Name: Hostel Shakti
Address: Avenida 8 Calle 13,Avenida 8, San Jose, San Jose, San Jose, 10104, Costa Rica
Rating: 7

24-hour reception

Currency exchange

Smoke-free property

Terrace

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Family room

Rooms

Ironing

Laundry

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Breakfast in the room

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Packed Lunches

Bottled water (at extra charge)

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Transfer

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Parking

Meeting and presentation facilities

Business

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hostel

Tobias Bolanos Airport

Juan Santamaria International Airport

Guapiles Airport

Quepos Airport

Hostel Shakti

San Jose

The hostel was a bit rough to find, as I was just around the corner, haha. The receptionist was very friendly and she showed me the room. The room was very spacious and had everything I needed. The location is ok, close to the city center. 

Good hostel

If I could give negative stars for a place, I’d give Hostel Shakti a minus ten. They did not honor my October 8, 2021 reservation (59627-514567524) and put me out on the street after ten p.m. in a dangerous part of San Jose. If patrolling police had not happened by and offered to help I honestly don’t know what would have become of me.

Let me assure you that I’m no tourist. I’ve lived in Costa Rica for some time now and there are few things anyone can tell me about how safe or not safe the streets of San Jose are at that hour. On this night I had returned from Cancun on a flight that had been scheduled to land around 4:45 p.m. I planned to take a bus to my home near Turrialba and knew what time the Transtusa routes operate. But because of unexpected bad weather, my flight (Volaris Y45113) had to abort one landing attempt and then divert to an airport in El Salvador to refuel after SJO closed the runway. We didn’t touch the ground in Costa Rica until long past the hour that buses would leave for Turrialba. I had no choice but look for an overnight stay.

My partner has used Hostelworld many times in the past. He made a reservation for me at Hostel Shakti and received a confirmation. Hostelworld took $5.50 out of my bank account and all seemed to be in order.

Except that the woman who answered the door at Hostelworld would not acknowledge the reservation, said they had no space, and would not allow me to stay. She was borderline rude, wearing the most sour expression her face could muster, and offered no alternative suggestions or assistance whatsoever. My phone battery was dying and she didn’t even let me sit in the reception area long enough to charge it. I was ejected from the building onto a dark side street blocks away from any type of regular traffic where I might find a taxi. It just so happened that two police officers patrolling on foot happened by and were incredibly helpful. They rounded me up a taxi and that taxi took me to Gaudy’s Eco Hotel, which was a first-rate stay on top of being willing to accommodate me without a reservation. 

I believe that Hostelworld should thoroughly investigate Hostel Shakti and find out why they would not honor my reservation. In my opinion it’s sheer incompetence at best, fraudulent business practices at worst. Do they not check their online scheduling system? Do they not know how to keep their availability status updated on these websites? Are there no settings in their online account systems to disallow last minute bookings if they are not prepared to honor them? The whole experience was horrifying for me and I would hate to see this same thing happen to a first-time visitor to Costa Rica with no awareness of the dangers in San Jose at night and no street smarts. I was lucky. The next guest deceived by a reservation confirmation for Hostel Shakti might not be.

Would Not Honor My Reservation

The staff are excellent and the rooms are clean. The hotel is located near downtown and restaurants. After 8pm it quietens down. The hotel seems quite secure. The breakfast was delivered early at my request. I wouldcome back again

Close to downtown

After a recommendation in the Lonely Planets we decided to head straight to Hostel Shakti from the airport around 10am. On the way there we noted that it was situated in a very dodgy part of town. Rang the bell and a lady who speaks no English let us in. With my broken Spanish I established that we could have a double room for $40 per night but she needed to clean it first. We took a quick look, and agreed even though we thought it was super pricey for what you get. We were so tired that we overlooked the unclean kitchen area. The room was right next to the communal kitchen so it was LOUD!! Room wasn’t cleaned properly, there were the previous guest’s hairs in the shower. The bed spread also didn’t look clean. Decided to have a shower....there is NO HOT WATER!! Also, all the windows in the bathroom up by the ceiling were open so it made it so cold!! Such a disappointment I started getting very upset!! Went out for dinner but there isn’t much to offer. Area wasn’t safe and we decided to just go back to sleep and leave early morn. About 5am the trains start going past and with a constant BEEEEEP!! We had to get up it was so loud. Had a bland breakfast and left immediately. For the next 24 hrs I was very ill and confined to bed! I seriously think this hostel that had something to do with it!! Managed to find other great hostels for half the price that don’t make you sick!! Don’t stay here!!!! 


Terrible hostel: no hot water and ear plugs!

I read the reviews and kind of regretted coming here...
But the staff is friendly (only Spanish!), and the rooms and bathrooms are super clean. Nice white sheets and a stirdy matress. 
The noise is unbelievable: it starts around 5 am. Bring earplugs and your stay is fine.
It doesnt seem to be a very lively neighbourhood!

Loud but clean!

Hostel Shakti... this was so disappointing! This is a lovely building but the 'weekend woman' Carla was more concerned with accommodating her family/friends than looking after paying guests! She cooked and blended soup at midnight to eat, held loud conversations at 6:30am then was so tired she slept through the day. Subsequently she didn't clean the shared toilet or bathroom... I emptied the toilet waste bin myself and replaced it with a clean bin bag as it was overflowing. Food was left out on the very small kitchen bench all night & day; foods scraps on plates and dirty dishes were left out (which I scraped and cleaned so I could use the bench).  Floors were dirty and un mopped, and when I told her the communal TV wasn't working, she just shrugged! I had to ask her for the controls as she & her daughter were using them in the bedroom they were using. Her daughter, a young girl of about 10, was up late and wandering around calling her mum... no way was I getting to sleep before midnight!
With fewer guests than family staying, there was no excuse for this. My room was fine, bed comfy but too close to the admin area, very noisy with her family & friends coming and going. If staying here, ask for a room at the back.  Oh, the trains that pass regularly from about 5am are VERY loud! Do yourselves a favour and   go to another hostel in San Jose where they actually care! And Lonely Planet, maybe you should actually stay overnight before recommending such a place! 

Disappointing Hostel

I found the staff friendly, however the owner held my situation to ransom, I handed the money to them, about 15 min later I've realized I should have stayed a lot closer to the airport and told them I'd be happy to pay a penalty, please understand getting to the airport is cheap by bus but exhausting, give yourself and hour and a half, by taxi is expensive when travelling solo $30,,, anyway no dice, no refund or even part refund, I find this unreasonable and they've taken advantage of my situation. Maybe some might disagree, anyway the train roaring outside your room would be enough to make you look elsewhere.

Loud and unreasonable

The rooms are nice enough but there is a train that goes right past the hotel each day and it is so loud. It makes the floor shake! It seems to run from about 5am.

I also found some of the staff to be a bit rude.

Hostel Shakti

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