Hotel overview
Situated in vibrant San José, the capital of Costa Rica, and in the quiet residential area of Uruca, sits the Barceló San José. This recently renovated hotel offers 254 spacious and comfortable rooms, three restaurants, a bar with live music, an outdoor swimming pool, fitness area, wonderful views of the city and mountains, and more. For those seeking a more elevated experience, our Premium Level accommodations offer private check-in, our best rooms with the best views, priority restaurant reservations, personalized concierge service, and more. This hotel serves as a convenient base for exploring San José including La Sabana Metropolitan Park or national museum of Costa Rica, or venturing further to the country’s sandy beaches and lush tropical rainforests. Business travelers can take advantage of up to 17 fully equipped meeting rooms and a convention center with a 1,100 person capacity. Live up to more at Barceló San José.
Location
San JoseProperty information
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Hotel details
Hotel advisories
General policies & fine print
Check-in Policy - Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy - This hotel cannot guarantee a Spring Break-free environment.
General Information - Room taxes are included in vacation price. Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Service Charges - Maid: per room, per night, payable directly to the hotel.
Bellman: per person, per stay, payable directly to the hotel.
Ratings & reviews
TripAdvisor traveler rating
2487 reviews
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Apr 14, 2020Busy city hotel
This is very much a busy come and go, short stay city hotel. My room was comfortable and had everything I needed. Restaurant and lifts were busy, especially at breakfast. It was a bit of an oasis with nice pool area and well stocked gardens, surrounded by busy highways. I started and ended my holiday here. More than adequate.
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Apr 02, 2020
Great value and views
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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Mar 30, 2020Beautiful hotel and grounds
Excellent staff, friendly and helpful. The room was very clean, and when we arrived early they kept our luggage secure, and we were also allowed to check in early. The food was excellent, and a lot of variety. The grounds were gorgeous with walking paths through the lush vegetation. The pool was clean and had comfortable deck chairs and hammocks.
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Mar 23, 2020Disgusting -
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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Mar 23, 2020
First stay
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.