Facing Parque Central on Avenida Central, the neoclassical white stucco building that houses Gran Hotel Costa Rica has anchored downtown San José's social life since 1930, its arcaded ground floor and wrought-iron balustrades long serving as the architectural backdrop to the city's public square. The conversion into a Curio Collection by Hilton property brought a bold structural addition: a glazed penthouse volume set atop the original four-storey facade, its curtain-wall geometry making no attempt to mimic the heritage masonry below — a candid dialogue between eras that, from street level at dusk, glows like a lantern above the white plinth. Inside, the design strategy shifts between registers with considerable confidence. Guest rooms work a palette of blonde wood cladding, cream leather headboards, and softly patterned carpets in sage and grey — white Saarinen-style tulip tables and bentwood chairs lending a mid-century domesticity to spaces whose original gridded sash windows still filter the canopy green of the park outside. The rooftop restaurant carries encaustic cement tiles in amber and terracotta across its floor, grounding a room otherwise defined by floor-to-ceiling glass and panoramic views toward the central valley mountains. The adjacent bar anchors its drama in black marble flooring, gold-fluted column screens, and a Yamaha grand piano positioned where every guest arriving from the elevator encounters it first — a choice that declares the hotel's ambitions more clearly than any lobby statement wall ever could.

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