Hong Kong Wong » Accomodation Review

Casa 69 Review: Best place to stay in San Jose, Costa Rica

HKW — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:13:08 +0000

This is a review of a great place to stay in Costa Rica called Casa 69.

When we got to Costa Rica, my girlfriend and I were going to stay at a place called Costa Rica Guesthouse. At $45 a night, that seemed like a great deal. However the whole thing turned out to be an ordeal. You can read more about that in our separate Costa Rica Guesthouse review.

We stumbled upon Casa 69 by chance through some great tripadvisor reviews. This B&B belonged previously to one of San Jose’s most distinguished families in 1938. It is within walking distance to all museums and places of interest. It was also only 10 minutes walk to the town center, and the area is considered safer than San Jose downtown.

Compared to Costa Rica Guesthouse, Casa 69 costs a little more at $55-$65 a night. It is not a place for budget backpackers, but it was absolutely worth the stay.

Booking the place was as smooth as ice. I emailed Kurt, the owner, and he arranged for a private transport that took us from SJO airport at a reasonable rate. One of his staff greeted us at the door. We felt like we were in a 5 star family resort.

Do note: Casa69 is less of a backpacker hostel, but a slightly more upscale place on a budget. The staff there were fantastic and immediately helped us carry our bags to our room.

The first night, we stayed across the street at the newer section. The place was immaculate, the shower was great. The only issue was the slow public wifi signal because the new area did not have access to the wifi in the main buildings.

The owner, Kurt, gave us some great info on where to eat nearby and changed some currency for us at a very good rate.

Returning to Casa69

We checked out the next day to go to Costa Rica Guest House. But due to various issues with them, we no longer decided to stay there.

At this point we had no where else to stay. It was in the middle of the day. So we decided to call up Kurt at Casa69.

We explained the situation to him. He said if we wanted, we could go back and stay there. He even offered a small discount as we were staying for a week.

We moved into our new room, which was on the side of the old building, and absolutely loved it. The room was even better, and the internet was working.

Over the next week, Kurt’s business partner Jens also helped us with various things including serviced laundry on site.

Conclusion

Kurt and Jens @ Casa 69 illustrate the difference of great customer service. Everything from start to finish at Casa 69 was well attended to, and we truly enjoyed our stay.

A business ran like Kurt’s & Jens’ at Casa 69 is how things should be ran.

Costa Rica Guesthouse Review: Where NOT to stay in San Jose, Costa Rica (until they get a new manager)

HKW — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:07:15 +0000

Introduction

Before we arrived to Costa Rica, my girlfriend and I were looking for decent places to stay. Our main goal was good value for money. My girlfriend Gita found a place called Costa Rica Guesthouse. Their photos and reasonable rates drew us in and they also had decent reviews on a website. At $45 a night, that seemed like a great deal. So Gita put in a booking for an ensuite room with a king sized bed and private bathroom through their website.

Unfortunately, they had no availability for a private room on the first night of our arrival. So we decided to find somewhere else nearby for the first night.

Arriving at Costa Rica Guesthouse

The next day, we got to Costa Rica Guesthouse the next day. The place looked pretty nice, and the receptionist was pretty friendly.

Unfortunately, 3 management errors led us to decide to no longer to staying there, and leave with a bitter taste in our mouth:

Error #1: The person who booked us in mistakenly put us into a room with a shared bathroom, even though we specifically booked for one with a private bathroom through their website. In fact, we even called to confirm a couple of days before, and were told to do it from the website as all would be fine.

Error #2: The nice receptionist swapped us to a private room, but the room was extremely loud as it was right by reception and faced the street. Asking whether they can put us in the other rooms as we were the first guests of the day, she said she can’t, as it would be ‘unfair to the other guests’.

Error #3: We moved into this room that would be ‘unfair to other guests’, and realised what would be so unfair about it: the plumbing did NOT work! My girlfriend went to the bathroom and there was no water! Yep, we now got a noisy bedroom right off the main street, with a private bathroom. Except… there was no water.

And it was dry season in Costa Rica.

“Sorry, it’s your fault”

I explained to the receptionist that based on the circumstances, this was unacceptable. We will just find somewhere else. I just wanted our deposit back. She called the manager who was out to lunch. But instead of refunding our deposit, he told her to insist to us that this was somehow ‘our fault’.

No, he can’t refund the 5% deposit, because he didn’t process it. And no, because we’ve booked in and it’s now within 48 hours, he will also have to charge us for the 1st night, whether we choose to stay or leave.

