After our stay in the gay paradise of Manuel Antonio, we had already experienced how gay friendly Costa Rica could be. Intrigued to see if this was the case elsewhere, we arranged to stay at the gay-owned and gay friendly, Casa 69, in the capital city of San Jose.
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The Background of Casa 69
Casa 69 is owned by Steven and his 2 business partners, although he primarily resides onsite managing the day to day running. Steven is a retired club DJ from the US and has worked within the gay community for a significant number of years.
Prior to owning Casa 69, Steven had been visiting for over 10 years. Casa 69 was originally a gay-owned hotel, at which point it started to establish a name for itself as a gay-friendly hotel in the heart of San Jose.
Unfortunately, the previous owner sold, and the new owner didn’t keep focus on the LGBT client base. Over the course of the next 7 years, Casa 69 unfortunately lost it’s “brand” as an LGBT friendly hotel in San Jose, becoming just another downtown hotel.
But then whilst on one of his regular visits, about a year ago, Steven noticed that once again Casa 69 was up for sale! And now here we are!
Steven has owned Casa 69 for less than 12 months but has done fantastic work in that time. His emphasis is clearly on bringing Casa 69 “back out of the closet” and reinstating its label as a gay-friendly hotel.
All his hard work is paying off, as once again approximately 50% of guests are LGBT; more at the weekends. The hotel is now starting to see a lot of returning guests too, again with a large percentage being LGBT. And this is a number that Steven is keen to see grow. In his own words, “the city of San Jose needs a place like this.”
About the Hotel
Casa 69 is a boutique style hotel, with just 17 rooms. All rooms are individually decorated, with a private bathroom, safe and cable TV. A delicious continental breakfast is included each day.
Casa 69 has a great location, and is walking distance to most of the major attractions of downtown San Jose. These include the National Museum, the Jade Museum, markets, the theatre and many restaurants just around the corner from the hotel. If you want to know more about what to do from here, take a look at these 5 day trips you can do from San Jose!
The property has a rooftop terrace area, with incredible views of both the city of San Jose itself, and the mountains that form Central Valley (where San Jose is located.)
What makes Casa 69 gay friendly?
Being gay-owned naturally makes Casa 69 gay friendly. And you can’t help but feel comfortable as an LGBT guest when being checked in and welcomed by Steven himself!
Steven has also put a great deal of thought into the staff onsite. It’s a relatively small team of staff, just 5 members, but all of them are completely comfortable and relaxed with his sexuality. This same accepting attitude is displayed towards all guests.
In fact Steven has developed such a good relationship with his staff that they have now even started using gay colloquialisms and slang themselves!
What did we love about our stay?
What really stood out to us was the homely atmosphere onsite. If you didn’t want to just spend your time in your room, then the hotel has a variety of common areas, all decorated very tastefully. These were a great place to just sit back and relax and get comfortable.
Despite being a city centre hotel, the property is built around an open space. Here there are trees, garden areas and a variety of tropical flowers. Once the outside gate has closed behind you, you really don’t feel like you are in a capital city! Every day a flock of parrots come to sit in the trees, and Steven says from time to time hummingbirds come to visit the flowers.
There is even a dove that has been visiting frequently, that he can call to the garden. He is your modern day Snow White!
And as we have already mentioned, the rooftop terrace. We were lucky that this was right outside our room, and it has been decorated with twinkling fairy lights, that give it a romantic feel once the sun has set. This was the perfect place to enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine, or a morning cup of coffee!
We spent a fantastic 3 nights at Casa 69, and couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone wanting to visit San Jose. With a fantastic central location, beautifully decorated comfortable rooms, and a welcoming, attentive team of staff, you really don’t need to look elsewhere!
We highly recommend Costa Rica as a gay destination, we can’t say enough good things about it. Try out the gay trip planner below and see what it comes up with for you!
