“SO YOU WANNA BE A COSTA RICAN INNKEEPER?"

AN OCCASIONAL SEMINAR

It is now over seven years since we made the fateful (yet delightful) decision to run an Inn in paradise, Costa Rica - our Pura Vida Hotel.  Our only regret was “why didn’t we do it sooner?”   So this article and the 1 day seminar it relates to are intended to help the would-be Costa Rican Innkeeper get started on their dream.

The following is a summary of a seminar I now give periodically to people who have a specific interest in moving to Costa Rica AND who are considering opening a B&B or Inn but are not sure what they may face making it work in Costa Rica.

My article is guided by 3 key vantage points:

• our experience running an Inn in Costa Rica,
• time spent starting and running the Costa Rica Innkeepers Association and
• the excellent book “So you want to be an Innkeeper” by Davies, Hardy, Bell and Brown as well as input from PAII – the Professional Association of Innkeepers International.  Do not even consider running an Inn without this book and contacting PAII or some of the members.

SO YOU WANNA BE A COSTA RICAN INNKEEPER?"

“The work never seems to be done, you are plagued by phone interruptions, sporadic eating patterns, late night arrivals, a water heater that burns out when the Inn is full, the travel writer who arrives unannounced when the septic tank is being pumped”  from “So You Want To Be An Innkeeper” .

So why would ANYONE want to do it AND move to Costa Rica and collide head on with a different culture in a language you don’t understand???

There are so many questions that perplex an aspiring Innkeeper (or an old hand moving to Costa Rica).  PAII has a good list and we had many specially for the local environment:

• What government agencies do I need to get started?
• How can I find a manager/assistant innkeeper?
• I keep getting bills from this international guidebook. Do I need to pay? (nope, ignore them)
• Where/how should I be marketing on the Internet? 
• What should I pay my staff?
• A staff member is stealing from me, what do I do? What is the process to fire an employee?
• We are doing a new brochure. What is it for?
• Should I add a dinner service?
• Should I work with travel agencies?
• Do I need ICT? (national tourism board)
• How do I find a good plumber? (there are none, it's better if your Inn is 1 story).

These are just a few questions that baffle some new Innkeepers anywhere on the planet.  I will try my best in this essay to separate out the specific questions and issues that a budding Innkeeper in Costa Rica is going to face

LOOKING FOR THE INNKEEPER, LOOKING FOR THE INN

Who makes a good Innkeeper?  We have met 100’s of Innkeepers from 100’s of previous careers and there is no single answer but there are characteristics that you can bring to the table that will be critical to your success in this “business”.

For a multitude of laughs you must start by reading Herman Wouk’s hilarious tale of Innkeeping in the Caribbean – “Don’t Stop the Carnival”.   From the chapter titled “The Quake”:

“ . . . On his first week of Caribbean hotel-keeping, Norman Paperman had netted thirty seven dollars and forty cents.  There were reasons for this shocking figure to be sure.  The payroll was large: cooks, maids, waitresses, steel band, and gardener: none of them were paid much but it added up to a lot.  There had been the terrible water purchase.  Money had to be set aside for the bank; and this he would have to do for some 300 weeks to pay off the loan and the notes. The revenue from the new units was supposed to balance off this drain, but they remained unbuilt.  The game room stood open to wind, moon, rain and sun, undisturbed by human hands (for weeks).  Bids to complete the job had come in.  The range of prices was imbecile.  The low bid was $1500 the high was $21,000.  Collectively the (local) contractors seemed to have as much reliability as a flock of migrant birds, and little more knowledge of construction.”

It is important to understand that Herman Wouk’s character runs into FAR fewer problems than you will.   The first and most important thing is to recognize is that this new career of yours CAN be a 24 hour shift and it is SO much easier to handle if you have a partner.  We know of many single Innkeepers but I would suggest they have some very very hard days they don’t want to talk about.

The second thing you need will be a high degree of patience and tolerance combined with the ability to enjoy interacting with strangers at 5pm AND 5am.  If this is a new move to Costa Rica, the first year will leave your patience wearing thin if all you want to do is sit on a beach and drink Mai Tais.  If you are an Innkeeper AND you don’t speak Spanish your patience will be strained to the limit.  In fact don’t even bother if one of the couple does not have some language skill!

If you think you can make it past those speed bumps, it is time to consider researching the market and pondering locations for your B&B.  This takes some travel around the country – when we moved I had already been here maybe 8 times and had a good sense of coastal vs central valley vs forest issues.  I understood something about city vs country issues and in particular the challenges of access to infrastructure in a developing country.  

For example healthcare is available everywhere at very low cost but the village clinic in the Zona Sur is no place for complicated issues.

One issue many miss is the absolute need to understand your community.  I’d ask the question “where is grandma?”  If the community you are thinking of moving to has no social fabric, has no generations of individuals living in the neighborhood you may be in for a rough time.  Where is grandma?  In some areas an active civic or business association such as exists in some beach towns is critical for the future of that community (do you really want a 10 story condo to dwarf your cute little Inn in 5 years?).  

The hotel lobby on arrival: 

 and today:

Once you have found the ideal location and a great Inn for sale, can you rent it or run it for a few months for the existing owner?  This would be ideal!  Better can you run the Inn for a month or two during Semana Santa or Christmas as a renter when the strangest things happen in some villages?

 

BED AND BREAKFAST OR AN INN?

This big question boils down to decisions you can make about doing dinner and a 6am to 11pm operation.  And another big factor is that Inn management is quite different from 1 to 3 rooms, from 1 to 10 rooms and from 10 to 30 rooms. 

