Costa Rica Backpackers Hostel - San Jose

Costa Rica Backpackers is your average backpacker's hostel - simple, a little shabby, and packed - but with above-average perks. How many hostels have a pool, after all?

I spent my very first night of my very first trip to Central America at Costa Rica Backpackers. Though I wasn't exactly comfortable, the hostel's steamy dorm rooms and rustic common areas were my initiation into backpacking culture.

Backpackers are everywhere, swinging their bare feet in the pool, chowing down at the on-site restaurant, e-mailing their worried mothers, on the bunk above you and beside you. But the best part of Costa Rica Backpackers is the feeling of international camaraderie. Everyone's so globally-minded and approachable, you'll make friends from several different continents in just one evening.

All the taxi drivers at the San Jose International Airport in Alajuela seem familiar with the Costa Rica Backpackers hostel. The ride into the capital can cost $25 USD. Just tell them, "De la esquina noreste de la corte suprema, 100 metros al este" You can book a minivan through the hostel to pick you up for $14 a person. Or you can take a public bus there for just a few dollars—the preferred method for the hostel’s demographic of travelers.

When you’re ready to leave, the hostel’s front desk will be glad to show you a bus schedule or book a tour.