Costa Rica Hotel Buyers Guide
Costa Rica Regions Information Guide
This section is intended for purposes of evaluation of areas for buying a Costa Rica Hotel Bed and Breakfast. It extends to a regular Costa Rica investment as well We have supplied basic information so you may relate to your personal lifestyle needs as well.
Because of the vast number ecological areas and different temperate zones, the choices for a hotel located in Costa Rica are mitigated by much more than simply selecting a high traffic city for your location. Hotels have flourished in remote locations like the Tortuguero Canal on the Caribbean coast, and on up to the San Juan River leading to Nicaragua. Although Lake Arenal has many visitors with all it has going, it certainly can’t be considered a high traffic area, still maintaining it’s remote at-one-with-nature Costa Rica lifestyle ensure high occupancy for hotels in the region. Then, there’s Manuela Antonio, a great boutique hotel location, near the National Park of the same name in the Central Pacific region with its beautiful beaches. The Manuel Antonio State Park is the most visited place in Costa Rica spawning many a bed & breakfast or boutique hotel operation in the area. Many are for sale as I type. Also in the Central Pacific region is Jaco Beach - now this IS a tourist area with many visitors streaming in throughout the year. There’s also the Central Valley to be considered with its perfect weather in the higher altitudes, it’s proximity to the big city and all nature actives you can imagine. Also, proximity to world-class medical facilities in the Central Valley very much qualify hotels for medical tourism operations. Then you have a multitude of coastal areas on both sides of the country that cater to water sports and specifically the surfing tourism industry. There are many hotels for sale presently that can offer this beach lifestyle with a steady occupancy and a good return on investment.
You Can Get By With "Common Sense Marketing": But Genuine Savvy Helps
When one chooses an area in a specialized hotel market (surfing, medical, nature, etc.), you must be aware of the demographic that patronizes such establishments, and then have the marketing know-how to reach that group with what your hotel has to offer. Understand that customers won’t just show up to your door when you open and hang your shingle. You have to either buy an ongoing operation or regenerate interest through marketing. And remember, hanging a 'shingle' generally is not enough to get your business moving because when people eventually do see your sign, they have likely already booked their accommodations weeks or months earlier.
Caribbean Region: Limon, Tortuguero, Manzanilla, Puerto Viejo
The Caribbean region is an area of serious opportunity waiting to be seized. The new port of Limon generates incredible tourist activity with the 250 cruise ships that dock here annually. Further growth is promised with China’s offer to assist in building up of the infrastructure. This will encourage growth on the Caribbean coast from the Tortuguero in the north to Manzanilla in the south, giving the entire coastal region all the earmarks that astute investors look for. This, in turn, will make Caribbean bed & breakfast and boutique hotels quite popular in an area that really has no large hotels presently.
Lake Arenal Region: Tronadora, Tilaran, Arenal, La Fortuna, San Luis
The Lake Arenal region is perfect for the hotel investor as it has so much visitors attracted to its abundant wildlife, unbelievable lake, jungle and volcano vistas, a plethora of possible actives, while still maintaining it’s remote Costa Rica feel. It’s relatively low population and remoteness makes Lake Arenal one of the most secure, low crime, most desirable, green countryside areas of Costa Rica. Locating a bed & breakfast hotel in Lake Arenal’s many areas around the lake can provide dependable income, a return on investment, and a wonderful lifestyle for the proprietors who may eventually retire there.
Central Valley Region: San Jose, Escazu, Santa Ana, Atenas, Orotina
The Central Valley region offers all kinds of hotel operation possibilities. From catering strictly to tourists to business travelers, to medical tourism, to eco-tourism, the Central Valley offers opportunity and locations in all these markets. Popular in Escazu and Santa Ana and Atenas and all points along the new highway, stretching west from the capital are medical tourism hotel operations. These hotels cater to the North American that comes for medical care in Costa Rica and needs a place to stay and recover during which. This could be dentistry, plastic surgery, major medical surgery, or common procedures. Commonly, the cost of the procedure plus airfare plus accommodates is still half of what you would pay in the states… and considering that the Central Valley is home to the best, world-class health care offered in Central America, many hotel flourish with this business model.
The San Jose hotel market, it’s fair to say, is the most competitive market of them all though. This is mainly because it has more traffic than any other area of the country due, in large part, to the many travelers pass through the international airport, which is just 15 minutes north-west from the city center. This fact presents a great opportunity for small hotel operations as stopover accommodations for those moving on to other parts of the country the next day. It also serves as the ’last night’ accommodations for those flying the next day. So proximity to the airport is a very important factor to most Central Valley hotel marketers. With the activity, culture, and nightlife of San Jose, the capital can be appealing to tourists who are just stopping over and want to experience the big city before they head to other parts for the country.
Long-term accommodations are also available for business travelers and tourists alike for the multitude of diverse activities the capital offers such as casinos, very active night-life and proximity to leading business centers. Many of these San Jose area hotels who we thought would suffer from the economic downturn, survived nicely because of their niche markets with increasing growth and profits year over year.
North Pacific Region: Guanacaste, Flamingo, Tamarindo, Playa Negra
A quote from Mark Twain bears repeating in regard to the opportunities in the North Pacific region of Costa Rica:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things
that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. Sail away from the safe
harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
This area has had incredible growth since its beginning and attracts a large amount of tourist traffic, which is the whole point isn’t it? The area has grown adding many things to enhance its desirability, priced right and looks to have a very good future in tourism such as the new international airport in Libera, only a little over an hour’s drive from the coast. And they are constantly adding new flights from the USA and Europe bringing with them the promise for ongoing growth.
The great number of beaches to choose from has always been the key to the Guanacaste area attraction. Presently there are great opportunities for gold coast hotels and bed & breakfasts to grow and flourish in the area. Every possible water sport and ocean activity is available to visitors to this area but surfing tourism is clearly the major draw with the plethora of beaches that offer surf of every conceivable kind.
Central Pacific Region: Jaco Beach, Herradura, Esterillos, Manual Antonio, Quepos
The Central Pacific region is an ideal location for a number of good reasons. Jaco, one of the area’s most popular and developed towns, is only a little over an hour’s drive on the main highway from San Jose or the international airport in the Central Valley. A multitude of beach towns dot the Central Pacific coast like Puntarenas, Playa Herradura, Jaco Beach, Playa Hermosa, Esterillos, Bejuco, Palo Seco, Quepos and Manuel Antonio. The activities developed for tourism in these areas are untouched by comparison by other areas with the great number of activities offered. This certainly bolsters the fortunes of the Central Pacific hotels and bed & breakfast operations in the area.
The things that drive the area traffic are:
- Proximity to beaches from the international airport
- A vast number of beaches to choose from
- The popularity of the Jaco Beach area with all its activities offered
- Surfing popularity in the area
- Directly in the path of 500,000 visitors visiting the Manuel Antonio National Park annually
- Marinas in Herradura and Quepos cater to deep sea fishing, diving and ocean actives in the area.
South Pacific Region: Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal, Osa Peninsula
With the South Pacific region, the first thing that comes to mind is its staggering natural beauty. Begins at Mata Palo and continuing south to the Osa Peninsula, this coastal region is one of the few in the country where the mountains spill into the sea, offing mountain, jungle and ocean vistas that are renown worldwide. The area has the enviable reputation of ranking very high in the world protection standards for biodiversity, which is why eco-tourism is very popular in this region. And the visitors that descend into this areas patronize the many small hotels throughout the southern region. Many cater to this demographic by offing specialty type accommodations such as tree house cabins combined with an exciting variety of eco-adventure tours available.
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