Reytj,

The exchange rate is now about 300 colones. Hobbyist prices have risen accordingly, although a "Mexican" might do better than a Gringo.

TampaGringo,

Sorry to hear about the decline at your favorite place. I feel dumb suggesting alternatives to the CR master, but do you go to Club Idem at times ? I have always had a good time over there. I suppose the 12,000 colones price is consideably higher and the chica drinks are a rip. Let us know what club makes it to the top of your charts.

Gitano

Gitano,

I do go into Idem from time to time but not too often. It's hard to say exactly why it's not more of a favorite of mine. Roberto is a nice guy, the prices for sex aren't bad, and they have some beautiful girls working there. I guess when it comes right down to it, the place is just a little too "upscale" for my taste, and the atmosphere and drink prices aren't conducive to socializing as much as I like.

I don't really have a favorite place. As I've often said, the scenery here changes from day to day and hour to hour, so my favorite way to go mongering here is to cruise around from place to place. Variety is the spice of life!

Pura Vida,
TG

It’s great to see the Costa Rica conversations alive and well. Thank you to everyone, especially TampaGringo and Gitano, for all the up-to-date information. For those who’ve never been to C.R. or don’t get to go very often, this information is very valuable. For anyone who is researching for a first time visit, I would still recommend that you start out with the Blue Marlin and Key Largo. You’ll pay more, but it will get you used to the customs and the general procedures for meeting chicas. As you start to learn your way around and feel comfortable in the city’s surroundings, this information on other bars will become very valuable. I’ll be visiting for the third time this summer and will certainly spend the bulk of my mongering time in the less expensive places, but I needed the experiences of the more expensive tourist-oriented places to get to this point. Think about it; if you end up paying $100 bucks to a Del Rey lady for a great night of fun, you’ve done a lot better than you would have for a shorter time with a chick here while worrying about a sting and maybe not getting everything you were looking for. So you may be paying high prices relative to the surroundings, but the experience and relative-to-home costs are totally worth it.

Have fun,

La Muerte

Gitano- for the record I was wrong about the exchange rate during my stay. I looked up the Nacion for Nov 4 1999 and it said it was 295 and today's Nacion says the current rate is 320.

So as you said either prices have risen considerably or the mexican discount is %50 of the gringo rate.

BTW I went during the week and we left for my hotel at 1 AM. I would rate Tania a 7 in looks.

Just a brief update - according to the girls, this has been a slow season but the prettier girls and those with a little personality as well as looks say they're doing ok. I stopped in briefly this PM to say hi to Alexa at Centro de Massaje. She's still there, as pretty as ever. At 3,500 colones it's hard to make a mistake there, guys.

My major find of the day (of the year?) is a new girl who just started working at the Park - she's absolutely gorgeous and has a great personality to boot. Her name is Ruth, she's 22, from Nicaragua, has a great body and is a lot of fun to be with. She speaks a little English but not much. Very clean, very sexy, and orgasmic. I had to work at it a while to get her off, but it was well worth it. She definitely makes the TG Favorita list (near the top). She coming out to my house Thursday night, toda la noche. I can hardly wait!

Pura vida,
TG

TG,

We often read in posts about girls from the Dominican or Nicaragua coming to San Jose to work. Do you have any sense of the infrastructure that they tap into in order to get a little bit settled? Relatives? A friend of a friend? I mean when I think of a 22 year-old deciding to move to another country to try to make some cash by sleeping with men I'm kind of blown away by their courage. But they must have some kind of informational pipe-line or web or something back in Nicaragua that alerted them to the opportunity and then suggested how to get a sedula, etc.

Any sense of how this network operates? Or are these girls the equivalent of an eighteen year-old who moves to Hollywood thinking she's going to be an actress or a model? Going on nothing but dreams.

I would like your sense of this, and was also thinking maybe you could take it up with your new friend to see what she might say.

Keep it up...

It's a fairly well established routine, although everyone has a litle different story. All the Nicas and Dominicanas working here go home to see their families, their friends talk with them, find out about the opportunities, and decide to take the plunge. Some simply come on tourist visas, stay a few months, and return home. Others decide to make a long-term move. In this case, they usually arrange to marry a Costa Rican in order to get residency. Usually, these marriages are on paper only. They never even meet the guy. There are fairly large Nicaraguan and Dominican communities here and they help each other out.

The girls know what they are geting into when they arrive although many of them are sexually inexperienced. For example, several months ago I wrote a post about a Dominicana I met in Molino Rojo named Rosario. We ended up becoming friends and she lived with me for a couple of months. She was 23 years old and before coming here had only had sex with one guy. The first few weeks she lived with me, she had trouble sleeping because she had never shared a bed with anyone before. In her case, Rosario was in medical school, but her father had become sick and her family was having financial trouble. She couldn't afford to continue with her education, and her family was in danger of loosing their home. One of her university friends had a girlfriend here and the two of them decided to come here together and work. Their families didn't know what they were doing and thought they had regular jobs here. Both of them are back home now in the Dominican Republic. I bought Rosario's ticket for her as a Christmas gift.

