Name: Hostel Pangea
Address: 7-11 Barrio Amon Ave, San Jose, San Jose, San Jose, 10000, Costa Rica
Rating: 5

24-hour reception

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Gift shop

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

General

Bridal suite

Non-smoking rooms

Toiletries

Rooms

Ironing

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Snack bar

Bottled water (at extra charge)

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Car rental

Transfer services

Transfer

Spanish

English

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Billiards

Sun Deck

Recreation

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Fax and copy machine

Business

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hostel

Tobias Bolanos Airport

Juan Santamaria International Airport

Guapiles Airport

Quepos Airport

Hostel Pangea

San Jose

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

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15-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Came here for one night with myself and two female friends. After reading the reviews, we were very nervous but this place exceeded our expectations by afar. We felt very safe, the set up was amazing and things were overall clean. The rooftop area was beautiful and very quiet. Martin, the guy working the front desk was standoffish at first but ended up being great and helping us a lot. We had a great experience here and will definitely be coming back. We would recommend bringing a blanket because there is only one sheep supplied. Probably the only negative was a musty smell in the rooms.

Great place!

Probably the best choice for 7-10 bus terminal, and a couple of crackling rough 'n' ready local bars en route, where a big bottle of chilled Pilsner is half the price of a small Imperial in the centre. Decent jukeboxes too.
Friendly staff & doorman, comfy enough dorm, well designed & maintained washing facilities, pleasant by the pool & restful with decent internet in the upstairs bar area, though the bar was never open.
But a very strange empty atmosphere. Seemed to be lots of folk checked in yet nary a soul in sight. Processions of introductory tours. Where did they ghost off to? Bizarre.

Handy for buses & local bars

I’m not sure if time of year or permanent, but while the hostel is still nice the atmosphere was no longer the same. Was going to stay a few days I left after one. The room was great, bed comfortable. I wouldn’t recommend for solo travelers 

Update 

OK hostel to stay as a solo traveller, easy to meet other traveller at the bar or at the pooltable. However, its kind of a party minded hostel, with breakfast from 07:30 till 08:30, who is going to make that?
The neighborhood is not that nice, but extremely close to most bus stations.

Ok to stay one night and need to catch a bus the following morning

I stayed here for 4 nights and mostly enjoyed my stay. The value for the price is very good, especially with the free meals included. As others have mentioned, the place is very loud, mostly due to the fact that the staff feel it necessary to have music booming throughout the place until the wee hours, regardless of if there are people upstairs at the bar or not. I felt this was more for the benefit of the staff, and not very respectful to the guests trying to sleep at night - this could be remedied by simply turning the music down at a reasonable hour or keeping the music on only in the bar area (I actually sleep with earplugs and could still hear the music clearly).
The staff were a mixed bag - mostly pretty helpful, with some exceptions. Perhaps it's the super chill pura vida mindset, but some folks just didn't seem all that fussed about their guests.
The hostel itself is pretty cool - large and labyrinthine, with amazing art on the walls and lots of spots to hang out. It is in a good location as well, and very safe and secure. The pool was a plus, but having some pool chairs out would have raised this space over the top.
Overall this was a decent hostel, especially for the price.

Decent hostel, could use some tweaks

We stayed one night and left first thing in the morning. Industrial feel made it cold, dark and uninviting. The bedding was old, uncomfortable and smelly. 

The worst part was my overpriced and disgusting dinner at their restaurant. I ordered the veggie pasta which listed four veggies on the menu. The chef acted inconvenienced that I didn’t choose the same meal as my partner which would have made it easier for him. It came after 45 minutes with two veggies in big chunks. I queried this and the guy said that mushrooms and capsicums were out of season. Why not mention that before?? Don’t sell something you don’t have! Apart from that I was told it came in tomato sauce but the sauce was so bloody sweet/sugary. It was disgusting. I gave it back and he took it and walked away. Didn’t get a cent back for it.

Also, they advertise a “free breakfast” however it runs very early in the morning and only for an hour presumably knowing the vast majority of people will miss it.

The area was very dodgy. We basically ran to the atm then back that night and got an Uber to leave in the morning.

On the bright side the guy at the front desk and security guard were friendly.

