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About
4.0
#15 of 78 hotels in San Jose
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
The Barcelo San Jose hotel (belonging to the Barcelo Hotel Group and formerly the Barcelo San Jose Palacio) is located in a quiet residential area of Uruca, just 8 miles from Juan Santamaria International Airport and 3 miles from the center of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. Well connected to the main business, shopping and leisure areas, such as the National Stadium. This emblematic urban hotel boasts great prestige and tradition in the country. The 254 rooms—renovated in 2016—are fully equipped with all of the necessary features to enjoy a perfect stay, whether for work or pleasure. The hotel offers free parking and gym for all guests, as well as an outdoor pool and lush gardens. The hotel houses 3 restaurants and a bar where you can enjoy a wide culinary selection and an extensive cocktail menu with live music.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Mountain View
Great View
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Location
Urbanizacion El Robledal La Uruca, San Jose 01150 Costa Rica
Hotel Barceló San José
2,911 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
This summary was created by AI, based on recent reviews.
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Hotel Barceló San José offers a grand ambiance that captivates guests with its lively bar and the charm of live music, according to reviews. While the cleanliness and comfort of the rooms and facilities are consistently praised, some travelers have experienced overbooking and a lack of responsiveness. The service receives mixed feedback, as instances of unhelpful staff contrast with commendations for attentiveness.
The hotel's location is generally appreciated for its proximity to the city center, and though the amenities are enjoyed by many, there are mentions of them needing updates. Opinions on value vary, with discrepancies particularly noted in food quality.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Mixed
Cleanliness
Meticulous
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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This hotel is located a short 20 minute ride from the airport (depends on the traffic which is dependent on the time of the day). You can either take a taxi or hop on the complimentary hotel shuttle.
It's an old hotel that is very well-kept with lovely green areas and an expansive pool which does not feel crowded. It's located right before the entrance to busy downtown San Jose and with easy access to roads that will take you to tourist attractions or if you are on a business trip to business areas so location is certainly a strong point for this hotel.
Rooms feel somewhat dated yet with a nostalgic charm. Beds are very comfortable and the wooden closet is actually elegant and bigger than the average for a city hotel. They are well isolated from the exterior noise which due to the hotel sitting on top of a hill is already physically separated from the highway.
The hotel has a buffet restaurant and a very nice Japanese restaurant which is actually quite decent if you do not feel like leaving the hotel in the evening. The lobby area bar "El Bosque" gets lively in the evenings, one can enjoy live music certain days of the week.
Breakfast at the buffet restaurant is pretty good with fresh fruit and juices along with both international and Costarican staples such as gallo pinto. It will surely keep everyone happy.
All in all, I think this hotel offers great value.
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Date of stay: September 2019
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:High floors will ensure you have a lovely view
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Director de Relaciones Públicas at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Apr 6, 2020
Dear Guest: We would like to express our gratitude for the comments you made about your recent visit. They help us to understand how our guests experience their stay with us. It is always our goal to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and we are delighted to hear that your holiday at Barceló San José was an enjoyable one. We continuously strive to deliver high standards and to ensure that all our guests leave with beautiful vacation memories. Best Regards, Carlos Ruiz. Director.