The Nica I met yesterday, Ruth, has a little different story. She's lived here for about three years and, according to her, has never hooked before. When she first arrived she got a regular job in an office, found a Gringo boyfriend, lived with him for two years, and quit work. Under pressure from his adult children, he moved back to the States a few weeks ago and left her behind with a little money to take care of herself until she found a job or another boyfriend. She has no hard feelings and says he's a "buen hombre" but she hasn't heard from him since he left, has run out of money, and can't find a decent job. She has a four-year old son to support. It's clear that she's looking for another boyfriend, but doesn't seem to have any bad feelings about working for the time being. With her looks and personality, my guess is that she'll find a boyfriend soon and won't be working very long.

hey guys this is my first posting , really enjoy the good reading . on my fith trip to san jose this febuary i met a girl named gabriella she is new at arte saunna not the best massage , but bbbj to completion and swallowed! it ranked up there pretty high on my personal chart.i am planning another trip in late april and would like to try some variety this time . i do like idem and del rey , got lucky once in camelot ,had two nicas back to my room for 3 hours they were chowing down on each other while i photographed so on and so on , for 150$ (i was happy)

The webcam shows the Blue Marlin is shut down tightly for the holiday. Glad I did not pick this week to go there.

What is the website for the webcam?

For the webcam try www.hoteldelrey.com
Click on live from the blue marlin. You get a view of the bar area without customers showing.
Now it is closed for holy week, as you can see.

The boards been so quite lately I'll throw this out to Tampa Gringo just to give us something.

You probably saw the comment in Costa Rica Confidential that the Park Hotel is on its last legs and that the prettiest girls now stay away from it. Does that square with your perception?

Too quite.

I checked out the Park in early March with Tampa Gringo and some others. I may not have been there at Prime Time, however there were at least a few pretty good looking ones there -and young ones too. So, it's still worth cheking out.

To some degree, it's a chicken and egg problem. The girls go where the customers are and the customers go where the girls are. This has been a slow season for many places in San Jose. There have been some ups and downs at the Park Hotel and the action has been a little spotty but that's typical of most places here, which is one of the reasons I advise everyone to cruise around and check these places out on different days and at different times.

I don't know anything that would cause me to believe that the Park is "on its last legs". I agree with Sactoman - it's worth checking out. Girls come and go. There are several pretty girls working there now and every week or two a few new ones show up. Some stick around, others come in a few times and you never see them again. As far as the comment from Costa Rica Confidential is concerned, its author and the owner of the Park don't get along, so the comment may not be completely unbiased.

I've asked some of the prettiest girls why they work at the Park when they could earn more someplace like the Blue Marlin. They tell me they keep working at the Park because it's safer for them.

I agree that the board has been disappointingly quiet lately and hope that some of you other guys will take the initiative and post a few reports on your experiences and recent trips. I haven't been posting much for the past few weeks for a couple or reasons. First, I'm just beginning to recover from a severe case of bronchitis which has kept me under the weather for the past three weeks or so. Secondly, and more importantly, I'm in a new relationship with an incredible woman here - the type of "normal" woman I'd hoped to meet when I moved here but had been unsuccessful meeting until recently. Right now, she's getting all of my attention and I've completely lost interest in mongering, at least for the moment.

A couple of my closest friends are coming down in early May and are planning to stay at the Park, so whether or not I participate in the mongering activities while they're here, I should at least have some up to date reports on the action at the Park soon.

Pura Vida,
TG

Tampa

What's your opinion as far as staying at the Park or the Presidente? I was quoted 45 for the Presidente plus tax, of course. From what I've read it seems like a good hotel to stay at. I don't know much about the Park though, such as cost and contact info. Any comments would be appreciated. I'm headed down on the 19th of May. Thanks...

Sun,
The Presidente is an excellent hotel with some really great people working there at the front desk. You'll probably have to switch rooms a few times if it is busy but that is a minor thing. The Park is a great place to hang but I would not get a room there for reasons that do not need explaning. Go to the Park Hotel on friday night to see something you will never forget. The show is awesome. I hope this advice will help you sun.

Take care

Sun,
You can not beat the Presidente for a first trip. The only reason not to use it is that you want something out of town or very upscale digs.

TG,
Hope you're feeling better. Hope to make it out a few times this fall, but you know me. Bad habit of following skirts just about anywhere they go.

Gitano

Right now, she's getting all of my attention and I've completely lost interest in mongering.

