馬赫斯塔德飯店

A beautiful hotel which opened its door a few months ago. This used to be the Villa Amón B&B. I believe the mansion was designed and built by a French mason, and served as the British Embassy in the 1950’s. This information was obtained from the real estate website when the mansion was previously sold. The house retained many of the original features: stained glass windows, beautiful hard wood floor with rich patina, solid wood furniture etc. TIPS: - many buildings in San José do not have house numbers. Instead they use only the avenue (Avenida) and street (Calle) number, and then reference to some landmark, which may or may not exist anymore. The hotel is at the southeast corner of Avenida 9 and Calle 3. What We Liked: 1. We felt safe because guests have to ring the buzzer at the entrance (gate) to enter or exit the hotel. So be patient if the front desk staff stepped away for other errands. 2. Our suite was spacious with opening to a small patio by the hotel entrance.  3. Breakfast was simple with juice, coffee (milk heated), toast, fresh fruits, yoghurt and eggs freshly cooked to order.  4. The hostess (Liliana?) was very graceful, friendly and helpful. She even waited with us outside the hotel at 5 am in the morning while we were waiting for our Uber, to ensure that we got our ride to the airport safely. Areas of Improvement: 1. The wooden floor was beautiful but creaked loudly in some spots in the room. 2. The bathroom was roomy but could use some shelf space for guests' toiletteries. One thing I would like to mention is that, there was a very negative review about the hotel when it first opened because the staff did not speak English. When one travels to a foreign country please do not expect everyone to speak your native language, unless it is a brand name hotel like the Marriott or Fairmont or Four Seasons. Be respectful.