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This was our first stay here and our first two night stay with the tour group we were with. The drive from the airport by van took about 40 min. but can be 30 to 60 minutes depending on traffic. It is located about eight miles from the San Jose airport. As you enter you notice the very large open multi level center with lounge seating, a piano and open to the second floor where the mezzanine is. The ceiling here was a beautiful coffered wood plank design. In the evening someone played the pianovery nicely and it was a relaxing environment to gather. Upon arrival the check in was a bit slow but considering the amount of people it was to be expected. The reception desk is a good size and all the employees spoke English. We received our room keys and instructions and the elevators are located very close to the main hotel area. There are four elevators and your key card gets access to the floors. Our room was on the front side of the hotel on the second floor and overlooked San Jose. It was very clean with cold air, large mirrors around the room, coded safe, mini-bar with an empty frig, robes, ironing board and iron, complimentary items (ie. comb, shoe polish cloth, shower cap and small vanity kit), alarm clock with choices of music settings. The king size bed and pillows were all very comfy. The safe would not lock so reported to front desk and they had maintenance come and reset it and they were very responsive. The TV only had CNN and Animal Planet for English channels. Other guests mentioned staff could come and reset channels but takes a while. The shower head was large but mounted way to high on wall and water kept running off the back of tub so had to put towels around when showering. If you are short then water goes right over you. There was some limited street noise in the evening for the even numbered rooms facing the front of the building. In the back was a nice tropical garden with a concrete walkway for a stroll and to get to the pool area which was large and had a bar/grill, lounger chairs and table seating too. Behind the hotel there was a small seating area to wait to catch our tour bus for trips and on the street behind the hotel you could walk down a start distance to a convenience mart. The hotel has a gift shop, jewelry store, two restaurants and a large inside bar (Bosque Bar) with seating as well as seating in two areas and a dance floor with a small stage. They offer beer, liquor, wine and soft drinks along with specialty drinks. We found all areas of the hotel and maintained grounds to be very clean and comfortable and enjoyed our first impression stay here.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Gerente at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Mar 24, 2020
Dear guest, It is always pleasant to know that our guests have returned to their homes with great memories of their holidays and we are very grateful for the time and effort they have put into sharing their personal experience at the Barceló San José hotel, with us and with all TripAdvisor readers. We wait for you soon. Best regards Carlos Ruiz Director
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We stayed two nights last February and could not have been happier with our selection of a Premium Level Superior room. The room was spacious and the king-size bed was super comfortable. Premium Level gives you access to snacks & drinks, including beer & wine, at the lounges on floors 5 & 6, from 8am to 10pm.
The staff at Barcelo is excellent. In particular, our Front Desk Concierge, NIcky, was incredibly helpful. Prior to going, I emailed the resort to ask if they do anything special for customers who are celebrating birthdays during their stay. I wanted to surprise my wife with something special while we were there. I got a reply stating they could deliver a cake to the room. I replied stating it would be much appreciated if that could be arranged and got a response stating it would be done. Around 8pm on my wife's birthday, on our way to the jacuzzi, i asked Nicky about the cake. Nicky informed me if it was not already delivered, it was missed as the kitchen was now closed. Disappointed by this, we went and enjoyed a soak for half an hour, then on our way back to our room, Nicky stopped us and told us he had arranged a special dinner for us! We went back to our room, got dressed then met Nicky in the lobby where he took us to the buffet restaurant for a late dinner complete with a bottle of a nice local red wine. Needless to say my wife and I were ecstatic with the awesome hospitality shown by Nicky!
Our stay included a buffet breakfast which was fantastic - lots of selection, including eggs made fresh while you wait.
The only drawback with our room was the noise coming from the highway. I would hope that when they replace the windows they might invest in windows that dampen outside sounds on the Premium Levels. I had requested a mountainside room but none were available when we checked in and there was not much point in switching rooms for 1 night. Thankfully we had earplugs. Noise is an issue at most resorts so it is not a factor in my rating so much as a heads up.
The Barcelo is a great place to stay while in San Jose!
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Date of stay: February 2019
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Director General at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Jan 16, 2020
Dear Guest Firstly we would like to thank you for the lovely review you shared following your recent visit to our Barceló San José hotel and are delighted to read that we were able to match your holiday expectations. We are thrilled you enjoyed your recent stay with us. Thank you for making us your choice hotel when visiting the area. We look forward to welcoming you back again very soon. Best regards, Carlos Ruíz, Director
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We reserved a "premium" room without realizing it included access to a lounge on the 6th floor, which served snacks and drinks throughout the day. That was a great value.
The gardens are beautiful and pool area is nice. Dinner in the restaurant was good, but service was slow. Maybe I just needed to slow down, it was my first night in Costa Rica.
Hotel is far from town and there is nothing close enough to walk to, so you are forced to chill out.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:premium room on 5th floor includes the upstairs lounge
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Gerente at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Jan 4, 2020
Dear guest, Thank you very much for the time you spent to share your personal impressions of your stay at our Barceló San José and the wonderful description of the hotel facilities. We also would like to thank you for your feedback regarding our premium level, as it allows us to continually improve the experience we create for our guests. Best Regards, Carlos Ruiz Director.