As we both like to eat (and cook) we decided to call ourselves an Inn and do a nice dinner with advance reservations.  For us that is both a lifestyle issue, a successful revenue generator and a way to gain a reputation for our Inn beyond the modest concrete and bedding of the lodging we market to guests. 

But what is An Inn?  I compiled the following definitions from “So you want to be an Innkeeper” and various sources and modified them for the reality in Costa Rica.

HOMESTAY, HOST HOME

This type of establishment is an owner-occupied private home where the business of paying guests is secondary to its use as a private residence. Hosts are primarily interested in meeting new people while continuing their present employment or retirement. These are usually between 1-3 rooms.  Breakfast is the only meal served.  These are often associated with language schools in Costa Rica. 

B&B, BED AND BREAKFAST INN
Formerly a single family dwelling usually in the 4-5-room range but may be larger, this owner-occupied establishment is both a home and lodging. This establishment advertises publicly and posts a sign. Breakfast is the only meal served and only to overnight guests. The often-bigger B&B Inn may host events such as weddings, small business meetings, etc. Room numbers of the B&B Inn range from 4-20.  

LODGE 
A property or building with individual rooms with private and/or shared baths. A central meeting area is available for lectures or gatherings. Three meals are included or there is a restaurant on/near the premises.  May also include Cottages or Cabins, usually in a rustic/rural setting and found throughout jungle areas of Costa Rica – you’ll know it when they describe the accommodations as “rustic”. 

INN 
The Inn offers overnight lodging and meals, the owner is actively involved in daily operations, usually living on site. These establishments are, in fact, B&B Inns, which serve at least one meal in addition to breakfast, and operate as "restaurants" as well as overnight lodging accommodations. A country inn with a full-service restaurant serves these additional meals to the general public. The number of rooms tends to range from 6 to 30.

ACQUIRING AN INN

This question demands more than we have space for in a short essay.  I advise reading all the books in the section called “Moving Here” books on our web site.

You will have legal, setup, insurance and other concerns and our advice is simply to find a damn good lawyer.  We went through 4 (count em 4) in our first week here.  We ran into lots of unexpected issues in the process such as previous owner terminates all employees and all are rehired on take possession day 1.  Did we mention the fun and games with Costa Rican banks?  Did you know there are no escrow services here?  How about no addresses and no mail per se?

The details are beyond the scope of this essay so sign up for a seminar (best to do that with a list of YOUR questions).

THE BUSINESS PLAN

A business plan is a vital step in any business but few Innkeepers do one? I think that is NUTS!   On request I can provide an outline of the plan we used.  As my background includes a lot of marketing, I do emphasize the marketing aspects of this business.  It is MUCH harder to build it and hope guests will come!  Many Innkeepers sit there bemoaning their competition when in fact they are their worst competition.  The business plan needs to address both what you want to do and how to make that happen as well as what you don’t want to do (to avoid wasting valuable time on dead issues you already decided against).  I also urge you to spend time with your staff on the outline of the plan so everyone is in some degree of sync as you get started.

EARLY INNKEEPER ISSUES

What do you want your Inn to "say" to guests.  This is the biggest question you must ask.  What is "THE BIG IDEA” - “family”, “romantic getaway (adult)”, “backpacker/budget”, “jungle Lodge”, “Holiday Inn”?  Once you can answer that question you can start writing your web site text, your brochure and answer guests emails in such a way that the right person finds you AND enjoys the experience.  This “theme” of guest type must permeate every aspect of the hotel and how you market it.

Now you must plan your next 3 years.  We chose an “internal goal” called “Quality over time”.  We made a 1 year and 3 year development plan and budget to try to improve the quality of EVERYTHING over time.  We did not have capital so we could not just knock down buildings or make new ones.  We had to remodel and we have been doing that every day since.

Costa Rica has a very specific high season vs green season.  Some Innkeepers can go close to bankrupt in their first green season as they sit EMPTY September and October paying bills they hadn’t planned for.  You need to market for the green season 6 months or better a year ahead not IN September.  One adage a fellow Innkeeper likes to say is simply “Think Green Season and the rest of the year takes care of itself!”.

Contracting and construction tales – we have SO many.  No advice can prepare you for the challenges and only patience and careful management will help.  Everything that can go wrong did.  As an example we went through 6 electricians before we found a good one.  Lately we got rid of him too!

What about public spaces, disabled accommodations and can you do a green hotel? What things can you take a lead role in or be proactive in?  So many issues in the beginning!  You can get to them over time, you CANNOT get to guest satisfaction over time!

Food & beverage service is a big issue for an Innkeeper yet some think of it as a mere afterthought.  There are breakfast issues and dinner concerns.   

We got lucky for example when an Innkeeper friend dropped by early in our Innkeeping career and declared categorically “your breakfast is crap”.  Guests were far too polite to tell us that our reiteration of the former owner’s breakfast service was no good.  We quickly changed EVERYTHING and now get rave reviews for presentation, quality, and breakfast cakes and so on.

Do you have what it takes to do dinner service?  This can be a grueling experience or a wonderful revenue generator.  It cannot be done if you are to be a single Innkeeper, it should not be done if one of the Innkeepers is not a great cook.   See “Marketing the Inn” below.

About those amenities - what makes the difference in "This Costa Rican Inn”?  Amenities add value and increase revenue for a usually non capital investment.  So you need to look at the cost vs return of a phone, a TV, a new shower head, a luggage rack, a reading light, coffee in room, refrigerator, landscaping, secure parking and more.  If you add a refrigerator in the room can you add $5 to the room rate?  You can’t imagine the compliments our reading lights over the beds have received.

