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All of the hotels listed have hot water.

HOSTELS

Hostel Bekuo (Map; 2234-1091; www.hostelbekuo.com; 325m west of Spoon, Los Yoses; dm US$12, d with/without bathroom US$35/30, d with bathroom & TV US$40, all incl breakfast; ) This restful spot feels more like a home than a hostel. The airy modernist structure has nine rooms (four of which are dormitories; one of which is reserved especially for women), as well as large tiled bathrooms, an expansive TV lounge dotted with bean bags, and an interior courtyard with a pre-Columbian granite sphere right in the center. The shared kitchen is comfortable and well equipped and there is free internet.

Casa Yoses (Map; 2234-5486; www.casayoses.com; Av 8; dm US$12, r per person with/without bathroom US$18/15, all incl breakfast; ) Another mellow spot, this nine-room Spanish Revival–style house from 1949 is perched on a hill that offers lovely views of the valley from the front garden. Here you’ll find 10 rooms (six of them dorms) of varying decor and style, but all of which are spotless, with wood floors and tiled hallways. There is a shared kitchen, a lounge with a pool table and foosball, and even an area for BBQs. The young Tico owners speak Spanish, English and French.

BUDGET

Hostel Toruma (Map; 2234-8186; www.hosteltoruma.com; Av Central btwn Calles 29 & 33; dm/s/d US$12/35/45; ) Overlooking Av Central from a small hill, this graceful neoclassical home once belonged to José Figueres, the Costa Rican president who abolished the army and granted women the right to vote. In late 2009, the hotel completed a top-to-bottom makeover that preserved the Spanish-tile floors and left the facade’s decorative friezes sparkling. While the Toruma contains four dormitories, it feels much more like an inn, with 17 large private rooms, each of which is equipped with a modern bathroom, a sofa, wi-fi and flat-screen TV. Upstairs, an internet lounge is dotted with bean bags; downstairs, a small poolside restaurant serves breakfast, light snacks and beer. It’s a mellow spot, popular with chilled-out solo travelers, couples and young families – and one of the best budget deals in San José.

Casa Agua Buena (off Map;2280-3548; www.aguabuena.org/casabuena/index.html; Barrio Lourdes; r per week US$60-80) East of San Pedro, these ramshackle group houses are popular among international students and long-term travelers on tight budgets. Accommodations consist of two simple peach-colored homes with rooms of various sizes, equipped with shared kitchen, washing machine and a lounge with cable TV. Some rooms share bathrooms, while others have private ones. The Casa is gay-friendly.

MIDRANGE & TOP END

All of the hotels below accept credit cards.

Hotel Milvia (off Map; 2225-4543; www.hotelmilvia.com; s/d/tr incl breakfast US$59/69/75; ) This lovely Caribbean-style plantation building once served as the home of Ricardo Fernández Peralta, an artillery colonel who fought in Costa Rica’s 1948 civil war. Now owned by Brit expat Steve Longrigg and his Tica wife, Florencia Urbina, it serves as a hotel and art gallery. Nine eclectic rooms – some carpeted, others with shining wood floors, all dotted with bright pieces of art – surround a pleasant courtyard with a trickling fountain. An upstairs terrace provides incredible views of the mountains in the distance. For taxi drivers: from the Más x Menos in San Pedro, it’s 250m east, 100m north and 100m east.

Hotel 1492 Jade y Oro (Map; 2256-5913; www.hotel1492.com; Av 1 btwn Calles 29 & 33, Los Yoses; d standard/deluxe incl breakfast US$70/80; ) On a quiet Los Yoses side street, you’ll find this intimate B&B, in a Spanish-style house built in the 1950s by the Volio family. The rooms vary in size, but all are nicely accented, with Portuguese tilework and some original furnishings. Breakfast is served in a charming rear garden.

Hotel Le Bergerac (Map; 2234-7850; www.bergerachotel.com; Calle 35 btwn Avs Central & 8, Los Yoses; d standard/superior/deluxe/grande US$90/115/135/145, all incl breakfast; ) A whitewashed