“You are about to lose your job”

Wow. Congratulations.
Someone needs to go back to hotel (or hostel) management school.

But I was mostly pissed off that he made it seem like it was our fault. I saw my girlfriend put the booking through. She did it correctly. It was their fault, and they needed to accept it and stop blaming their customers.

So to prove this point, I went on their website.

I clicked on the link clearly under the ‘ensuite’ booking. It took us to some 3rd party site who took deposits on their behalf, called
‘powerhostels’. It appears that Costa Rica Guesthouse is an affiliate of this website.

There was only one option on that website for a ‘private double room’. When you click through a link on their website that led you here, guests would obviously assume that this is the only room type. It also states 1st night is only charged in the case of ‘no show’.

Clearly, the guest house is not even aware of this.

I showed this to the receptionist. But we were right there, standing at reception because we had a room that was ‘unfair to other guests’ and had no running water.

I asked her to call the manager again. Explain to him he can keep my money but he’ll also probably lose his job. How can you outsource your booking process without having a clue on the management? Clearlythey had no clue what was going on.

A few minutes later, she got off the phone. She said the manager said he still can’t process our deposit. He also won’t be returning to talk to us about this. But he won’t charge our card any further.

Wow, that’s nice to know. Thank you sooo much. What great service indeed!

Conclusion

Was it this difficult to keep your customers happy? Hotels need to realise that your customer is your business. Whether it
is $5.95 on a deposit or $300, you have to realise that holding onto that money for your bottom line, and making your customer feel like it is their fault, is not the way to do business. It will only affect you in the long run.

Fortunately, we found a much better place to stay in…

La Vie En Rose Apartment Amsterdam Hotel Review

HKW — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:48:57 +0000

Yay, Amsterdam. Here is a great accomodation we discovered in the centre of Amsterdam that can accomodate up to 4 people that is worth checking out.

Background

It’s been a while. I was pretty excited about this trip as the last time I was there was almost 4 years ago.

When I used to go visit friends in Amsterdam or head over there for work, we’ve always stayed outside the city centre. It’s a total pain having to take the train in and out every day. I really wanted something quite central, so that we can walk everywhere. So on this trip, I decided to try something different.

Timing wise, we probably could have picked a better time. With the GBP -> Euro taking a beating, the first thing I noticed was that the average price for apartments ranged from around 80-200 euros a night. Not cheap.

Secondly, I left booking accom to the very last minute. We looked at hostel private rooms, but strangely they all worked out close to 100-130 euros a night as the prices were calculated per person and not per room.

La Vie En Rose

After spending a good amount of time scouring through various hotels, B&Bs, hostels, apartments and more, we stumbled upon an apartment known as La Vie En Rose. It was a one bedroom apartment located just 5 minutes from the train station, on a main street, with a kitchen, a large living room, free wifi, etc. It didn’t serve breakfast, but that didn’t matter too much. The photos also looked awesome, and my GF loved it.

It also just so happens that they had availability for the EXACT dates that we were arriving. Coincidence?

The photos of the place looked amazing. I also like hidden gems that are not outright obvious, and places that were nice but a touch homely. La Vie En Rose appeared to meet those criterias.

Booking

We went ahead and booked it. The rate varied between 125-150 euros / night (the higher rate applied to Fridays and Saturdays, which seem customary to most accomodation in Amsterdam). There was also a 50 euro deposit, and normally Paypal payments were accepted, but as I left it to the very last minute, I had to arrange this by cash.

Arrival

Yvon, one of the owners, gave me pretty good directions on how to get to the apartment. It was pretty easy to find, just a few minutes walk from centraal station, and located right next door to a pub on NZ Voorburgwal.

As soon as I walked in, the immediate thing I noticed was how narrow the stairs were. It was somewhat tricky to navigate with luggage. Immediately, I had concerns about how the apartment would look like.

(As a side note, remember that if you go to Amsterdam to pack light! Lots of luggage is definitely not compatible if you are staying anywhere above ground floor.)

La Vie En Rose I: The Apartment

My concerns were relieved as soon as I walked in the apartment. I was welcomed into a bright open space, probably even nicer than the photos. It was bright, spacious, and nicely furnished. La Vie En Rose I, which was on the 1st floor, was ours.

Christa, one of the other owners, came down and greeted me. We talked in the very open lounge with large bay windows. I was already thinking how awesome they would be for people watching. The living room was spacious with modern furniture, a nice Samsung flat screen LCD TV, and very comfy looking couches and pillows. The bathroom was great – power shower, modern floors, a heating rack and all. The kitchen came with china, glasses, utensils etc.