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This hotel is located outside of city and there is no taxis around. The pool is to cold to even take a dip. The service is very bad overall. The prices of food and drinks is horrible. You have to carry cash if you wish to get a drink or food inside the hotel area as you cant put anything on your room-bill. Very akward. This is a 3 star hotel. not more.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:its a big road on the back of the hotel
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Director General at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Jan 24, 2020
Dear Guest We are really sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the experience in our hotel to the fullest as we strive to make each stay with us an unforgettable one. Discussions involving the respective team members and management have taken place to review your comments, and we would like to assure you that all of your concerns will be addressed and attended to. Best regards, Carlos Ruíz, Director
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This hotel defines the standards of hospitality, the staff made our stay feel special and the rooms are divine! The beds truly feel like sleeping in a cloud, the breakfast blew our minds! A big variety to please everyone. We were also very impressed with how safe they made us feel, traveling during the pandemic might be scary but the staff makes sure that everything is perfect. Highly recommend this hotel!
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Date of stay: April 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel Manager, Propietario at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Apr 19, 2021
Thank you for making our Barceló San José your choice hotel on this occasion and for your very kind recommendation to the travel community, this positive feedback keeps us motivated to encounter the compliance of our demanding quality standards.
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Asides from lights and the internet not working it was decent. The restaurant made me a bit sad, but I'll review that under their name directly. The breakfast buffet was pretty packed and long line for a single person running an omelet station. Although she was speedy. The spread was more than continental but not a lot of super fresh stuff. Felt very commercial. The venue overall was decent but felt to be aging and needing some TLC. The room decor appeared to be somewhat placed from another venue and didn't quite fit aesthetically. The service from the staff was pretty good. Repair guys came quickly when we reported the power issue with the room card reader. The internet issue was disregarded at first then I found a workaround the next day.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Director General at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Jan 21, 2020
Dear Guest We greatly appreciate the time you spent to review your recent experience in our hotel, at Barceló we always strive to exceed guests' expectations and your comments will help our teams reaching that goal. Thank you once again for making us your choice hotel and for your constructive critics, we certaily look forward to serving you again and to have the opportunity to exceed your expectations in a not too distant future. Best regards, Carlos Ruíz, Director
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We had a lovely room with plenty of hot water and a comfortable bed. The Barcelo provided a good dinner buffet with our tour and the evening piano player was very talented and very much enjoyed. When our flight arrived late, we appreciated the room service. We both ordered burgers and one was well-done, which we liked, but the other was undercooked. We enjoyed the well-done burger. The early breakfast buffet with our tour was somewhat harried. It was challenging to find a cleaned table and there did not appear to be enough staff on duty as some items depleted and were not refilled i.e., milk for coffee. To avoid the crowds, it may be better to go a little later to breakfast...It was also important to ask for the omelettes to be cooked longer as they were too runny otherwise. Although it did not bother us, our room was not cleaned and made up until after we left for dinner. Overall, we enjoyed the Barcelo and would return to the Barcelo.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Director General at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Feb 18, 2020
Dear Guest We greatly appreciate the time you spent to review your recent experience in our hotel, at Barceló we always strive to exceed guests' expectations and your comments will help our teams reaching that goal. Best regards, Carlos Ruíz, Director
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This is our new go to hotel for staying in San Jose. We usually need a hotel for the night we arrive at San Jose and the night before we leave. We booked at the last moment wanting free breakfast and free airport transportation. We paid slightly more than a regular room. I would say may be $15 total than the standard room for 3 of us. To our surprise, we were told at check in, we were to stay at the premium room. The premium room included an evening snack. To our surprise, it was more than snack. Each of us received a full appetizer platter consisting of French fries, cheese , salad, onion rings. Also, there was assorted bread and desserts (Cakes) . I would call it sufficient for dinner. Also there was free water, juice, coffee and fruits available all day. For $110, you can not beat this price. The breakfast was great. Make to order omlete, pinto, potatoe, vegetables, juice, verity of bread, fruites. The room was small but clean and sufficient. We had two bottle of free water and K cups with Brit coffee and coffee machine. The best thing was I was able to open the room window and feel the fresh mountain air. The little walking path in the garden/jungle was charming. My daughter and husband enjoyed the swimming pool, just wished it was opened beyond 5 pm. The airport shutting was on time. Front desk was helpful. The only issue I had was with the room service (from their restaurant). They had over charged us for room service. The menu at the room and front desk had prices which were different than that what the restaurant had. When I sent my husband to check why the over charged us, they simply explained to him the discrepancy and send send him back. So, I had to go down again and talk to the front desk and the restaurant manager. After discussing the matter with Front desk the Manager gave me my over charged money back. But, it took several back and forth. Hope the fix the menu issue to avoid overcharging other guests.