We just spent thousands of $$$ remodeling our Mariposa Casita.  It will be our best yet and at a certain occupancy level we are confident in, will pay back in about 1 year.  There are no investments that you make that pay back in a year that you should not do!  A simple decision.

New Innkeepers are faced with a big problem in Costa Rica called “Suppliers”.  For a year we looked for soap dispenser for showers – we are not in Kansas anymore!  You need to think as local as possible for supplies and support but it does not always work – we have friends now at two local hotels so we call them periodically to shoot the breeze or exchange ideas or suppliers.  Same thing for local hiring – 100% of our staff are local referrals.

Many newbies to Costa Rica think they have some credit for their previous work or previous good credit.  Most that arrive here are however like newborns and that’s all the credit you get at Banco Nacional.  Heavy credit does not work in Costa Rica.  And it is useless with a small business like an Inn.  We do NOT advise taking on any credit load here.  We thought it is far better to start small and grow over time.  But your circumstances will be yours alone.

MARKETING THE INN

Who is your market?  Is it the general public or travel agents?  Travel agents usually do not work well for small Inns with specific amenities and limited resources. 

How can you focus by region e.g. North America or “German speakers” or better still even narrower such as “teachers with groups of students from the west coast”?

What type of guest do you want – middle aged well off couples, backpackers, Innkeepers, ornithologists, families, weddings?  Everything you do MUST now focus on one or two guest types.  You cannot be all things to all people and your Inn ratings will suffer if you try.

What about occupancy?  10%, 30%, 50% any one can be success or failure - what is occupancy?  You start with the premise that an empty room is dead inventory and work up from there.  In our seminar we answer questions on how to optimize your occupancy without messing your rates up and undercutting yourself. 

What about setting rates?  What are the rates in the area (visit as many small similar hotels as you can now and always).  What are the competitive issues e.g. “airport shuttle included!”. 

What about the average revenue per room?  It is far cheaper to market extras than to build a new room but what can you sell that YOUR kinds of guests have a real NEED for?   In the seminar we examine % of closes to inquiries - if 50% today, what moves it to 60% in a month, revenue per close, length of stay, sales of tours, things the guest can do in your area, guest promotions etc and various things to increase your room occupancy, number of days and revenue per room.

What about a name/a logo/a brand?  Gotta do it and if guests can remember you it will be easier to get your referrals coming in in the future.  Don’t use a name nobody can pronounce or is too long – your name MUST be the same as your URL.  This is why the Pura Vida Hotel has a URL of PuraVidaHotel.com!

What about a brochure?  Some think of it as an afterthought but think of new things you can do with a brochure, how it should be designed for best effect, where and how it will be displayed etc.  Our brochure design for example has only one purpose - "to find people who need a place to stay on their last night."

What about a Web site?  We recommend someone who has done a bunch of CR Innkeeper web sites (although we made our own web site).  You should get familiar with web editor once your initial design is done and be committed to building out content over time.  Web marketing can cost you a bundle but there are a few things you can do yourself at minimal to no cost – we examine these in the seminar.  You must be in charge of and be able to develop your own content (regularly).

How do you get the word out?  Most people think of travel agents first – we say maybe/maybe not!  Their commissions are high and, in the beginning, you may be willing to give up some control and some revenue to get occupancy and ratings?  What about tour operators?  They do not work for a small Inn, sorry.  Big winners are guide books and travel forums as well as sites such as TripAdvisor.com.  At our seminar we can go over the many ways to use these sites and tools to help market your Inn. 

At the seminar we will discuss the 4 best marketing ideas in Costa Rica (from Pura Vida Hotel - everyone else's will be different!).  By best we mean those that meet two criteria – an increase in bookings and an improvement in perception of the hotel and its services from 4000 miles away.

THE GUEST EXPERIENCE

This is what an Inn is really all about and you need to work EVERY detail. 

The Pre – Arrival for example needs to weed out smokers and solve transportation questions before they are even asked if possible.  I think of it as the mental taste buds needing some preparation so that the right guest experience happens almost effortlessly (at least that’s what the guest should experience).   And your “Welcome” at 6am or at midnight – must always be “welcome”.

The Room must always ready even if you have no reservation – fortunately we live in a country of perpetual fresh flowers.  How do you say "yes" to guests every request?  Our staff understands and has been trained that YES is the right response (the occasional havoc this causes far outweighs guest attitude to the alternative response). 

You need to think of every interaction – for example the simple idea that staff (who meet guests) need to introduce themselves and say hi in whatever language they are comfortable with.  Even the exit needs to be thought of including how to ensure feedback & how you or your staff responds.

You will meet our staff at the seminar and feel free to ask them for their perspective on what the guest experience should be at Pura Vida. Hotel.

INN OPERATIONS

This is a huge topic so, for this introduction, I’m just going to include some of the elements we deal with that make up the smooth running of our Inn.  Each Inn will have some additional ones and we can cover them in a seminar:

• Make a list of what you LIKE to do and hope your partner can do the rest  - your partner needs to make up for all your defects and you theirs
• Innkeeping can be a 24 hour shift (only 16 hours if no restaurant) - singles need a great manager on site
• Staffing determines success – issues include hiring, costs, the Caja (social welfare/healthcare system),  job descriptions.  Hire the best you can afford, do not skimp on staffing but take action when they fail to perform.  Wages, 6 month raises, 13th month pay, vacations, holidays etc – we will go over hiring and development practices at the seminar.
• Security and strategies on how to avoid internal and external losses.  The bigger the property, the more accessible the property, the more things will disappear.  Testing your security from inside and from outside.  The balance of a public space and Fort Knox
• Reservations - examples of good and bad reservations tools.  Email is vital - samples of what we use at Pura Vida Hotel.  A good reservations log is essential as electricity is not a given in CR
• What to do when you are not there – how to run on 1/2 speed not 0 speed
• and other stuff like backup systems,  overflow & working with local Hotels, build relationships in the neighborhood,  the bill - cash, credit cards, travelers checks, taxes etc

A great resource for newbies and oldies alike are the 5000 plus members of this forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CostaRicaLiving - a place to go with any question about Costa Rica.

