I a making my first trip to San Jose August. So far my Mongering experience has been limited to TJ. Do the girls take Dollars? Is it possible to negotiate in Dollars?
I was budgeting about a Grand for expences for the 5 day trip. How much should I convert into Colon`s? Where is the best exchange rate?

All the girls will take either dollars or colones, at least all the ones I've known.

I think you're usually better off dealing in Colones, although Nononsense is right, you can usually pay in Dollars. If you have a Visa checkcard or ATM card, that's the best and safest way to get your colones. I usually withdraw 50,000 colones at a time, a little over $150 at current exchange rates, and I never carry more money than this with me. The most of the ATM's here don't charge service fees, but some of them don't accept all types of cards. The best ones to use are Banco Popular, Scotiabank, and the ones in Mas x Menos supermarkets. All of these give exchange rates within one or two colones of the official daily exchange rate, with no ATM fee. The main branch of Banco Popular is between Ave 2 and 4, 2 blocks south of the Presidente and, I think, a couple of blocks west (to the right). It's a big building so you won't have any trouble spotting it. Forget traveler's checks. They're inconvenient and expensive to convert many places.

Although I live here, I do all my banking in the States and get 100% of my cash from the ATM machines. There's no reason visitors shouldn't do the same. You have convenient 24-hr access at good exchange rates and don't have to worry about carrying a lot of cash with you. BTW, Mastercard isn't as widely accepted, so it's better to plan on using Visa only for the ATM machines, although if Mastercard is all you have, you can certainly find machines that will take them. I can't use my card at Banco National or Banco Costa Rica.

One other option is that the front desk at the Presidente will exchange money at an excellent rate. I usually bring dollars, get the safe for the room at $3.00 per day, and change money at the front desk at about $200 a clip. I never carry more than about 50,000 C with me. I have never had trouble in CR, but the possibility exists.

I feel that you get better value with the chicas bargaining in Colones. Probably just becuase the numbers are so big.

I was never able to change more than $100 in traveller checks in a day at the front desk at the Presidente. I ended up going to a nearby bank when I needed to exchange more.

Had no problems 3 weeks ago, but I was changing cash. They gave me 323 per dollar and the exchange rate was 325.

I suggest, again, that you not bring traveler's checks. Almost nobody uses them anymore except old people and inexperienced travelers. We are living in the computer age and Costa Rica has fully embraced it. You can use your credit cards and/or ATM card almost everywhere with no hassle and at good exchange rates.

As an aside, my son spent the entire summer in Western Europe and left the States with nothing but his Visa checkcard and $100 in cash tucked into the back of his wallet for emergencies. He had no problems using his card anywhere and his emergency stash was still intact when he returned.

I agree that ATM cards are much better than carrying cash or travelers checks...unless your card is lost or stolen. I lost my ATM/Debit card while in Hawaii. Luckily my SO had one or we would have been somewhat out of luck. They couldn't replace the card, even on a rush basis, in less than 5 business days. And I was on US soil!!!

I have read elsewhere that if you bring American dollars, make sure they are in good condition to avoid problems. No ripped or torn or otherwise ratty looking bills.

I don't think it is as critical in Costa Rica as in some other parts of the world.

Never bargain in dollars, always colones.
Ticos have a funny way of converting them: once, at a brothel, the guy told me $20 or 5,000 colones, which was around $16 at the time. When bargaining with the Tica of your choice, talk colones.

If you go to shops and talk dollars, there is a good chance they will pull out a calculator and punch in the accurate exchange rate. I avoid restaurants where the menu is priced in dollars.

I once stayed in a small, family-run hotel out in the sticks and they really wanted dollars, so it gave me some bargaining leeway.

Credit cards: before leaving home, call your card underwriter and ask if they tack on a fee for foreign exchange to avoid nasty surprises when you get your statement. If you have more than one card, call each one and find out who doesn't charge a fee. While you're at it, tell them you'll be travelling abroad, so they don't suddenly cancel your card due to 'suspicious activity,' which happened to me once.
In CR it seems they prefer Visa to Master Card.

How much do the girls in San Jose charge for a couple of hours in U.S Dollars (and Colones)?

Depends on where you go. The most popular place is the Blue Marlin Bar in the Hotel Del Rey. They will likely open with a $100 quote that you may be able to bargain to $50 or less. The more attractive girls are less likely to negotiate, but you can always try for more time instead of less money.

Massage parlors should run you $30-$50 and local joints might could go as low as $20. You should check out some trip reports and come back with more specific questions. There aren't really that many places, though, so it's relatively simple.

Lick,

I know that the Costa Rica section has been pretty dead, but I think that's mostly because the landscape is pretty stable and the information that was posted around a year ago has not changed all that much. So definetely read through the CR history. Even though it doesn't look like recent information, it is all pretty accurate.

Of course, come back with specific questions as you need.

LM

Just came back from SJ for the first time. The good looking girls, mainly from Columbia will charge $100 or equivalent 43000 colones FIRM, I had one who wouldn't accept 40K colones and wanted the extra 3K. For $50 or less your going to get a fat tica who just had a kid and is desperate. For $100, it's only going to be an hour. All night, she may stick you for $300 or $250 if your lucky. Now remember I'm talking about the good looking ones from Columbia, and not every chica is going to charge your these prices. YMMV and you'll be happy with a chica charging $40 and hour but it's nothing to bring home bragging about.
Exchanging money- I stayed at the presidente and the fiesta casino next door had the best rate, giving 433 colones to $1. The del rey was 425 to $1.
For ATM's the best rate I saw on my statement was the ones at the del rey.
If your looking at the front desk, the ATM on the right dispenses colones and the one on the left you have to go to the counter with your receipt to get your colones. I think you can take up to 150K colones.

CN