Pretty .... not Prissy (Le Priss Inn (Quepos, Costa Rica))

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Le Priss Inn (Quepos, Costa Rica)
Date:	18/01/09 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hot water! And a beautiful rooftop swimming pool

Disadvantages: No restaurant or bar on site

On my recent tour of Costa Rica, we spent a couple of nights in Quepos, a beach resort near the Manuel Antonio National Park. The trip I did was a bit of a mystery tour because we didn't know where we were staying in advance (though the guide did). I had read some reviews of the trip by other people who had taken it, and one of them named the hotels in question. The Quepos one looked lovely, so I was disappointed when we discovered we were staying elsewhere. After 4 nights in budget places with no hot water, we all desperately wanted warm showers by this point, especially having spent the last 2 days trekking through muddy rain forests, and we spent the drive to Quepos with conversation alternating between how nice it would be to have hot water, and how unlikely we now believed that to be. Happily, our hotel here, Le Priss, turned out to be the nicest one of the trip by far, and we really enjoyed our stay here.

Le Priss is located slightly out of the centre of Quepos, about 15 minutes walk from the main shops and restaurants area. However our location was good in terms of facilities - a supermarket nearby, a bakery up the road, and a bus stop just a few blocks away - and was lovely and quiet at night. We went into the centre to eat and it was very loud after dark, so I'm not sure I would have wanted to stay in a more central hotel. The hotel is about a 20 minute bus ride to the Manuel Antonio beaches and National Park, and this trip costs about 25p. The supermarket across the road doesn't open until 8.30am, and is more of a Netto/Lidl style set up than a proper supermarket. You can get bottled water there, but they don't sell fresh bread, for example. To get to Musmanni, the lovely local bakery chain, turn right out of the hotel entrance, turn left onto the main street and follow it until you cross a little bridge. Then it's the next left and first right to get to both the bakery and the bus station. The liquor store a block away from the hotel sells a lot more than alcohol, and is the place to go for crackers, pretzels, juice, ice creams, shampoo, sun tan lotion...

We arrived after lunch and could check in immediately. The hotel is small, but rather pretty to look at. As you arrive there is a parking area, and a little reception hut. Facing on to this is the main hotel building which has rooms on the ground, first and second floors. It is motel style with exterior corridors, but these are more attractive than it sounds as they are bordered with pretty white balconies, and decked out with chairs. There is also a startling number of green plants to be found, giving it a nice, tropical feel. The only down side was the curving stairs were not all that well lit at night time, and have uneven stair depths. While juggling insect repellent, the key and a bottle of water, I managed to trip as I came down and badly scraped the whole knee to ankle area of one of my legs. The hotel has some ground floor rooms but no lift, so if you have difficulty getting around, you would need to request one of these.

There are 50 rooms in the hotel, and though the website says these have either fan or air con, we had both in our room. This hotel was a definite step up from the previous places we had stayed. The rooms had tiled floors and plain walls, giving them a calm atmosphere. Rooms sleep from 1 to 4 people, and I was sharing a twin room which had one double and one single bed. The beds were extremely comfy, and boasted orthopaedic mattresses. They only had sheets, no blankets, but we were warm enough at night even in December, and even sleeping with the fan on. The room came with a fridge, though we didn't bother plugging this in. It was the only thing in the room that looked a little worn, though it was perfectly clean. We also had cable TV with a startling array of channels (the majority in English). The rooms have windows but these all look out onto the shared, exterior corridors. People come and go quite a bit, but with the curtains shut you didn't hear or see much.

In an indication of how quickly you get used to roughing it, we thought the bathroom was heavenly though looking back it was just your average hotel set up. We had a large shower cubicle with hot water and good drainage (both unusual for Costa Rica), a sink and a toilet, so nothing really special. The only unusual thing was the lack of window in the bathroom, meaning once someone had showered, it would stay steamy for quite a while. We had a few bugs in the bathroom, but I think this comes with the territory, and the bathroom was spotlessly clean when we arrived. The towels were again adequate but not generous, though we had two folded into swans and beds strewn with flower petals for us when we arrived, which made Kara and I feel like we were on a honeymoon despite the fact we had met for the first time barely a week before.