YOUR VILLAGE AND YOU

There are two good reasons for community involvement (probably more).  You will decide what yours are.  Ours include the simple idea that working with our local public school is likely to have more positive effects on our future neighborhood than any one thing we can do.  The other is that when the weird occurs, you’ll need to be one with your community. 

How can you get involved - paint a schoolroom, assist your local police car, show up at fund raisers, pay the little kids for whatever it is they are selling (then donate the ticket), install trash bins or bus shelters, participate in a neighborhood watch etc.  In our case we are active at our local public school and have begged and cajoled every guest who comes here to donate books to the school library – many 1000's of books now.

Most Innkeepers we know are active in their community in some way unique to them or their skills or the needs of the neighborhood.

TO CONCLUDE

This is not the easiest of jobs to do in a tropical country or anywhere else.  It is harder in a country that is less developed and in areas where suppliers and contractors are thin to non-existent such as the Osa peninsular in the southern zone of Costa Rica.  Due to such challenges, we think it is critical to maintain the owner’s health and sanity.  To conclude here are things we like to do as well as some tips from other Innkeepers:

• balance work and play - block a day a week or run low for a few days (take a break!)
• take exercise and have an outside hobby or passion (maybe something that indirectly assists the Inn e.g. photography, cooking, underwater hockey)
• travel to other hotels for their ideas (take another break!  We try to do one of these each month.)
• feel good about hospitality - or you will go nuts or be driven to drink or both
• run a professional operation (less things to go wrong, build process that stands alone so you can take yet another break!)

There are many good days . . . from Herman Wouk’s “Don’t Stop the Carnival” again:

“The cistern was repaired.  The dance terrace was tiled over and the railing was repaired.  The pump was working.  There was plenty of water, and electricity was restored in all rooms.  The maids were back on the job.  The lobby was straightened up, shining and clean.  All this was the doing of Hippolyte Lamartine and his strange crew.”



The hotel Casa 7 years ago and today:

A FEW MORE INNKEEPER SECRETS

 . . . will be included in  your seminar or just come visit and chat about the joys of tropical Innkeeping with any of us who took the plunge here in Costa Rica.  And don’t forget to take a break every now and again and explore this wonderful country we now call home (and work).

student insights from the Osa peninsular

First I should set a stage.

Where is the Osa?

Well it is about 5 to 10 hours south of us by car or an hour by plane.  You can drive in on the southern end via the delightful Pueto Jimenez or you can drive/boat via Siepre to Drake Bay or fly to Drake Bay.

It is without question one of the most bio diverse places on the planet and well worth a visit next time you come to Costa Rica.  As Wiki puts it "  The Osa Peninsula is located in southwestern Costa Rica, in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific Ocean, at 8°33′N 83°30′W / 8.55°N 83.5°W / 8.55; -83.5.  The Osa Peninsula is home to at least half of all species living in Costa Rica. The main town on the Peninsula is Puerto Jimenez, which has its own airport and provides access to Corcovado National Park as well as the coastal villages of Cabo Matapalo and Carate."

Our group of students took off from Unity College, Maine and landed here few days ago, stayed the night at the Pura Vida Hotel and then headed on by van and boat to the northern tip of the Osa, Drake Bay.

For those with a interest in marine life, wide eyed views of the world and funny tales of adventure in Costa Rica . . . you may want to add yourselves as followers to this interesting and often funny blog: <http://ucme.wordpress.com/>

Just for the next 2 weeks you'll get delightful tales from 20 year old college students traipsing around the Osa jungle, swimming in Drake Bay and exploring the amazing wildlife down there. These marine biology students are down here for 3 weeks getting an eye and brain full of Costa Rica. Full disclosure: We met them as they entered the country, they stayed a night and we waived them on their way by van to the Osa.

Every day each student (and professor Emma Creaser) blogs about their experiences - here's a short entry from last night:

"Today we went sea kayaking to explore the coastline from another point of view.  We´re all getting used to the humidity and the heat now, and the first wave of sunburn is peeling off people. Today at the hotel we saw some men from the government measuring distance on the shore. Apparently, there are to be no buildings 50m or 200m from the high tide line as the government owns the first 50m of land. Of course plenty of people live in this strip of land so it appears that the government is doing some sort of eminent domain decision to
obtain the houses. It will probably be better for the environment, but it seems a little harsh on the locals."

And you can imagine Amanda's mum back in New England stumbling into this entry about her daughters first trip to the jungle: "Today we went sea kayaking which was a lot of fun. We started by going up a river but had to turn around because the tide was changing. I saw a small crocodile which was cool however Amanda had just fallen in - good thing there were none around then. We then went out into the ocean and I saw more frigate birds and pelicans. There were lots of fish jumping- wish I had a fishing pole!  Our tour guide was very helpful. It was fun riding the waves. Later today we are getting a talk on Corcovado Reserve which should be very interesting."