For more about Costa Rica, make sure you check out:
- Gay Guide to Costa Rica: San Jose, Manuel Antonio and Puerto Viejo
- The Ideal 10 Day Costa Rica Itinerary: Destination Costa Rica
- Gay Costa Rica: Local Gay Stories
- Costa Rica Packing List: Everything you will forget!
More gay accommodation?
Check our our other articles about gay friendly hotels in Granada, Nicaragua, the stunning Corn Islands, Nicaragua and Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.
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This sounds like a wonderful place! It warms my heart to hear that more places are gay-friendly not just in name, but in how they serve and treat their customers.
Exactly, we completely agree and are trying to get the names of these places out there!
Kristie- I hope you will consider visiting us in the future. We love to host our family in our home. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask! Steven/Casa 69
I love hotel reviews, like that I have more confidence to stay with them after reading it. Very interesting one 🙂
Thanks 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the read!
Sounds like a great place to stay. Would love to see the friendly dove!
Well if you ever go make sure to check it out!
Hmm, what is the price range? Costa Rica is uber expensive… How does it compare to other hotels in the area?
This is only about $45 per night which we think is a bargain for the city!
Yes, Costa Rica is expensive. That is a big reason they are politically stable compared to other Central American countries.
Such a great hotel it is who accepts love in all kinds and forms. Costa Rica is usually expensive, was the stay too costly too? Great to know the property has such a big space even being in the city center, I would love any place with a rooftop terrace, glad you guys had it too.
This place was surprisingly cheap for such a good location, rooms were between $45 – $60, including breakfast too. And it was so nice having so much outdoor space too 🙂
Oh, this is such a great option for all the LGBT travellers. The hotel overall sounds amazing, I can see why you loved your stay here. Parrots, dove and Hummingbirds that is definitely a pretty sight while in Costa Rica!
We managed to see the parrots, but unfortunately not the dove or hummingbirds. Next time we visit maybe 😉
Rooftop terraces are always nice when staying in a hotel. I like that different bird types routinely stop by. It gives the hotel a different feeling. We have been staying in more boutique style hotels lately and are liking them more and more.
We totally agree – we would much rather stay in a traditional boutique than a big chain hotel. Much more personality 🙂
Omg ur pics r so beautiful and m so glad to get to know about this hotel .. we need more places like these that supports lgbt rights and so glad hotel is again picking up it roots .. so happy u enjoyed ur time
Glad you enjoyed reading about the hotel, make sure to pay it a visit if you ever visit San Jose! We were also pleased the hotel was reclaiming its name!
Great pictures! Love to read about your travels
It is really true that when things are done with passion, the fruits are not slow to arrive
What a great sentiment!
This place seems super welcoming and friendly, the rooftop bar is and added bonus for sure! Thanks for sharing the great info 🙂
No problem, glad you enjoyed the read!
Sounds like such a lovely place to stay. It’s wonderful to be able to find a place where love is accepted as it should be. ❤️
We couldn’t agree more! That’s why we will make sure to keep seeking them out 🙂
Your hotel reviews are always great.
That’s great to hear, thank you!
I’ve been a friend of Steven’s since 1974 and cannot wait to make the trip from Saint Louis to San Jose to check it out! Great review!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the article. I hope you enjoy your stay, sure you will 😉
I am glad you are enjoying Costa Rica… let us know if you are coming to subita!!! Enjoy your time!
Ah we’ve already left now! But thanks!!
Ciao Globetrotter Guys,
We recently stayed at Casa 69 in June, 2019 and the establishment is now under gay ownership – the managers name is Angel. Casa 69 is everything you said and more – Angel has upgraded all the rooms and common areas – new linens, new towels, flat screen televisions, completely re-painted the entire property. The staff is wonderful and you really feel like you are staying at a friends house. We HIGHLY recommend this as the place to stay in San Jose.
Hi Charles!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave us your feedback. We are so glad that you enjoyed your stay; it sounds like Casa 69 is now even better than when we stayed!