This is the enjoyable part of the job – visiting other Eco Hotels and trying out the facilities, especially when it’s winter in London and in the 30’s in Central America. It turns out that Mauricio from Costa Rica Trails is at Arenas Del Mar at the same time with a client so I have good company too. Arenas Del Mar has only recently been opened so I was very interested to see whether it was being run efficiently by Cayuga (unlike my experience in Africa). I was not disappointed. The food was great, the rooms spacious, comfortable and well decorated and despite the fact that it was a resort hotel, it still felt intimate. The biggest let down was the spa – another lesson learnt. Wish I had the perfect spa solution.
Next up was a meeting with Hans from Cayuga to determine if we could work together, if we had the same visions. I found the meeting very inspiring and am sure that Cayuga are the right company to work with. By a fortunate stroke of luck for me, one of the properties that they manage is being sold which gives them the time and oppurtunity to work with me. Hans can also supply me with a Fixture Fittings and Equipment list to help with my application for law 306 – a weight off of my mind. He will be doing a feasability study tooand I have to be clear on the whole concept of the hotel.
Back to Latitude10 and the wonderful management team – something for me to aspire to. This time around I looked into the back of house areas and asked incessant questions (as well as having a bit of pool time!)