honestly don’t know what would have become of me.||||Let me assure you that I’m no tourist. I’ve lived in Costa Rica for some time now and there are few things anyone can tell me about how safe or not safe the streets of San Jose are at that hour. On this night I had returned from Cancun on a flight that had been scheduled to land around 4:45 p.m. I planned to take a bus to my home near Turrialba and knew what time the Transtusa routes operate. But because of unexpected bad weather, my flight (Volaris Y45113) had to abort one landing attempt and then divert to an airport in El Salvador to refuel after SJO closed the runway. We didn’t touch the ground in Costa Rica until long past the hour that buses would leave for Turrialba. I had no choice but look for an overnight stay.||||My partner has used Hostelworld many times in the past. He made a reservation for me at Hostel Shakti and received a confirmation. Hostelworld took $5.50 out of my bank account and all seemed to be in order.||||Except that the woman who answered the door at Hostelworld would not acknowledge the reservation, said they had no space, and would not allow me to stay. She was borderline rude, wearing the most sour expression her face could muster, and offered no alternative suggestions or assistance whatsoever. My phone battery was dying and she didn’t even let me sit in the reception area long enough to charge it. I was ejected from the building onto a dark side street blocks away from any type of regular traffic where I might find a taxi. It just so happened that two police officers patrolling on foot happened by and were incredibly helpful. They rounded me up a taxi and that taxi took me to Gaudy’s Eco Hotel, which was a first-rate stay on top of being willing to accommodate me without a reservation. ||||I believe that Hostelworld should thoroughly investigate Hostel Shakti and find out why they would not honor my reservation. In my opinion it’s sheer incompetence at best, fraudulent business practices at worst. Do they not check their online scheduling system? Do they not know how to keep their availability status updated on these websites? Are there no settings in their online account systems to disallow last minute bookings if they are not prepared to honor them? The whole experience was horrifying for me and I would hate to see this same thing happen to a first-time visitor to Costa Rica with no awareness of the dangers in San Jose at night and no street smarts. I was lucky. The next guest deceived by a reservation confirmation for Hostel Shakti...

If I could give negative stars for a place, I’d give Hostel Shakti a minus ten. They did not honor my October 8, 2021 reservation (59627-514567524) and put me out on the street after ten p.m. in a dangerous part of San Jose. If patrolling police had not happened by and offered to help I honestly don’t know what would have become of me.

Let me assure you that I’m no tourist. I’ve lived in Costa Rica for some time now and there are few things anyone can tell me about how safe or not safe the streets of San Jose are at that hour. On this night I had returned from Cancun on a flight that had been scheduled to land around 4:45 p.m. I planned to take a bus to my home near Turrialba and knew what time the Transtusa routes operate. But because of unexpected bad weather, my flight (Volaris Y45113) had to abort one landing attempt and then divert to an airport in El Salvador to refuel after SJO closed the runway. We didn’t touch the ground in Costa Rica until long past the hour that buses would leave for Turrialba. I had no choice but look for an overnight stay.

My partner has used Hostelworld many times in the past. He made a reservation for me at Hostel Shakti and received a confirmation. Hostelworld took $5.50 out of my bank account and all seemed to be in order.

Except that the woman who answered the door at Hostel Shakti would not acknowledge the reservation, said they had no space, and would not allow me to stay. She was borderline rude, wearing the most sour expression her face could muster, and offered no alternative suggestions or assistance whatsoever. My phone battery was dying and she didn’t even let me sit in the reception area long enough to charge it. I was ejected from the building onto a dark side street blocks away from any type of regular traffic where I might find a taxi. It just so happened that two police officers patrolling on foot happened by and were incredibly helpful. They rounded me up a taxi and that taxi took me to Gaudy’s Eco Hotel, which was a first-rate stay on top of being willing to accommodate me without a reservation.

I believe that Hostelworld should thoroughly investigate Hostel Shakti and find out why they would not honor my reservation. In my opinion it’s sheer incompetence at best, fraudulent business practices at worst. Do they not check their online scheduling system? Do they not know how to keep their availability status updated on these websites? Are there no settings in their online account systems to disallow last minute bookings if they are not prepared to honor them? The whole experience was horrifying for me and I would hate to see this same thing happen to a first-time visitor to Costa Rica with no awareness of the dangers in San Jose at night and no street smarts. I was lucky. The next guest deceived by a reservation confirmation for Hostel Shakti...

Hostel Shakti... this was so disappointing! This is a lovely building but the 'weekend woman' Carla was more concerned with accommodating her family/friends than looking after paying guests! She cooked and blended soup at midnight to eat, held loud conversations at 6:30am then was so tired she slept through the day. Subsequently she didn't clean the shared toilet or bathroom... I emptied the toilet waste bin myself and replaced it with a clean bin bag as it was overflowing. Food was left out on the very small kitchen bench all night & day; foods scraps on plates and dirty dishes were left out (which I scraped and cleaned so I could use the bench). Floors were dirty and un mopped, and when I told her the communal TV wasn't working, she just shrugged! I had to ask her for the controls as she & her daughter were using them in the bedroom they were using. Her daughter, a young girl of about 10, was up late and wandering around calling her mum... no way was I getting to sleep before midnight!|With fewer guests than family staying, there was no excuse for this. My room was fine, bed comfy but too close to the admin area, very noisy with her family & friends coming and going. If staying here, ask for a room at the back. Oh, the trains that pass regularly from about 5am are VERY loud! Do yourselves a favour and go to another hostel in San Jose where they actually care! And Lonely Planet, maybe you should actually stay overnight before recommending...