Sait it ain't so Tpagringo....say it ain't so

Thinking about going if only I can find a cheap flight out of LA (under $800). I thought May and June is the rainy season? My brother-in-law is Costa Rican and his dad still lives there. He just happens to drive a taxi and I've met him several times. Hoping to use that to my advantage. Is May, June or July a good time to go? TIA.

Harry

Sun, I agree with Jeff, Gitano and others, you can't beat the Presidente for a first-time visit. The rooms at the Park are almost as expensive and are pretty basic. The only benefit to staying there (which is why my friends are staying there) is that you can take as many girls as you want to your room, as often as you want. If you are coming for a short visit and want to get laid four or five times a day, and aren't too picky about the girls, you can have a blast at the Park. However, there's no comparison in the quality of accommodations.

Jeff, I hope everything's going well with you. It doesn't look like I'll have time to come to NYC during my visit in June but please stay in touch and let me know the next time you are coming down. My son told me you guys had talked and he's hoping to get down to the city to see your act. Thanks again for any help you can give him.

Gitano, great to see your post! You really need to come back down here. I might even be tempted to break free from my new novia for a night on the town.

Culpepper, Sorry to say, it can happen to the best of us. As much as I enjoy my mongering, I think she may be the woman I've been hoping to meet for the past ten years and if this relationship continues to develop, I'll probably end up having to retire from the board. This is only a hobby, she could end up being my life. Today, I invited her to come with me to my daughter's Harvard graduation on June 7th so I can introduce her to my son and daughter. If things continue to develop as they are now, I'll probably ask her to marry me while we're in the States. I don't have any idea whether she'll accept or not.

Harold,
Anytime is a good time to visit. Just bring money and condoms. We get more rain May through October but it really isn't that much of a problem, for me anyway. You'll have a great time no matter when you come.

Pura Vida,
TG

TG!,
Everything is well with me. I must say things have been great since I got back to the US but part of me will always be in CR. I traded e-mails with your son but we haven't met yet. I wish you could make it in June. The boys and I owe you a great night on the town. You can cash in on it whenever you wish sir! We are already talking about comming down in Feb but I may comeback sooner if I can. If you speak to your son soon tell him to call me so I can introduce him to my friend. Maybe he can get some work this summer. I hope all is well with you and contact me in June when you are in the US. Maybe I can go meet you! Lord knows I have the time to do it!!

Take Care
JHG

Sun,
Also, if you stay at the Presidente there is a cab driver there who is an excellent person and very trustworthy. His name is Rudy and you tell him I said hello. Use him if you want to go to the beach. At the beach he took care of everything for us. We left a case of CD's in his car (and had no idea we did) and the next day he waited for us and returned them. I hope this will help.

JHG

Thanks for all the replies... Presidente is the place for me I guess. It is my first time there so I guess it makes sense to remove the hotel from any concerns. I'm counting down the days now..;) Jeff, I arrive on a Saturday so I will definitely be checking out the show at the Park. Can you give any suggestions as far as an itinerary? I was thinking about doing the beach thing while I was there. Of course, I will do my fair share of mongering while I'm there but I do want to see what the country has to offer as far as nature is concerned...;)

Sun,
When I was there I went to the Rasta beach (the name escapes me for the moment...sorry!) It is a beautiful and peaceful place that is for the surfer. There is also Jaco which is more touristy from what I hear. What I suggest is this, spend the first 2 days in San Jose hitting all of the places such as the Park Hotel, Arte sauna, 747, Eros Massage and of course the Blue Marlin. Stay out of Key Largo. They will try to rip you off. Never run a tab anywhere! If you like to gamble there are a ton of casinos. If you do gamble make sure you watch the dealers. They DO NOT know how add up to 21! We kept having to correct them time and time again. After you have hit a bunch of places and sampled some of the lovelies I suggest that you find a lady to you liking and take her to the beach with you. You can negotiate for a very fair price for her to go to the beach. The women love and I mean love the beach. I didn't do this when I was there but next time I go that is the plan. The 2 days in San Jose will give the time to find the girl that is for you. If you like the rainforest you can set up a trip from the Presidente. Also, hit the Central Market for excellent cheap food. If you have any stomach problems just drink some Tamarindo. It works! Also, if you like to party hard Montezuma beach is the place for you but it is a huge trip!. Look for Rudy(at the Presidente) when you want to go to the beach, he will take care of you. Try to meet up with TampaGringo if you can. He rules! He can and will tell you the ins and out of CR better than I can. All I will say is that he helped engineer one of the best nights of my life.
Oh yeah, when you go to the Blue Marlin DO NOT let any girl talk you into paying $100. If you are patient and can speak some spanish you should be able to get them down to 50 or 60. Under the thread San Jose General Information there are some great posts about all the joints you need to know about with descriptions and addresses. That should cover everything. Hope you have a great trip and make sure you make a post about your adventures.

