First very nice lady at the desk but she speaks spanish only, second nice website.
The real story is how extremely dangerous it is at night and how decrepit and smelly the beds are. Sorry Bernardo but the beds are the worst in many many many years of budget travel I have done. I can't believe I don't have any bites or disease. I was surprised to walk out to normal life in a busy street in the morning. This is the next day and i found good accommodation at a local hostel a mile away.

"Hotel Capital, the best location in San Jose!" Perhaps during the daytime but do not go out alone at night. During the day you are right in the center of San Jose. About 2 blocks from the pedestrian street Avenida Central and about 3 blocks fron the Mercardo Central. Right where you want to be in SJ. After 7 or 8 PM all of the locals are safe at home which leaves the streets in this area to the junkies, hookers and thieves. Stay in your room!

The owner Bernardo is indeed helpful. But he is not there 24/7. In his place were one of two or three housekeepers who also staff the reception desk between cleaning duties. None of them spoke any english whch might be a problem for some guests. The hotel is a 2nd floor walk up, occupying the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building. The street out front, Calle 4, is VERY busy with traffic during the day. There is a parada for buses in the next block and the busses line up on the street as early as 5 AM during the week with their engines running creating noise and fumes in front of the hotel. Unfortunately, only the rooms facing the street have windows that open to the outside. At best the other rooms have windows to the hallway.

To quote Roger Miller: "No phone, no pool, no pets..." You will find practically no ameneties in this hotel. No phones or security boxes in the rooms. Very poor decor and shabby mattresses and linens. The room was fairly clean and I neither had in my room nor saw any evidence of insects or rodents. There is a washer and drier on the premises and I believe that you can have laundry done for a nominal fee. There is no breakfast included because there is no restaurant. There is a soda across the street that opens at 6:30 AM where you can buy breakfast.

This place is what it is and for $20 a night one should not expect much. If you keep this in mind you won't be disappointed.

The website looks good and I was pretty shocked to see that this place was not what we thought it would be..... The rooms were not the best of rooms, we had no windows in our rooms, the shower made lots of noise from the plumbing that needs to be redone. The orthopedic mattresses they claim to have were a piece of [--]. the pillows and bed linens were about 5 years past their time. the owner was not a pleasant guy. not helpful at all.... there was a lady working there and I wish i got her name so I can let you know who she was but unfortunately i did not.... she was a huge help... she was very nice and was the only great thing about the hotel. the hotel bost about haveing the best location in San Jose and they and in a bad part of town... our taxi driver wouldn´t leave until we made it past the security gate at the hotel.

My husband and I just needed a cheap place to stay for one night before heading out of San Jose, so we booked Hotel Capital. Owner was very kind, offered tips for safety and had tourist information available.

The accommodations were pretty bleak, and I'm sorry to say that everything smelled bad. Many items of mine soaked up the smell for the remainder of my trip. There was a tv though, and I believe there was a lock box. It was cheap, which is what we were looking for.