This was one insightful entry after just 2 days in the country:

Hooray! It´s Travelling Day!

May 13, 2010

Six hours worth of travelling across Costa Rica in one day, and here are a few of the things I learned:

1. Costa Ricans have the right idea – A GPS means a map and a laser pointer.
2. On the coin colones, there are 3 mountains representing the three large mountain ranges in Costa Rica. Also, it looks like there is only one ship before the mountains, but the dot in between two of the mountains is actually another ship. Each one sails on a different ocean that borders Costa Rica.
3. When the tour guide says, “Pay attention, there’s going to be a quiz later,” he means it. There could be a t-shirt at stake.
4. When the tour guide says that he just went into the butcher shop to get the throwaway bits of meat so that we can feed crocodiles later, he means it.
5. Feeding crocodiles off a bridge is SO COOL.
6. Howler monkeys really do howl (well, the males do anyways).
7. Time always seems to go by very slowly in Costa Rica.
8. When the heat and humidity are getting to you, and all you want is for it to rain, remember to be careful what you wish for next time.
9. Riding down a river in a small boat going rather fast is very exciting. Especially when the rain is pelting down so hard that it hurts your skin, and it’s thundering and lightning outside and you’re in a metal boat in the middle of the water, and there’s fog everywhere, and you can barely see out of your glasses… I’m quite serious, though… it was very exciting.
10. HOLY GUACAMOLE OCEAN WATER IS WARM HERE!!!
11. Mangroves are really cool… well, at least I think they are. It was hard to see them with all of the fog and the rain.
12. When you put all of your luggage into plastic bags to keep it dry when in reality the one thing that you care about keeping dry is your computer, of course your computer is the one thing that gets wet.
13. Hammocks with ocean views are the best idea ever.
14. Never underestimate the book exchange rack at the hotel. There just may be a fantastic book there that is waiting for you.
15. And most importantly… PACK LIGHTER NEXT TIME!!!!!

I just wished they'd post more photos like "Amanda falling in the ocean, "croc advancing" etc etc.  If you leave a comment on any of the blog entries you'll get the option to be emailed daily posts. They finish in 2 weeks but the blog and their experiences will be there forever?

Some of our guests Favorite Places

Below you will find some places that our guests have recommended you might visit. These visits are based on their own trips and our guests believe you'd better not miss the experience if you are in that particular location. Perhaps some of these activities can enchant you and add to an unforgettable trip when you next come to Costa Rica:

Town	Location	Thing	Summary
Alajuela	Zoo Ave	The animals of course	It’s hard sometimes to tell which animals live in the zoo and which decided to hang around for the ambience.
Arenal	Paraiso Hotel	Zip Lines	Zip lining down at 40 mph over a lush canopy of rain forest and river, what a rush!
Uvita	Hacienda Baru/ Alejandra & Giovani	Don Lulos, Nauyaca Waterfull Tour	Beautifull Waterfull, Wonderfull Family, good food, bargain prices.
Cahuita	Cahuita National Park	Cahuita N.P	The large park with easy trails is a national treasure lots of wildlife too with a large barrier reef to snorkel.  Beautiful beaches, great wildlife, not a lot of people.
Cerro Punta in  Panama	Finca Dracula	Garden and orchid farm	Finca Dracula has a bazillion types of orchid, but the Dracula orchids hybridized at Finca Dracula are the stars. Lovely gardens.
Playa Cocles	El Gato Cicova, C.R. Italian Restaurant	Great restaurant	Food was gourmet Italian in the middle of this crazy jungle town. The music was enchanting. Great service.
Playa Cocles	Shawanda Restaurant	Great restaurant	Great atmosphere, ambience, service and great Food!!
Damas near Quepos		Mangrove Vayaking	Boas, Monkeys(Lots) and a great guide.
Drake Bay	Pirates Cove	Dinner and the park	Natural Food prepared very well. Day trips to Corcovado National Park.
Drake Bay	Elia, the guide	Corcovado National Park	Truly a zoo without bars. Grand Slaw on monkey species, Scarlet Macaws in the wild, anteaters, sloths, the whole menagerie, Sirena Ranger Station.
El Castillo	Linda Vista Lodge	The View	Perfect view of the Arenal Volcano erupting, the lake and more.
La Fortuna	Arenal Volcano Lodge	The hotel	Beautiful grounds with lots of flowers, super-friendly staff, and spotless rooms. Great restaurants and beautiful pools. And to top it off, the price is very reasonable.
La Fortuna	Anywhere in the area	Arenal Volcano at night	The lava flow at night is like fire works tumbling down the mountain!
La Fortuna	Arenal Hanging Bridges/Jose, the tour guide	Hanging Bridges Tour	Make sure you tell your guide what you hope to see so they can do their best to find it. We saw tarantulas, howler monkeys, two eyelash vipers, lots of lizards, a poison dart frog, leaf cutter ants, etc. Even a toucan!!
La Fortuna	Arenal Canopy Tour	Rainforest	Panoramic Lake views.
La Fortuna	1 mile out of town/ask any local teenager	Very Cool Rope Swing- 20ft drop	Some waterfalls (which you can also jump from).  What a blast & a special experience it was to laugh, cheer, and be cheered on by the local kids! It is located just off the small road over the same river that the waterfull in town falls into/creates.
Montezuma	Amor de Mar	Everything	Horse back riding and trip to Tortuga Island.  We rented both houses which are joined by an optional adjoining door at Amor De Mar. It was beyond our belief!!
Near La Fortuna	Arenal	Hanging	Waterfalls, Rivers, great views, beautiful walk. Suspended bridges & the jungle!
Near Sarapiqui	La Selva/ Christian the guide	The nature preserve	Fun guide, jungle walk, paved trails.
Nosara	Lagarta Lodge	The nature preserve	The lodge owns its own nature reserve that you can walk around and spot wildlife, with interesting information about trees and plant life. Sit in their bar and watch the sun set, and you need a car to get to Ostinal to see the turtles.
Ojochal	“Exotica” and “Citrus”	Restaurants in the middle of nowhere	Ojochal was adopted a few years ago by a lot of French Canadians so there are good French Restaurants. “Exotica” is one of the oldest and best. The food is not to be missed , and “Citrus” is so good too.
Puerto Viejo	Sarapiqui	La Selva	Great animals & birds. The scientist in residence were fabulous,  specially with my 8 years old daughter.
Samara		C&C Surf School	The ticos who work at the C&C Surf School are just good old fashioned bums. Good teachers. They also rent surfboards, boogieboards, and kyaks by the hour or day at a very good price.
San Gerardo de Dota	Savegre Mountain Hotel	The Chacon family	Surprisingly comfortable, operated by a family of very gracious people, terrific food, great birdwatching (with and without guide), easy hiking trails a little Shangri-La only 100km south.
Santa Elena/ Monteverde	Arco Iris Hotel / Monteverde	San Juan Coffee Tour	The coffee tour was nicely, informative and the coffee was the best. We also brave the Aventura Zip Line Canopy Tour. The cabins at Arco Iris were beautiful, saw monkeys during breakfast!!
Sarapiqui	Tirimbina Chocolate Tour		Demostration of how they made chocolate in the Mayan times. Interactive, good for kids. Brilliant chocolate!!
Sarapiqui, Tirimbina Rain Forest Center	Cocoa Plantation Tour	Wendy	Interesting and exceptional tour with the wide Wendy.
Tortuguero	Casa Marbella/ Daryl Loth	Seeing green turtles laying eggs	Daryl took us on the turtle tow for $15. It is incredible well managed and the turtles; not the tourist are the main priority. It was magical. Casa Marbella is a great place to stay, right on the river with great views, very comfortable, and the boat tows they run are also fabulous.

