InterContinental Costa Rica at Multiplaza Mall

The hotel is starting to look old and really doesn't feel like a 5-star property anymore. The walls are paper-thin; I could hear everything happening in the next room with total clarity. They also didn't provide any bar soap, which is a major pet peeve of mine—having to use shower gel for everything is just annoying and feels like they’re cutting corners. The gym is actually quite good, but the atmosphere at breakfast was a total dealbreaker. They had Fox News on a big-screen TV right in the middle of the room. It’s hard to understand why a hotel would subject their guests to that kind of content during a meal. It honestly felt like torture. I’ll be looking for somewhere else to stay next time.

Literally, the worst IHG experience of my life. I have been a loyal Spire Elite member for over 20 years. I am an international attorney and have stayed in IHG hotels in the US and all of over the world and I can assure you that I have better billable things to do with my time than write a long review of this horrible hotel. If you only read one sentence of my review, read this one-DON’T STAY HERE. My wife and I came to San Jose for medical tourism, to both receive stem cell and cosmetic procedures. Both clinics recommend this among several other hotels in or near this new area of the city. Hotel Location: Isolated and away from the new city where all the clinics, mega shopping mall and restaurants are located. You need private transportation to get to your clinic location (mall and restaurants). Here, you are at the mercy of the hotel and their on-site restaurants. The other hotels are conveniently located steps away from the clinics, shopping and restaurants. This one is not. Service: We were able to check in early. We stayed in the Club Tower with lounge access and paid the top price to do so. My wife asked if there were water bottles in the room. Answer: “of course”-there wasn’t. I called the front desk 5 times to get water and new caffeinated capsules for the coffee machine. First, staff does not timely pick up the phone at the front desk. 5 times they said they would bring the water bottles up. Never did. Three calls to room service and an hour later we received the water bottles-but no coffee capsules. Lounge: No water, no beer during off-hours, no snacks. So that is why we called the front desk and room service because there are no water bottles there. The lounge has a few (a couple of bottles of each) coke products in a fridge but nothing healthy to drink in self-service. Breakfast fare is okay. Happy Hour is 5-7 SHARP. At 7:05 PM, its closed down completely. Great servers there and they are the only reason I would leave one star for the entire hotel experience. Room: The beds are the worst I have ever slept in-period. It is like you are sleeping on a 50-year old mattress. There are deep, slept-in holes in the middle of the beds. Not great for your back. See the picture. In the bathroom, my wife was afraid to plug the hair dryer into the uncovered, exposed hanging wall socket. See picture. That night, I went down to the front desk to complain and asked to change rooms. The front desk staff said there were no other room options. Service: The next morning following our first early morning medical treatment, I called the Front desk but no answer after 30 mins. I walked down to the front desk from the Club Tower on the opposite side of the hotel to see the manager to change rooms? When I asked to see the manager, the response: “No manager. “ Maybe a supervisor. “No supervisor.” Fortunately, there were a bunch of IHG corporate looking folks with badges walking around and I approached a man and woman with clipboards to explain my situation. The woman ignored me and said she wasn’t with this hotel. The man was sympatric when I acted like a lawyer and showed him the picture of the bed and exposed wall socket and he told me he would fetch the Front Desk manager for me. I waited 10 minutes at the front desk for “Debora.” She apologized and said she would change rooms for us. She said she found a room that had good beds. I told her we would be ready in 15 mins in our room so please send up a bellman to help with the luggage. After 30 mins and no one showed, I called the front desk-for 15 mins. No answer. The Club Tower is on the other side of the hotel from the reception desk. So I had to walk from one end of the property to the other again (remember no sleep and had already had my first in series of medical treatments under my belt) all the way to the reception desk. No one at the front desk could help. I asked to see the Front Desk manager again. 10 mins later she appeared. Please send someone to move us. New Room: Same Beds, but filthy. When we arrived in the new room, the same problem. I called down to the front desk. After 10 minutes of ringing, I got someone and the Front Desk manager did take my call. Surprise. Apparently, after a long conversation with head of housekeeping it turns out it isn’t the beds that were bad, it was the old worn out feather mattress toppers the hotel has on all of its beds, including the Club Towers’, higher priced rooms. It seemed that housekeeping was fully aware of the mattress topper problem. They removed the toppers from the bed-but did not replace them with new mattress toppers, they just removed the old ones. After wasting 2 hours with this, it was time for dinner. We went into the bathroom of the new room to get ready and take showers. Floor was filthy-See picture of used plastic dental flosser, bobby pins and hair balls on the floor. Also see pictures of spots and dust balls and who knows what ugly unsanitary stuff on the floor of our room. Not sure what that picture shows, but it’s disgusting. I was working on my computer when my wife called to me from the shower in a panic. The heavy glass shower door was falling off the shower stall. I helped here to get out of the shower. The door had come off its hinges. See picture. After 15 mins and three calls to the front desk they sent someone up. By the time they got there, we were getting dressed and asked them to return in 15 mins to make the repair. They never came back. When we returned to the room after dinner, the door was not fixed. Believe me, we were exhausted. After 3 calls and 30 mins later I got through to the front desk, they sent someone up and fixed it at 11 pm. The Restaurants: No noodles in the noodle soup. The next night, we went to the combined Italian and Sushi restaurant for dinner. I ordered Italian, my wife the Thai noodle soup. The beef carpaccio and cannelloni I ordered were good. The Thai noodle soup did not have any noodles in it. Chicken and veggies but no noodles. We called the waitress and she came back 15 mins later with some noodles. We paid full price; nothing offered for our troubles. Fitness Area: See picture of black mold on the vents Conclusion: The manager of the hotel is totally inaccessible, his presence nonexistent. Day one, I found out his name with a Google search and wrote him a Linkedin message because the front desk would not give me his direct email. No response. I will never come here again. I cancelled by IHG credit card and will provide this review to the clinics that recommended this hotel. No one should go through this unnecessary hassle and experience. This is what you can expect at the San Jose Intercontinental, paying the highest price in its Club Tower. And the surveys asks, “Did the front desk acknowledge you as a Spire Elite Member when you checked in?” It really doesn’t matter anymore because IHG has lost my loyalty completely and will likely never see me or my business again.

We went to this hotel as a family as they have a heated pool. Well, turns out they dont heat it anymore so we are very disappointed. When we asked in the reception we got some vague answers regarding it and that it is heated in 3 stages. The big lower pool that is normally very nice regardless of weather is freezing so holidays for us destroyed as we only went a couple of days to enjoy the pool and there is a cold front so its impossible. During other visits it has been the same weather and the pool has been fantastic. So just a warning to others, dont book because of the pool.

Spent one night chilling out after a long-haul flight from Europe and before a long drive to Guanacaste province. This hotel is a perfect stop-over place ; good restaurant area and breakfast room, bedrooms are good enough and the gym area is great, overlooking a lovely and well-kept garden.

I spent five nights here, and it was a decent stay but certainly not the level I would expect from an Intercontinental. The room was spacious and comfortable, but not properly cleaned - there were bits and pieces of muck all over the floor; the telephone didn't work (I had to go reception when I needed something); and there was no information on the hotel's amenities in the room (I had to call - once the phone was fixed - to ask). There were no slippers nor bathrobe in the room. I had to ask for them to be delivered. What was nice was the breakfast buffet - there was a good selection of food (though all bread and pastries was incredibly stale) and the outdoor pool area and gym were very nice. It was all OK, but very expensive for what it is.