Take Care
JHG

Harold Johnson

I can get you a ticket to CR for $600. FYI, I'd make about $600 on the deal :-)

Email me at smitopher@hotmail.com if you are interested.

Alright you talked me into it. Planning on going May 24 to June 3. Anybody have any contact info for the Presidente?

Smitopher, as good as that deal seems, I found tix on AA for $561.00. That is the motivation. Thanks anyway.

Harry

Those Latin American specials that American has are hard to beat. Current deal needs to be booked by the 29th of April.

Thanks a lot for the tips Jeff. I will definitely look for Rudy.

Regarding Transpo - and given this board is TJ oriented - I wanted to point out that I've seen TJ to CR airfare on Yahoo/Travel for $512 - Of course this means you have to live near TJ for this deal to be any good. BTW - I second patronage of 747 and also reccomend Playa Montezuma.

Well guys, make me an offer. I can beat any airfare you can buy. I've go enough FF miles for 15 tickets to CR. Continental, American or United Airlines.

Sunthief- Wish I could join you. Nononsense and I had a great time. Two points. If it is your first time, I would stay at the Hotel Del Rey at least for the first night or two, because it is safe and you do not have to take a cab or walk to your hotel with your "girlfriend" at night. It is more costly than the Presidente which I like too. The other reason is that you can walk downstairs to the bar and casino and check the action out 24/7. Get breakfast for 1000 C at the Casino 2 doors down and use the internet cafe at the end of the block. Opens at 10AM. It pays to have a buddy to drink and scout with.
The other thing is to take a cab to the Park Hotel for the Fri and Sat night shows and to try the Park Hotel bar for companionship. They are there during the day and at night and are 1/2 the price of the Blue Marlin women. Expect to pay 10000 Colonies for the girl and 3000 C for the room there. They have some interesting selections available. Ask for Elizabeth for a world class deep throat BJ.

Deja Vu.

Harry

TG
I`m back...The DR was great...Thanks for your help
Pura Vida
Don Gordo

Hey smitoper

Will that offer stand for awhile? I am headed down there in a few weeks for the first time. Assuming I like it (heaven forbid..;), I'm sure I will want to go again. I got an awesome deal through travelocity for $370. That was a main reason I chose to go...

Sun,
Just an add-on. If you decide to stay at the Hotel Del Rey be warned that they charge you for bringing chicas up to your room. The Presidente does not.

Take Care
JHG

These posts bring back a lot of good memories of my week at the Del Rey in Septiembre 1999. I did not leave the hotel for 6 solid days and 5 nights and never regretted not seeing more of San Jose or Costa Rica... Will definately get out next time to many of the other places mentioned here, but I could not have a better time on Fantasy Island.

The Presidente is extremely close to the Blue Marlin and Key Largo bars. It is only 2 blocks from either one to the Presidente. I stayed their last fall and would highly recommend it.

I was in SJ in Jan. 2000 and spend time with two really memorable Del Rey chicas (uh, not at the same time) and now I'm curious if they're still around or if anyone remembers them. One was named Onelly, a tiny slip of a lass, 19, from the Dom. Rep.; and the other a Tica from Heredia named Anabel, 29, really sweet, just a tad zaftig, with a noticable mole on her backside. Ring any bells?

Hello all; Me, a first timer to CR will be traveling from Denver to San Jose 5/31 to 6/5 and staying at the Aurola Holiday Inn...(have to use my points)

Any info on this hotel would be great as well as hooking for beers to exchange info.

Thanks for the great board and information.
email denverbob1@yahoo.com

I was looking over the San Jose Club Hombre Map and I noticed The Doll House on Avenida 11. I remember going past this place in a cab once or twice, but I don't remember ever reading any reviews. Anybody have any comments ? As I recall this is a "use a taxi if alone" area at night.

Gitano,

I checked it out about a year ago. I don’t remember much because I only stayed a minute or two. I was walking around and went into VIPS #1, then went into what must have been the Doll House because it was beside it. Both were “muy tico” and all the talent was below average in my opinion. It was late afternoon, so I guess it could be better at night, but I didn’t have a good feeling about either place.

I’d definitely take a cab at night. When you get over towards the zoo and on towards El Pueblo, there are some dangerous areas and it’s not well lit. One time I walked back to the Presidente from the Barbecue restaurant next to the zoo (I forget the name) at about 10 pm. It was a big mistake and it was the most frightened I’ve ever been downtown. I didn’t see anybody, but the streets were deserted and weren’t lit and I would have been an easy target had someone come along.

I usually make the rounds and check out all the smaller places my first few days in town because the talent can vary so much.

Suerte,


Homebrecito1

There are four or five places on the west side of Calle 6 between Avenidad 5 and 7. Most of the hookers are sorry but there are a few pearls. The cost is generally 3000 colones but you need to look at ten hookers to find one who is good looking.