The meaning of Pura Vida and wanton friendliness

When you land at the international airport in Alajuela, it is very possible the first words you will hear from a local is "Pura Vida".  And, as you are destined to visit our hotel, the first Spanish words you will say are also likely to be the same - "Pura Vida" . . . as in "is this the free taxi to the Pura Vida Hotel?".

In your case you will be asking for the free taxi to the hotel, in their case they are probably saying "hi there!" or "great day isn't it!" or "so nice to see you!" or "see you later, friend!". Pura Vida is as close to the national motto as any phrase ever will be. If you want to see a Tico (local person) smile, just say "Pura Vida" and they will likely as not smile and say it back to you.

There are a number of explanations for the use of Pura Vida (literally "Pure Life") in the daily affairs of every Costa Rican. You will hear it over and over again as Ticos smile at meeting an old friend or as they say goodbye to a relative after Sunday lunch . . . "Pura Vida!". Pura Vida is unique to Costa Rica and it is probably the most used phrase of any . . . it is also the reason why there are 3 very different lodging places near the airport called Pura Vida Hotel (us), Pura Vida Spa (not us) and Pura Vida Motel (where beds are rented by the hour, also not us).

The explanation that you hear most often goes like this. Costa Ricans started using the expression "Pura Vida" after watching the premier of a Mexican movie called "Pura Vida" in 1956.  We have another more interesting theory based on “chicken soup” (see below for our explanation). By 1970 everyone was using the expression on a daily basis because the words conveyed the state of happiness, peace, and tranquility that political stability, a small country and freedom bring to Costa Ricans.

This period (1970 onwards) was a time of enormous change in what was being laid down as the groundwork for one of the most critical of all advances in Costa Rica - the national park system.  Poas Volcano, which you can see from the Pura Vida Hotel garden, was the first such park designated in 1971. Quite extraordinary to think that more than 25% of the country was protected in the 15 years that followed.

Nowadays, the expression "Pura Vida" has become so popular that it has been added to Costa Rican Spanish dictionaries as an idiom to greet, or to show appreciation. Pura Vida is a word that identifies a Costa Rican wherever he or she may be.

When you say "Pura Vida" the facial expression of the person changes and the person smiles. It is a word very meaningful to Costa Ricans. It reminds them of home and beauty and peace.

Now . . . about that chicken soup explanation.

Wiki says "Some foreigners view the phrase as an expression of a leisurely lifestyle, of disregard for time, and of wanton friendliness. However, Costa Ricans use the phrase to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike."

What I thought I heard (but cannot google as yet) is that hundreds of years ago, the new Andalusian settlers realized that they were broke and starving in the New World. The Andalusians were the first real settlers after the mess the conquistadors made.

The Andalusians of Southern Spain had been attracted by posters on the walls of Seville (in the 1600's?) telling a special tale of potential in a small country with a Rich Coast. If they would come and colonize, they'd have "neither glory nor riches" but they could make an honest living without interference from conquistadors or papal edicts and no taxes for a few hundred years. And even if they did get a papal edict they could feel free to ignore it and same goes for oxcart driving. The downside, unlike the rest of centro america they'd not be able to accumulate any slaves and "there'd be no gold for the grabbing", the wall poster went on.