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Date of stay: May 2021
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel Manager, Propietario at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Jun 16, 2021
We would like to express our gratitude for the comments you made about your recent visit. They help us to understand how our guests experience their stay with us. It is always our goal to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and we are delighted to hear that your holiday at Barceló San José was an enjoyable one. We continuously strive to deliver high standards and to ensure that all our guests leave with beautiful vacation memories. We would like to thank you for letting us know your concerns relating to your time in our hotel as it gives us an opportunity to look at areas which may have for improvement and for that we are grateful.
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We called the Hotel Direct from Canada in December, 2019, to book a room for Feb. 15, 2020, the night before our 9 day Caravan bus tour started. We choose the Barcelo Hotel as this was where our bus tour commenced and our Caravan Tour was booked in there for Feb. 16, 2020.
At the time I advised the booking clerk of this and asked if we would stay in the same room the second night. She said that would not be a problem. Upon arrival at the Barcelo in San Jose on Feb 15, 2020 we dwere told that we didn't have a reservation. As we had been travelling since 8:00 am Feb. 14th we were not impressed. After considerable time, at leasts half an hour, the desk clerk came out with a piece of paper and told us we must have forgotten we checked in this am and showed us a card and said see you signed here. Well, that was not our names or signature. She went backd and then appeared with a print out and said that we must have made a mistake as our booking was for Dec, 2019. No, I told here we didn't make a mistake, why would we book a room in Dec. for a trip we were taking in Feb. 2020. The mistake was on the Hotel's end, the booking clerk typed didn the wrong date. Then I noticed that the cost of the room was $91.48 US. This added to my disgust as they had charged us for a room that we didn't book. The hotel clerk advised that the credit card info was only taken to hold the room. Upon returning to Canada March 13, 2020 I checked our bank statement and the hotel0 had, in fact, charged us for the room.
At that point I asked to speak to the manager, however, that never happened. I said well do you have a room for us tonight. I was told that the hotel was full and they did not have any rooms available. As we were in a foreign country and could not speak spanish I asked if they could direct us to another hotel in the area, to which they replied I'm thinking.
At this point realizing we were left to our own resources we left the hotel. Terrible customer service
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Date of stay: February 2020
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Channel M, Gerente at Hotel Barceló San José
Responded Mar 24, 2020
Dear Customer, Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your specific experience with us. We always look for ways to improve and your comments are crucial to our future success. We have been in contact with you since yesterday and agree to make the total reimbursement upon your request. If you need more information please contact us via email. Whilst an apology will regrettably not alter the outcome of your experience on this occasion, please believe we do extend it with all sincerity. Best regards, Carlos Ruiz Director
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Yes there was a small fridge in our room. We had some water and soft drinks we used it for. Mind you we had the upgraded junior suite so I can't comment on the other types of rooms.
Yes they have shuttle service to the airport it leaves the hotel every hour, problem right now is traffic, but they manage to get around! Service is great
There are more places to choose from in the San Jose area.
PRICE RANGE
C$107 - C$214 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
barcelo san jose palacio hotel san jose, san jose barcelo, barcelo palacio hotel costa rica
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Barcelo San Jose Palacio
LOCATION
Costa RicaProvince of San JoseSan Jose MetroSan Jose
NUMBER OF ROOMS
254
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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