Dingey and terrible food

DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOSTEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!!!!! I booked to stay here with a friend and as two young girls we felt extremely unsafe. The hostel resembles a prison and you are ‘locked’ inside, and interrogated about where you are going upon exit. At check-in we weren’t issued wristbands, and when we came back to the hostel after popping out for dinner the man from reception was so angry that we didn’t have wristbands that he swore at us then punched a wall, mimicked us and made us feel extremely uncomfortable. I wish he punched a hole in the dorm instead because then at least we would have a crack of light, instead of the barred 30cm internal bit of murky plastic. He would unlock our dorm and come in without permission. The stench of the dorm was unbearable and there no fresh air, only a fan which perforates your eardrums. The hostel is desolate and extremely uninviting. There were creepy men passed out in random places. The woman in our dorm was 1000% high and scuttled around the room in the night making weird noises. The best part of my experience was leaving. If I could rate this zero stars I would. I would not wish this on your worst enemy xx

I would not wish this on your worst enemy!!!

Firstly we arrived at the hostel to find no running water. Really eerie atmosphere with no windows. Staff locked you inside and you have to ask if you want to leave the building. We were advised by a local that as two young girls we shouldn’t stay there alone. We read recent disturbing reviews and decided to leave immediately (we were not refunded). Felt very unsafe. Avoid staying here at all costs especially if a girl.

DO NOT STAY HERE

DO NOT STAY HERE
We arrived in Hostel Pangea greeted by a man, who can only be described as an ogre. We booked two rooms though hostel World (a 4 bed dorm and a superior double bed private room for one night). Through Hostel World we had payed a deposit towards our bookings and the receptionist over charged us, claiming that our deposit was payed towards Hostel World and not the hostel. (No other hostel in the whole of Costa Rica had previously claimed this). When we tired to challenge him on this, he insisted that we were wrong (even though this is written in the Hostel World Policy). The price had gone up from £6 to £11 per night, so we may as well of stayed in the highly-rated Selina Hostel, which is around the name price. He then showed us to our room. The dorm looked like a prison cell but the private room was nice. However, there was no water in the sinks and the bed was very uncomfortable. The private room was also next to reception so it’s very loud when people are leaving at early hours in the morning. After our night in the private room, he refused me to be in the same room as my friends (not to sleep, just to hang out in there!) and kept unlocking the door, telling me to leave and being aggressive towards me. I had to lock myself in the room to make sure he wouldn’t come in anymore since I felt pretty unsafe. He then forced me to pay for another bed for the night because he didn’t allow 5 people in a 4 bed dorm, even though 2 of us were sharing a bed. In the hostel policy, there is no mention of this not being allowed, so we assumed it would be okay, like in every other hostel in Costa Rica. His rude and aggressive nature made our stay in Hostel Pangea awful and the worst we have ever had in a hostel before. He also got aggressive when two of my friends washed a few items of clothing in the sink, shouting at them “bitches!” in Spanish. My other friends also had a very disturbing stay at Hostel Pangea, saying the same man slept in their dorm room and was masturbating throughout the night. The pool was disgusting, but the showers and wifi were good. I would never wish for anyone to stay at Hostel Pangea. Awful place!

PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS

From the outset this place resembled a dungeon, equipped with an ogre of a receptionist. Having dealt with his aggressive and confrontational attitude, we were shown to our prison cell of a room. I won’t go into the details of the stains on the wall but it was clear the pool was filled with urine. This hostel was by far the worst we had stayed in after 2 months of travelling (bearing in mind we spent 1 month in hammocks). Beware the troll at reception as he refused to return our deposits and insisted on overcharging us. Despite being warned by various fellow travellers to steer clear of this hostel, we still stayed here and have regretted it ever since. Do not use the laundry service which is extremely over priced and returns clothes dirtier than before. I felt unsafe and vulnerable on multiple occasions as showers have no locks and the horrible staff can enter anyone’s room at any point with their universal key cards, which they do regularly. I repeat, do not stay here.

Hostel Pangea

Main amenities of the hostel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

What other amenities are there?

General

Rooms

Services and amenities

Meals

Internet

Transfer

Languages Spoken

Tourist services

Recreation

Parking

Pool and beach

Business

Pets

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment