Equal But Different – The Hotel Business in Costa Rica Versus Nicaragua

Life was always a series of adventures to Edgar Neidhardt, and few have been more instructive and demanding than owning a hotel business in Costa Rica, and then the Kekoldi Hotel in neighboring Granada, Nicaragua.

The Kekoldi Hotel in Downtown San Jose

After a few visits to Costa Rica in the early 1990’s, Edgar decided to leave behind the often cold and gloomy weather of his German homeland for a new and perhaps more carefree adventure in tropical Costa Rica. Attracted by the eternal spring like temperatures of the Central Valley, he decided to renovate an existing building in the historic Amon district of San Jose in 1994. Using his imagination, and the decorating talent of the well known English artist Helen Eltis, his dream project became what it is still known as today – the Kekoldi Garden Hotel in San Jose, an art deco hotel just out of the immediate bustle of San Jose, but close to trendy restaurants, museums and theaters. “Business was brisk and I was happy with the results of what I had set out to do, but there was one problem,” relates Edgar, “Even though I owned the business, I didn’t own the building and the land. I was a tenant, subject to the whims of the owner who could raise the lease cost periodically. I wanted more security and opportunity by owning the land, and that is when I became interested in Granada.”

Tourism in Nicaragua – A Bonus for Costa Rica

Mauricio Alfaro, co-owner of the 5 leaves for sustainable tourism website, Costa Rican Trails, announces the launch of his new brand website, Nicaraguan Trails, which will feature packages for both Costa Rica and Nicaragua.  Mauricio, a visionary tourism entrepreneur states, “we have found an intense interest in people planning to visit Costa Rica for an extended period of time, most notably the Europeans whose vacations are for one month, they want to experience other countries.”

“When they travel all the way to get to this side of the world, Europeans want to see as much as possible. Offering Nicaragua as an extension, gives added value to the Costa Rica experience, and overall, Nicaragua is not a competitor of Costa Rica as they offer different experiences and sites that we don’t have, like Granada and Leon.   We have found that by assuring the European traveler that they won’t run out of things to do and places to see actually brings Costa Rica more business, as they choose to stay here most of the time anyway.  We’re glad we decided to move into this sector.”

According to statistics, Nicaragua attracted more than 1 million tourists in 2011, about 2.8% more compared to 2010.  With extensive campaigns by the governmental tourism board, known as INTUR, included running ads on TripAdvisor and The New York Times, this has lead Nicaragua to experience an increasing arrival of US travelers and international travelers.

Renting a 2 Wheel Drive Car vs. a 4 Wheel Drive SUV in Costa Rica

What is the best car / utility vehicle for each situation?

With my non-profit hotel association, Adventure Hotels of Costa Rica, about every two years, sometimes in the rainy (green) season, sometimes in the sunny (high) season, I clock approximately 2800 kilometers driving around Costa Rica, visiting all potential and new member hotels. Therefore I have gained quite a bit of knowledge about driving around Costa Rica at all times of the year.

Though Costa Rica looks small on a world map, it takes about fourteen hours to drive diagonally from one corner to the next. Traversing the rugged landscape, few highways are straight. And when you see a sign giving directions or kilometers to a certain town, take advantage of it! Costa Rica’s Million Dollar Gift of Happiness campaign by the ICT would have been far more productive spending the money signing the roads better for lost tourists, than giving the money away to some lucky tourists who can already afford a vacation, but that’s another story!

For the last seventeen years I have been making reservations for guests at my two consecutive Costa Rica hotels, Hemingway Inn and Adventure Inn and arranging good value car rentals for my guests (and others). I often get asked the question, “What do I need, a 2 wheel drive sedan or a 4 wheel drive SUV style car?”

Love in the Wild – Ep. 7: The Dirty Half-Dozen

Bare Down: The final 3 couples battle to win that trip around the world...and look good doing it.

This week the three remaining couples met Darren not in the jungle but at the beach in their skivvies.  He then told them to swim for it by which he meant a boat anchored maybe 50 meters offshore.  No problem, right?  No, none – except that Miles from Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes, didn’t know how to swim.  Fearing that he might drown, he was outfitted with a life jacket and training wheels.  Having retrieved a map from underwater, all three couples started paddling like mad (on paddle boards) in a race to find five coin-filled bags and deliver them to an oddly named gentleman at a place called Coco’s Bar in town (Ed. Note: In Cahuita, for those curious).  While Mike was smacking Samantha in the head with a paddle, Skip, stoked by the sight of Teresa’s rear end staring him straight in the face, rowed his team into an early lead.  Meanwhile, Heather was doing her best to keep Miles from ending up face down in the kiddie pool.  Having been first to retrieve a fourth bag at the pier, Skip and Teresa were feeling pretty good about themselves at this point in the adventure. The only thing between them and the win was recovering the fifth bag and delivering it to that dude at Coco’s.  But, then the unthinkable happened. Teresa lost the fourth bag somewhere between the pier and forever.  And just like that their lead completely evaporated.  Yes, they backtracked, crossed paths with a mapache, went back into the water at the pier, but it was all for naught.  They were toast.  It was a two-team race after that.

Central America Travel Deals Feature Ecotourism in Costa Rica and Mexico

Although Costa Rica is a relatively small country if you compare it to Mexico, it stands out from other Central American countries by emphasizing the ecotourism trend that it helped create and promote. Especially in this time of economic crisis, the whole idea behind ecotourism is to preserve natural resources while at the same time profiting from them, and giving back to the community. Costa Rica, receives over 1 million visitors per year and practically half of them (49%) come from The U. S, and with the depressed economy there, great deals on travel and eco-tours can be found in Costa Rica as well as Mexico.

Secluded, Los Chonchos Beach, Mexico - Jungle Trekking, Snorkeling, Whale Watching

Most people may not think of it this way, but Costa Rica’s “neighbor” to the north has always offered many eco-tourism attractions. From the Pacific to the Caribbean, Mexico offers unequaled natural beauty and great weather year round. Oliver Weickardt, of Vacaciónes Mexíco, reminds us, “Mexico is not just about sandy beaches, it has many other options to offer its visitors such as: beautiful architecture, mountains, biosphere reserves, and magical archaeology, including one of the 7 wonders of the world in Chichèn Itzà , located in the Yucatan peninsula. Sure, we have our big hotels on white sandy beaches, but if you’re looking for ecotourism, we have isolated beaches, and traveling now is a bargain.”

Taking on the Giants

One Costa Rican hotel owner had enough of the costly intermediaries he thought necessary to fill his hotel and responded by successfully building a non-profit Costa Rican hotel association over the last six years – The Adventure Hotels of Costa Rica.

Eric Robinson, owner of the Adventure Inn Hotel, near the San Jose International Airport states, “I had had enough depending on the Global Distribution System hierarchy (GDS), that is, Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and Hotels.com to send me guests, and when they do, they want a 25 to 30% commission or more, eating up most of the profits. It’s hard to win.”

In 2005, Robinson was able to garner a group of 22 hotel owners and persuade them to refer guests to each other. “When guests check out and are going to other parts of Costa Rica, they are eager for hotel information. I thought what a lost opportunity, and Adventure Hotels of Costa Rica (AHCR) was formed. Things were a bit slow until member hotels started realizing it really does work, and we haven’t looked back.”

Not counting the 10% discount guests receive when they mention AHCR at booking, another special ingredient that the Adventure Hotels of Costa Rica offers to potential guests that the GDS is unable to do, is the ability to talk directly with the hotel, make special requests for an ocean front room, or flowers and a bottle of champagne waiting in their room, or even negotiate a lower price for multi-night stays or groups.