The hotel does not boast a restaurant or bar, but there are a few places across the street, or you can walk into the centre for a better selection. There was some hotel information in the room though this mainly mentioned the rules about coming and going late at night, and check out time. What it completely failed to mention was the sun terrace on the room that came complete with a gorgeously landscaped outdoor pool - quite why they don't tell you about this is a mystery to me since it is a clear selling point of the hotel. One day I stayed there rather than going to the beach, as it was really relaxing and a total sun trap. They have sun loungers like beds, and sun loungers like chairs, outdoor showers, toilet facilities and two connected pools with a waterfall at the back. They also have what looked like a Jacuzzi, but we never managed to get this to switch on, and only being there 2 days, we didn't bother to ask. The foliage around the pool was attractive and unusual - trees with blue leaves, for example, and lots of wafting palms.

There is a small book swap in reception though this seemed temporary, so I imagine it would depend on the recently departed guests. There are also some free magazines (in English) about buying property in the region which is not that interesting but beats having nothing to read. Finally, there are some helpful maps available, showing selected hotels and restaurants in the area (incidentally, Le Priss is not on it, but reception staff with show you were you are if you ask). The hotel offers tour booking through their partner agency, Prissy Tours. These include things like mangrove tours, hikes, surfing, snorkelling and kayaking.

For the first time ever, I took advantage of a hotel's laundry service, since it was either that or run to the laundrette the second I got back home. They have a economical set up where you pay per kilo and not per item, which means none of that silly form filling with "1 pair of socks, 2 pairs of knickers, 3 t-shirts" nonsense. They offer a same day service, with clothes back about 3pm. My items came back neatly washed, dried and folded up, for only a little more than I would pay at my local place in Mexico.

The staff in the hotel were exceedingly friendly and helpful, and patient with the varying attempts at Spanish made by our group. The maids came round early in the morning but would happily return a little later if you were still getting ready for your day at the beach. The only thing I found a little off was the tip envelope marked "Housekeeping" that they rather unsubtly left in our room the day before departure. The reception staff equally were knowledgeable about the local area, giving great restaurant recommendations and directions, and when I spoke to one of them in Spanish we ended up having a lovely chat for 10 minutes about where I'd learnt Spanish and what a nice British girl was doing living in Mexico and holidaying in Quepos.

As in many hotels, they request you leave the (old-style) key at reception when you go out. We did this but returned in a panic to find the reception locked. We stood around wondering what to do and who to call when a guy darted across the road with a small cloth bag, asked our room numbers, and pulled out the keys as if by magic. This was quite early - about 9pm - so we had expected reception still to be open, but it didn't matter than it wasn't once we realised there was a night porter. Another time I left the key there and went out shopping. I came back and asked for it, but it wasn't on the rack where it should have been. Knowing I had left it there, I insisted, and it was quickly uncovered under some papers on the messy desk.

Extra Information:

* Check out is 11am - this is earlier than most hotels in the country. You can however leave your bags in the room next to reception. Check in time is 2pm but we arrived just after 1pm with no problems.

* The hotel is popular with group bookings - another tour arrived the day after us - but it doesn't have a horrible 18-30 vibe about it, and is very nice, quiet and relaxed.

* Prices start from $50 per night for a single during the Green Season (their polite way of describing the rainy, low season) to $95 for a 4 person room at any time of year. No meals are included, and tax (about 16%) is extra. You can also find the hotel listed on all the usual hotel booking websites, so it is worth shopping around.

Overall, Le Priss was a nice hotel with few facilities but clean, modern rooms. I enjoyed my stay here, and in just 2 nights it really redeemed my opinion of Costa Rican hotels. Highly recommended for a budget priced stay with more than budget quality.

For more information and some photos, have a look at their website: http://www.lepriss.com/index.html

Summary: A lovely hotel near the beach