San Jose, Costa Rica’s busy capital city, can be somewhat unpleasant place for many people to stay. Although there are some redeeming qualities about San Jose, for the most part it is a blue collar city- very noisy, dirty and kind rough around the edges. That being said, San Jose is an ideal place, location-wise, to stay for a couple of days due to its proximity a wide variety of attractions and points of interest. Poas and Irazu Volcanoes, Braulio Carrillo National Park and La Paz Waterfall Nature Park are just a few of the natural history attractions that are 90 minutes or less away from Costa Rica’s humble capital city.

I made my 2nd trip to Costa Rica in summer of 1991; it was at that time that I discovered the Bougainvillea Hotel, a relatively new hotel located a quiet residential area about 15 minute by car from the hustle and bustle of downtown San Jose. Note: the hotel has a shuttle bus which leaves every 30 minutes to ‘it’s sister property”, the Villa Tournon, located on the edge of the downtown area. Set amidst the coffee farms of Santo Domingo de Heredia, the hotels has panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and of the capital city. On my subsequent trips to Costa Rica over the years, when I was stationed in San Jose, I always stayed there and it has become my hotel of choice.

The Bougainvillea Hotel and Gardens is truly an oasis and represents one of the best values of any hotel in the San Jose Area. While there is nothing flashy, gaudy or glamorous about the Bougainvillea Hotel, it is a very contemporary and classy establishment. Paintings and artwork by some of Costa Rica’s finest artists liberally decorate the hotel’s public areas and the hallways and magnificent sculptures are featured throughout the exceptionally designed 8 acres tropical garden. Featured in the garden are a frog pond, bromeliads, native trees, orchids, a herb garden and the centerpiece of the gardens,” the rancho tipico.” In my opinion, The Bougainvillea has the most beautiful gardens of any hotel that I have seen in Costa Rica. In addition, the hotel has been recognized for its efforts towards social and environmental sustainability and has earned a Sustainable Tourism Certificate from the National Tourist Office.

Rates are moderate and start at $85.00 double
Calypso Island Tours features the Bougainvillea Hotel on our special Costa Rica nature tour packages

Costa Rica

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Costa Rica, reviews, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.