Hotel Grano de Oro San Jose Costa Rica

Image by Costa Rican Resource via FlickrAfter visitng many hotels and dropping groups off almost on average 40 weeks out of the year at hotels in Costa Rica. The Grano de Oro has given our guest a 100% satisfaction rate. I think it is because they have kept it nice and small, kept the staff full, and excellent service. Hope you enjoy the blog and if you have comments on the Grano de Oro would love to hear them?

The Pozuelo cookie is one of the best cookies Costa Rica has to offer. The family Pozuelo in Costa Rica is a well-known family for generations having started the very successful Pozuelo cookie factory which still sits in the center of San Jose. The Pozuelo family wanted to be close to their cookie factory as most people do, the smell is amazing. The family lived in the center of San Jose in a beautiful home that has now been turned into what we consider the best hotel in San Jose, Grano de Oro. Here we will tell you why?

San Jose is filled with some nice hotels just like any capital city. You can find the big Marriots, Real Intercontinentals, and the list goes on which are all great places but if you stay in them chances are you have stayed in something similar before. The Grano de Oro offers something just a little bit different and almost reminds you of a unique place in Europe where so many times you find a great place to stay that is not one of the chains.

Grano de Oro is in the center of San Jose five blocks from the Central Park La Sabana. It is completely refurbished but the history behind the whole city is left on the walls through pictures, antiques, and even the people who come and eat in the restaurant. San Jose is not one of those capital cities that is a must-see for tourists. However, when you stay at Grano de Oro you really feel the history as you hear about the coffee boom and the different buildings and places of San Jose. You leave this hotel not only saying to yourself what wonderful rooms, food, and service but you also gain an interest for this capital city which if you look deep enough does have some interesting history. For tourists, San Jose is sort of over shadowed by the volcanoes, rivers, and rainforests of Costa Rica but hotel Grano de Oro lives up to its name as being just a little “Grain of Gold” tucked away in the capital city of San Jose.

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$$$$ Secrets of Costa Rican Tourism $$$$

Image by Jake Wasdin via FlickrI love how the system works and if you are a big company or a taxi driver working the airport exit you pretty much run on the same system. The right way to run is to charge the tourist for the service you offer and what it is worth, NOTHING MORE & NOTHING LESS. I'm writing this post for the travelers that come to Costa Rica on a budget and end up traveling on there own. If you decided to travel with us it might not be the cheapest trip you can find but we can promise you that you get what you pay for as far as guiding knowledge and service which you can tell by their testimonials.

Everything is run off commisions here. This is good and bad. It is good because it gives a chance that everyone gets a piece of the pie. It is bad because in some cases you see a tourist buying a cake when all they should be spending is for a piece of a pie.  (Although I have seen tourist take this a little too far. Ive seen taxi drivers charge a correct fee and tourist think it was too much just because they figured they were getting charged too much because they were a taxi. Yes, there are tourist who get ripped off but there are also honest people also and lets not forget that. Actually there is a lot more honest people than dishonest ALOT!) If you rent a car and go to a zipline dont be afraid to talk the price down a little bit the chances are you can save yourself a few bucks. Im not telling you to not book your tour from tour desk or hotel reception, these people need to make a living after all also.

There are a million places to do tours in Costa Rica from rafting to ziplining and it never hurts to ask to bargain down the price. If you feel you are paying too much it never hurts to ask someplace else either. This also goes for hotels also. You can always ask for a discount at hotels. Most places deal with a net rate and a rack rate.

There are many types of tour companies that just make their living off commisions which is fine its just like some of the more common sites you probably will buy your airplane ticket sites from. There are other companies like ours that charge for the complete package from reservation services, guide services, and a tone of extras, and just a whole pakcage from start to finish. Hope this blog helped give you a little understanding of how some of economics of Costa Rican tourism runs here.

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University March

Image via Wikipedia Once again Costa Rica showed the world it was a democracy. 10,000 students, faculty and administrators from Costa Rica’s public universities marched to president Chinchilla’s house. They set up a stage with loudspeakers and gave the Costa Rican president an earful. They want more funding for the universities. More scientific equipment, more field study and more scholarships.

Chinchilla had in mind an increase of around 5% for university budgets. The marchers were thinking more along the lines of at least 11%. Will they get it? Time will tell. But it is nice to see people so concerned about higher education. I might add, that as usual Costa Rica did all this peacefully.

This was Amazing!!!

This was Amazing!!!
Originally uploaded by Costa Rican Resource

In all of Costa Rica with the class IV rapids and the erupting volcanoes I have to say seeing this was right at the top. I came upon this hummingbird sitting on it's nest.

5 Jaguar Facts

If you decide on Costa Rica for a family vacation or a student travel trip it is because you are probably looking for some adventure and wildlife. One of the most sought after animals of the rainforest is the Jaguar. If you happen to see one of these on your vacation to Costa Rica you will join a very small group of eco-tourist who were lucky enough to see the beautiful animal who might not have much more time left on this planet. Take a look at some interesting facts about the Jaguar.

1.) Is a very good swimmer.

2.) The Jaguar is Endangered due to loss of natural habitat.

3.) 3rd largest cat on the plante behind the lion and tiger.

4.) Eats small mammals. (We are small mammals!!!!!!)

5.) They hunt at night. (This is one reason why tourist rarely see them)

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