San Jose for Just a Day

Spending a luxurious afternoon at the Tabacon Resort and Hot Springs, while later eating dinner and watching the volcano ooze red lava at night, was a perfect day. My meals at the restaurant of the Hotel El Grano de Oro were too delicious, I overate every night. And I enjoyed my whirlwind tour of the local bookselling trade in San Jose.

Quick Tips:

Your hotel can set up group tours for you into the mountains, rainforest, or other sites near San Jose.

Best Way To Get Around:

I took cabs everywhere as I was traveling for work and had no time to figure out anything else. When taking a cab from the airport to your hotel in San Jose, just jump in one of the official ones waiting out front. It's an easy 30-minute ride.

Staying at El Grano de Oro was truly a relaxing experience. The rooms are in a large house that seems to have been a hacienda or something at one time. Each room has windows facing a mini-courtyard with its own fountain and potted flowering plants, small palm trees, and garden statues. The constant trickle of water sound is soothing, as is the classical music that plays softly through a radio hooked up to the telephones in each room.

My room had a minibar (but no room service, as for meals you are required to go to the hotel's restaurant) and the bed linens and bathroom toiletries were all top-quality. They even stamped the hotel logo into a folded corner of the toiler paper!

The staff was very helpful, finding me a prepared room when I checked in early, and they sent out faxes and mailed a package for me. On the roof, there are two hot tubs available for guest use that are positively divine -- I was up there each of the three nights I stayed here. They've got deck chairs and palm trees in pots set all about, and at night it's sheer pleasure to soak and look at the stars and listen to the hum of the city.

I found it a good thing that it is not in the heart of downtown, as I could walk to the bank and the Internet cafe without completely worrying about getting mugged. While I was at the hot springs, I met a couple who had stayed at El Grano de Oro and they raved about it as well. Their website is hotelgranodeoro.com

Ranked one of the top 10 restaurants in San Jose on all points (food, service, decor), I ate here for practically every meal I had in San Jose. Sure it was convenient -- I was staying in the adjoining hotel. But, it was also so delicious that I had no urge to eat anywhere else. The waiters soon learned my name and were very attentive, taking an extra moment to talk to the single diners.

Breakfast was marvelous; my favorite choice was the banana macadamia nut pancakes. I drank "mora" juice with every meal -- they fresh-squeeze the blackberries for the best juice I've ever tasted in my life. Dinner was elegant as well; I had a few seafood dishes and would recommend them over the other entrees. Desserts are purely divine, and supposedly some of the best in the city. You can't go wrong with anything they offer made with chocolate.

Saturday night, there were quite a few local couples there on dates. They were a bit more dressed up than the average guest (vacationing Americans), but everyone dining was having a great time -- laughing and toasting various things and accepting comments offered from neighboring tables. All in all, a fine choice for any meal of the week!

I admit it with no shame: I am a bibliophile and am constantly running out of things to read while traveling. I find many travelers in the same boat, especially business travelers. This chain of four books stores (so far) has the best merchandising of books in Costa Rica, which at times exceeds the style of Barnes and Noble in the USA. Other locations are: San Pedro, (300m. west of Taco Bell, Barrio Dent tel 506 253 9553), Multiplaza (tel. 506 288 1138) and Rohrmoser (by El Fogoncito restaurant in Bulevar Rohrmoser 100 m. west and 25 m. south, tel. 506 220 3015).

I mention them because I found no where to buy books (in any language in the San Jose airport, but at these four Librerias Internacional, you can find books in English, Spanish and German. The selection has a heavy emphasis on design and cooking, but you can find many classic novels, bestsellers and works of philosophy and bilingual dictionaries as well. Their prices are outstanding, sometimes less than in the USA.

My hotel reserved me a spot in a group tour run by Expediciones Tropicales. For US$75, they took us in a bus up to the Tabacon Resort and Hot Springs. The tour lasted the entire day, and included lunch, dinner, and admission to the Resort. Lunch was a traditional Costa Rican meal, not extravagant but fine. Along the three-hour drive up to the resort, we stopped at a coop store where we were given the chance to purchase local crafts if we so desired (including the much-touted ox carts).

But finally we arrived at Tabacon, where we were given lockers and immediately got into our swimsuits for some relaxation time in the hot springs. The grounds of this resort are lush and perfectly landscaped. There are many quiet corners where you can find a moment along even though there are usually many guests enjoying the hot springs. There are also pools scattered about with deck chairs, and bars tucked away with palm-frond rooftops. We had about three hours to enjoy the springs. I was there by myself, so after a while I wandered over to the bar, which is situated in one of the larger hot springs. At that moment I could not imagine anything better -- sitting on a barstool in a hot spring, drinking a nice cold beer, and eyeing the Arenal Volcano, which was beginning to show its lava as the sun went down. Indeed, the view of the volcano from this resort is near perfect. Then we had a fine and filling buffet dinner in the resort restaurant (you can also stay over night there in the hotel, call Tabacon at 506 228 8269 for more info.), all the while catching glimpses of trickles of lava. All in all, this day was the perfect introduction to Costa Rica and its natural graces.

Most visitors to the town of Zacero stop here along their way to another point, I'd imagine. Our tour guide pulled the bus over (on its way to La Fortuna from San Jose) to show us this church along with its remarkable topiary gardens. Although I would not recommend making Zacero a destination unto itself, it is worth it to stop and check out the topiary. Personally, I found it a bizarre and intriguing location for such a garden. Surreal, even -- as if Disney had sent gardeners here to train for reassignment in Orlando. However, the topiary work is admirable. The gardeners have created a path of arches that lead up to the church, as well as numerous animals that are cute or fearsome, depending on the depiction. More than my written description, you must check out the photos I've attached.