This attracted a certain kind of settler . . . a farmer, a small holder, a shopkeeper, a teacher, a lottery seller and such. They boarded the boats at Cadiz with their meager worldly possessions, some bags of rice and beans and a few tools and set sail for Limon. On landing they quickly hailed a taxi oxcarto and headed for the central valley, some stopping off to found Orosi and Turialba and others going on to the small settlement of a few thousand souls eking a living in San Jose (the progeny of future BN tellers and residents of my village) .

Along the way encampments were setup in the shade of Pejibaye palms (ask us about Pejibaye when you get here). The settlers decided to boil some water for tea. And, of course, a small bunch of ripe pejibaye happened to drop in the water. It didn't smell too good but they were hungry and fished a couple out to eat. Dipped in Mayo de Cadiz, they didn't taste too bad . . . but we digress.

The remainder became soup for the evening. And it was pretty OK. The next evening they found some veggies and threw them in to the soup and it tasted better. As time went on soup became a favorite at the end of the day just as dusk set. Over the years you could hear the locals declaring it "pretty darn good" in the local dialect of the day. In later years they experimented further and, after a hard day toiling in the camote fields, they'd come home to really good soup, toss in a camote and would declare it "the best thing!"

As time went on they decided to add chicken bones to get a better stock and this was to be declared and even better thing, "the best thing of the day!"

Progress came to the little villages of Turialba and the town of San Jose which periodically exchanged with Cartago to become the capitol of this outpost managed from Guatemala. Priests were occasionally sent down to try and figure out how to make a buck but most never reported back to home base. They stopped in San Ramon and Atenas and Alajuela and just loved the local soup and set up shop as chicken farmers and Jewish tailors (there is a degree of confusion in 17th century history in CR).

As the Andalusian settlers got better organized they moved from a subsistence level to something more settled, more pleasant. And then, on special occasions, they added a whole chicken to the soup . . . and it was declared "the best thing (perhaps ever)" . . . at the end of a hard days toil. Sitting back after a couple of platefuls you could hear it from the kitchen tables of San Carlos, Orosi, San Pedro and Heredia . . . the words that truly expressed the pleasurable contented peaceful family feeling . . . "Pura Vida!".

OK IMHO, Berni

Moving to Costa Rica . . . a country at peace

We participate daily in the local gringo message board here Costa Rica Living, anyone is welcome to join if they have an interest in Costa Rica.

There is a caution I must add  . . . as you read the posts, these are opinions and are frequently wrong for various reasons.  For one, new arrivals to Costa Rica have different needs than the old hands.  For another the social climate (as well as the weather) is TOTALLY different in the loosey goosey Zona Sur than in the much more populated and organized Central Valley of Costa Rica.  What works for one rarely works the same for the other.

Here is a pretty good example of 2 perspectives about the exact same stretch of road.  One visitor wanted to know about the road in and out of San Vito close to the Panama border.  It just so happened I had been on that road the previous week . . . I replied:
"The road from the "highway" to San Vito is lovely
although the designer appears to have used a
corkscrew as her/his template . . . Going out the other
side of San Vito is also a nice winding road through
delightful countryside . . ."

Another member of Costa Rica Living then replied with:

"The hiway from Cd.Nielly is windy and uphill (and
dangerous in a rainstorm if you think in those terms)
and the one from the NW is full of potholes in
addition to the beautiful views, just so you know.
(Potholes at least before last Dec.)"

One member thinks the road is lovely and delightful
and another thinks it is potholed and dangerous.
Both views are of course true!

Actually the road looks just like this:

Recently a thread broke out about Costa Rica's lack of interest in war (as demonstrated by the abolition of the military in 1948 due to bad behaviour).  I wanted to share this thinking as the idea is what attracts many to Costa Rica in the first place.

A country at peace with the world.

The conversation started with this thought (obviously from someone who does not yet live here),

Q: "I am wrinkling my eyebrows now at the thought
that CR has no army. Do you really feel safe there?
I mean, there are idealogies that seek to dominate
the world and it seems to me that CR has no way
to defend herself. Don't you feel terribly vulnerable?

"I may have to watch out for the odd snake in the
woods, but am happy for not having to subsidize
a war machine. As it so happens we have already
too many arms with police and guatchiman."

 "Defend herself from whom? Nicaragua, Panama, ... ?
Most countries with military establishments have been
in more wars than CR has."

"I kinda like when this question surfaces.  We don't
have anything that anyone wants here. Neither Panama
nor Nicaragua need more terrain or more campesinos!
We nixed off shore drilling, so no one is going to invade
us for our oil.
We have no enemies since we remain neutral in international
affairs.
Our president Oscar Arias has made a massive effort over
the years to encourage other countries to spend the money
that a military requires on housing, education, medical care
and other things instead of weapons and soldiers. If people
are healthy, happy and reasonably well taken care of, they
don't do revolutions either.
Our need for a military is basically nonexistent. Many of our
neighbors in Central America use their armies to control the
population. We don't need to do that either.
I love that we don\t pay taxes for something we don't need."

"I have to admit to having a huge smile on my face
when I read this question.  Having no army was one
of the major deciding factors in my moving here in the
first place.
We have nothing which anyone else could want to take
and we have education and health-care instead!
What could be better??
I've never felt more safe anywhere."

 "Sorry, but i have a different take on what
could be taken from Costa Rica - and
it is happening now - "economically taken"
from a population made vulnerable by
tv and advertising, mesmerized by an
artificially-created need for owning
"things" that are manufactured and imported
from giant countries with giant armies - take
a guess which - and sold at artificially "cheap"
prices so these giant exporters can maintain
their trade deficits."

