If I had known this, I would have stayed elsewhere. Six days into my stay, my laptop stopped working so I contacted a local computer technician who agreed to come to my hotel to repair my computer. I explained that he was not here to stay the night, but only to repair my computer.
I was told that I would need to bring my laptop down to the lobby for him to work on unless I paid up. I was so angry that I demanded my money back for the remaining nights that I had already paid for. I was told that I could not get a refund. That's when I started raising my voice, calling the hotel a Brothel. There were several people in the lobby who clearly heard me, so they suddenly changed their tune and agreed to allow him to go up to my room without paying extra.
However they wanted to know exactly how long he would be there and even required him leave his driver's license at the front desk. They obviously thought he was a prostitute, They obviously thought he was a prostitute, or a criminal. Either way, they made me feel like I had done something wrong or was trying to get away with something.
However, I had never stayed in a "Red Light District" before either. It is my opinion that this extra charge is nothing more than extortion directed at men who want to bring prostitutes back to their guestroom. The hotel's Manager insisted that the fee is for security reasons only, but if that were really true they would only need to make a photocopy your guests identification. This hotel recognizes that prostitutes are profiting at their hotel, and just like a pimp, they want their cut.
In my opinion, any Hotel that intentionally profits from Prostitution is a Brothel. The Manager told me that Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica, as if that was justification for them to profit from it. The next morning I checked out and moved to another hotel.