I must admit when I first got there, I was so tired that I thought it was a studio. But then Christa took me to the back, and showed me the bedroom, which was nicely tucked facing a quiet street, and was darker than the living room, just as I like my bedrooms :) It had 2 single beds next to each other, but were the most comfortable beds ever. It faced a side street, so was very nice and quiet almost every night.

Krista also gave me a quick guide through the area and a basic hand drawn map of interesting sights she recommends. She really does know the city well, and definitely distilled some good info to us that came in handy.

I paid in cash, and also a 50 euro deposit. She left me the key and I was on my own for the next 5 days.

Here’s a few thoughts on the apartment in general:

1. Location: the location is truly fantastic. I was right bang in the middle of the city centre, right across from the Dam Square, the major tram routes right at my doorstep, and the main Centraal train station within minutes. There were loads of restaurants, shops, chinese massage places all around us. It made life easier for sure than being in the middle of no where. You can hear the streets a little from the living room for that reason, but it never bothered us.

2. Service: unlike hotels this place was really self service. So if you’re looking to have a cleaner every day, or breakfast, or a variety of indulgences, this place probably isn’t for you. You are expected to look after the place, with a strict no drugs policy on site. However I was given their personal contact number should any emergencies occur, and they lived right above, and said if anything to just go knock on the door. One thing I would have loved to have there was a washing machine, but I guess most people stay for literally 2-3 days. There are a few laundromats just in the area anyway. The owners also never bothered us throughout our stay, which was really nice.

On the last night, I also got a nice letter from both Yvon and Christa, along with my deposit back. It would’ve been great if we could have checked out a bit later in the day, or stored our luggage on site, but as new guests were arriving at 10:30 on the last day, we had to check out by 10. This was probably the only downside, so I would probably suggest they have a policy for new guests to not check in by at least 2 pm, giving current guests ample time to check out. Being able to store luggage on site would have helped too as we wanted to wander around the city on the last day. It cost around 7-8 euros at centraal station to store stuff (if you have alot of stuff and need 2 lockers then it would be up to 15 euros or so) as it required 24 hour storage minimum.

3. Sleep: I slept really well. The beds were uber comfortable. The only thing is they were put together as 2 singles. This therefore could work well if you have a group of friends (up to 4), as 2 could stay in the bedroom, the other 2 in the living room. However for couple that like to cuddle… do note that as the beds have wheels on them, it had a tendency to move around and split apart in the middle of the night…

4. Shower: Awesome. I love a good shower. It takes a minute or so for the water to heat up, but it’s a great power shower, and there are ample towels supplied. They also kindly gave us a couple of shampoo pouches. I love the toilet, even though I minimized spending time in it.

5. Safety: We felt very safe throughout. The pub downstairs tend to draw a friendly tourist crowd. There is a hostel next door, but people kept to themselves and didn’t particularly make any noise. The apartment is right on a major street, and all the windows in the apartment had locks and limits.

Tip #1: The bar downstairs, De Spaanse Ruite, is owned by the sisters, so if you mention that you are staying upstairs, the pub owner Bob (I believe is his name) will give you a 10% discount on anything. They also make a great burger. There is also a fantastic natural fruit juice / smoothie place right around the corner worth checking out.

Tip #2: Also, Christa and Yvon own a boat which they can take you on privately for 35 euros (I believe) on a canal dam tour. We didn’t get the opp to check it out, as I managed to get us a 25 euro canal cruise through the GWK currency exchange place for 4 euros. I would not have paid more than 4 euros for it though…

Conclusion

All in all, a great apartment in a very central location, lovely living room, nice quiet bedroom, fantastic shower and very consistent reliable wifi. If you want a place that feels like your own home in the Amsterdam city centre, and don’t mind climbing a flight of stairs or two, I highly recommend you check them out.

I will probably stay here again on my return to Amsterdam, especially if we can pre-arrange a group of 4 and split the costs. You can visit their website on http://www.la-vie-en-rose.com/. Mention you heard them through Hong Kong Wong and ask them to tell you about the awesome ice cream place!

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Hong Kong Wong » Accomodation Review

Casa 69 Review: Best place to stay in San Jose, Costa Rica

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Costa Rica Guesthouse Review: Where NOT to stay in San Jose, Costa Rica (until they get a new manager)

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La Vie En Rose Apartment Amsterdam Hotel Review

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