"Partially so, because we start to realize that we can either
suffer or master this situation. The solution towards a liveable
future will come from constructive and peaceful agreements
amongst ourselves. I don't have a cristal ball, but do believe
in our common sense (which needs time, like everything else)."

"My view of this is not that CR is a peace loving
nation but one taking advantage of circumstances,
many countries are willing to come to the defense
of CR should it be required, Israel, USA to mention
a few, who needs an army and BTW, what would
call all these uniformed "police" running around in
military uniforms, you tell me, police, military, army?????
Been to CR many times over the past 15 years and
decided there are other places that may be better.
Just check out the former leaders of the country,
where are they? The corruption rivals the USA. "

"Israel? What makes you think they would help Costa
Rica? Not saying you are incorrect but I have never
heard anyone mention any country other than the USA
who would come to the aid of Costa Rica should they
be invaded by a foreign power. I believe China might
but Israel? Can you tell me why you think Israel would?"

"God forbid that the Israeli Army ever shows up here...
I was in Israel in October.
There was a scuffle in Jerusalem so the army flew
maneuvers all around it's borders. Showing the neighbors
that they were serious, I suppose. But they also flew
maneuvers over all the 5 star hotels at the Dead Sea.
All day.  Flying lower than anything I ever seen outside
of an airplane Show. It was unnerving. It was loud.
It was unneccessary.
I seriously doubt than anyone will ever need to defend
us as there is no one to defend us from unless we change
the policy on offshore drilling. In whch case it is more likely
that the US would protect it's interests here. Because it has
been US companies that have shown an interest in our oil
and no one else to my knowledge.
They might actually have to if the problem were a takeover
for oil. But since we don't drill for oil here the likelihood is
about zero, maybe less.  Actually studies have been done
that show that most armies are used in part or wholly to
keep the citizens under control. Only a few large developed
countries send their soldiers to wars outside of their borders.
Far fewer than you might think."

 "I can think of one reason CR may need defense in
the future (if they can get serious about protecting its
most valuable resources). With the way the rest of
the world is going, clean water and oxygen may
become the most desirable things around.
Anyone for a fly fishing trip in the Aral Sea?"

 "Let me see if I have this correct, some country, such
as china were to take over Costa Rica they would respect 
the no exploration for oil in the coastal waters of CR????
I think not, they would begin exploration before you cloud
say jack rabbit, they are oil hungry, perhaps that may be part
of the reason they are courting CR now, hummmmn.
Fly fishing in the Aral Sea would be very successful, you
would be abuzz with success."

"Nope, I think IF some country took over there would
be no respect for anything (and especially if you already
built the refinery). But I just do not think the IF is likely.
Logistically it would be just too difficult for a distant nation
to accomplish it through invasion, would have to be done
from within. So IF the government wants to give the country
away, I am not sure that is the same as being taken over?
You get my drift.Either way, the kind of "taking over" that
could befall CR would not be defensible by an army. It
would likely require a civil militia, or an outraged population
at the voting booth. Or maybe just families preserving a
culture. Just my humble and maybe wishful opinion."

 "Um for the life of me I can't see why any country,
least of all China, would take over CR in 2010?
In a world of city states (lets say circa 1456 a.d.) there
was a great need to accumulate more cities and
territories in part because a city state was non viable and
needed some economies of scale, room to graze more
cows, a cute queen to attract and perhaps additional
slaves or something else they coveted.
Nobody takes over other countries any more (well
ALMOST nobody). Its truly passe, makes a mess of
the local landmarks and pisses off the neighbors.
Figueres was a very bright guy and got that all figured
out in 1948.

IMHO of course.
p.s. if my reading of the history is accurate, the total
layoffs as a result of disbanding the army and turning
the barracks into a cultural icon (I love that guys
style!) . . . was about 450 guys out of work. It wasn't
that big a job, but a distinct message to the future.
Correct me if I'm wrong on the numbers?"

PHOTO CREDITS:
All - PuraVidaHotel.com

1. Giant Cane Toad (AKA Bufo Marinus): more dangerous than the former Costa Rican military, this one found in the Pura Vida garden, about the size of a bread plate
2. Cute little 2 toed sloths, native to the southern Caribbean zone of Costa Rica . . . the mother may have been electrocuted as sloths sometimes can't tell a high tension cable from something pleasant to climb on
3. A map of the rea around San Vito, just north of the Panama border, check out the corkscrew road design.  This is also the road to the most excellent Wilson Botanical Gardens.  The Wilsons are buried there too.
4. Downtown Alajuela, our home town . . . though this is the second largest town in Costa Rica many of the locals do not use much from the so called developed world . . . supermarkets being one.  Many shop at the "underground" mercado central and the weekly Plaza Ferias (farmers market).
5. This is Lola the pig and unofficial mascot of the delightful Playa Avellanas - she is one contented and enormous pig (and lives at one of our favorite beaches).
6. The afternoon clouds mass in Alajuela near the Pura Vida Hotel
7. The Rhino beetle and its kin.
8. All of Costa Rica might, by some be considered a political backwater despite healthcare for all, no army and one of the hot spots on the planet for longevity.
9. Yes the U.S. built some bridges here as part of an effort to make sure the Panama Canal would be accessible by road in the event of who knows what . . .
10. The last real invasion attempt into Costa Rica was oddly enough managed by an American, William Walker in 1856
11. A delightful caterpillar.
12. A plaque commemorating the Costa Rican uprising that responded to the invasion with a campesino army of 5,000 . . . more people died in this war from yellow fever than from bullets.
13.  Lichen growing happily on a log, just the way things should be in the neo-tropics.