Hilton Garden Inn Guanacaste Airport — Hotel in Liberia

A necessary calamity. Just returned from visiting Costa Rica and Nicaragua as part of an incredible tour. The Hilton was the tour’s beginning. Not really a great omen, but I did not know I was beginning in what would, thank the Universe, be the lowest point of the tour. After a very long immigration line, ridiculously caused by two very slow, almost at standstill velocity immigration officers, we looked forward to a nice meal and comfy beds. The Hilton Inn bus took a while to pick us all up even when they were called several times. The pace seemed to be part of the island overall lull. Throughout the week I did learn that twenty minutes (the standard given time from anything and everything) could be anywhere from forty to sixty minutes. The Hilton’s service (though slow) was very friendly. The few employees tried their best to be agreeable and accommodating. Everyone a sweetheart. For a Hilton, I was surprised by the filth collected on the carpet corners, the smell of damp, the dust sleeping unashamed on top of the pool terrace tables. Plates of uneaten room serviced breakfast food loafed all day in front of guests’ locked doors. Unpicked. Overlooked, perhaps forgotten. I ate at the restaurant two nights. It is okay food, unmemorable. I had room service food once and I still have nightmares. The thought of the charred surface, but raw bleeding meat, the freezer cold bite of the hamburger haunts me. The amount of oily fat pooling at the top of the pizza I vainly tried to absorb with paper napkins remains as warning. I did call twice to complain. Twice they came to take away the food and they did offer to bring more food apologetically, but by then I had decided to go into an unreligious fast and very strict diet of potato chips and coke. It was more expensive than calling Jenny Craig. Costa Rica is expensive. The snacks sold in the hotel’s concession store a treat to be eaten sparingly and bought from the desperate. Do bring sunscreen. The pool offers no shade at all. Yes, you will go to the pool even if the thought of travelling to Costa Rica and wasting time in a Hilton pool seems laughable. There is nothing to do in Liberia. Liberia will not match any pictures that you have constructed in your head about lush Costa Rica. Try to think of it as the deserted parking lot of Costa Rica. The twenty dollar ride to town each way is simply not worth it. We were fully advised by the hotel’s front desk, but I am a resilient and optimistic traveler. I insisted I could find adventure and fun anywhere. I confess I was delusional at the time. Liberia offered plenty of Chinese food choices, yes, you read correctly. Chinese food has kicked “gallo pinto” to the curve as traditional food in Liberia. The prices at the stores and supermarket rival those in New York and the whole experience of the shanty town gone pricey is kafkaesque. Yes, stay at the Hilton because it is the best possible option when compared to little rural hotels in the middle of nowhere. Pack sunscreen, insect repellent, plenty of protein...

This hotel is designed to control people's freedom of movement which is unsafe.

WINDOWS - All of the windows are permanently sealed shut. None of the rooms have windows you can open. In an emergency you would have to either try to break them, which would be difficult since the glass is sturdy.

STAIRWELL - Inside of the staircase none of the doors have handles except the first floor. This is illegal in the states (CFC 1008.1.9.11 Stairway doors. Interior stairway means of egress doors shall be openable from both sides without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort.) Without door handles inside of the stairwell on every floor, emergency personel would need the staff to unlock the door for them which would waste time. If there were an emergency and you went into the staircase, and the door shuts behind you by accident, you cannot go back and help someone. If you ran down to the first floor to exit but it was blocked by a fire or debri, you would not be able to exit on any of the other floors to get out another way, you would be trapped in the staircase.

ELEVATOR - Very small.

Besides safety, it is just nice to be able to open the window and get fresh air. People should be able to open the windows. People should be able to use the stairs to come and go. All of these ostacles to freedom cause people stress. The rationale for these choices not justified by the additional safety problems they create. Doors being locked does not prevent "intruders" - no one is background checked for a hotel room, anyone can get a hotel room. The concept of locking someone in a building to "protect" them is wrong.

When I politely asked to use the staircase, the staff was very kind to unlock it for me. However, the manager attempted to bully me by walking up to me aggressively and telling me that the stairs were locked on purpose. There is a slightly hostile , stressed feeling to this hotel, probably because it is designed like a prison. Obviously this is a United States company, and it is absolutely nothing Costa Rican about it, of course it is just a place for people to stay next to the airport. There is a Santa Ana hotel very close which looks to be...

Not worth the price. The hotel is very nice, but the rooms are dated and need maintenance: stained bath fixtures, chipped wood, squeaky hinges (seriously, the hinges in my room squeaked!), dated furniture. The AC unit inside the room is unbearably loud, had to turn it off at night. The service, I would classify as "cordial but indifferent".

It's a pain to get a legally valid invoice sent to you by this hotel. Travelling for business, I asked for one at check in, at check out, and had to call back a week later to ask for it again. After that I had to ask by email to finally get my invoice. Hard to believe a hotel this expensive is unable to comply with a simple, legal requirement.

I sat down at the restaurant, in plain sight. Had to wait almost 5 minutes before someone asked if I needed anything. But on that note, the restaurant is one of the few parts of the hotel that's totally worth it. The food did not disappoint. The pizza was excellent, traditional breakfast was great, later on I had a sandwich and it was amazing. When I was finally waited on, the service was friendly and attentive. And get this: the restaurant invoiced instantly. The restaurant inside the hotel, provided a perfectly valid legal invoice in a matter of seconds, without a hitch... while the hotel itself, could not.

As for location, not much to say. If you're coming from anywhere that's not the airport, avoid rush hour like the plague. During rush hour, it's not unusual to spend half an hour or more in standstill traffic to get to this hotel. If you're coming from the beaches at rush hour, factor in a good 45 minute traffic jam at the very least.

There's nothing around the hotel. Nothing, it's an empty lot and an industrial park. Pitch black sidewalks at night. So don't make any plans to "check out the area", there's no "area"...