The belly of the beast. All mongering in San Jose, while not necessarily in this hotel, revolves around it. The big pink building right in the middle of town. You can't miss it. Everyone knows where it is. It's famous for the spectacle of women in the Blue Marlin bar, attached to the casino downstairs. The owners of the Del Rey also own the Key Largo bar across the street, and the seafood restaurant there. People cross the street back and forth between the bars all night, but back to the Del Rey. The DR is the place you stay when you're new to the scene and don't want to travel. You can stay in your room, then go downstairs, have a bite to eat or a drink, gamble, grab a girl, and go back upstairs with her 24hrs a day. The Blue Marlin has one of the best varieties of girls out there, with Ticas, Nicas. Dominicanas and Colombianas. The problem is with the hotel itself.

The DR (as everyone calls it, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic) has run down, very mediocre rooms that run at about $125/night, and are very noisy below the upper floors. They're pricey for what you get, and there are much better deals in town, but the convenience factor cannot be overlooked. There's also a chica fee to bring a girl upstairs. It used to be $10 but I think it has gone up slightly now. Might be $12 now. The food is ok though, and there are two atms downstairs, and excellent security, so no worries inside.

A few words of caution. If you decide to stay there, never take one of the cabs waiting outside the door. They are all thieves. Take one driving by instead. Make sure they use "La maria" the taximeter.  1000 colones is enough to take you anywhere inside the "Gringo Gulch" so don't pay more than that. Also watch out for the beggars and so forth.

While there are advanatges to staying in the Del Rey I personally do not recommend it. I do recommend, however, that you stop in, have drinks and take in the spectacle. One word of caution. While there are exceptions, and also deals to be had, the girls in here are the most hardened and expensive girls in town, especially the Dominicanas and the Colombianas. The girls do go back and forth across the street from the DR to the Key LArgo for live entertainment and dancing. If you catch them on the Key Largo side grab the ones you like over there instead, because the price is almost always automatically a bit lower there.

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