Hotel Alta

The small, yet comfortable Hotel Alta is in the affluent suburb of Escazú, about 20 - 25 minutes from Juan Santamaría Airport. This 23-room hotel's name refers to its hilltop location and from your room you will have a view that is not bad at all.

Stucco walls, a barrel-tiled roof and gentle arches give the impression of a colonial-era building. The individually designed rooms lead to covered terraces and there's an oval swimming pool at the centre of the hotel's tropical gardens.

If you want to wander around the downtown area, then this is not the hotel for you as it is quite a hike to get into town from here, but if you do opt for an overnight stay, then you can join some of the well-dressed locals in the second-floor split-level La Luz restaurant, which serves modernized local dishes (shrimp sautéed with sage and roast garlic potato cake; coffee-wood smoked vegetables and tequila lime butter).

“The country’s high life reaches a new summit with Hotel Alta, nestled in the mountains above San Jose. Most of the hotel’s 23 rooms have drop dead views of the city below (on clear days you can see the Pacific), while others hug the massive oval swimming pool, swept by a massive centuries-old Guanacaste tree.” 

Conde Nast Traveller