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I usually recommend “Papagayo Dental Clinic”. They are located at the Guanacaste Do It Center, 4 miles south of Daniel Oduber Airport Office # 8. The phone number is 667-0875.
I “Googled” Bahia Lagarto and found their official website. Apparently they are a 1,400 acre oceanfront community located in Playa Lagarto, Guanacaste. There is no information as to who the developer is, but the project’s Master Plan is being developed by Burton-Studio from Southern California which is a top notch Architectural firm so they must be good. They designed the Four Seasons at Bora Bora, the Pelican Hill development in Newport Beach, the Rancho Valencia Resort in Santa Fe and the Four Seasons resort in Dubai. According to the project’s website, the project will feature an 18 hole golf course, a hotel site for an international “boutique” hotel and spa, a commercial center with several locations for beachfront restaurants, bars and retail shops, an open air yoga center and spa, equestrian facilities, a clubhouse with lounge-pool, Olympic gym including a 25 meter lap-pool, and tennis courts.
From the website’s information, it seems that the project is legitimate and of very high quality but I wonder why few people know about this project considering its size of 1,400 acres (566 hectares). This project is probably barely under the early stages of Master Plan design and permits. I think its worth to find out more about so I’m going to contact the developer via their website to inquire about the project and I’ll post more info if I get a reply.
I’ve never worked with them, but from what I’ve heard they offer a turn-key sales and marketing solution for new real estate projects. They had several high quality projects in inventory but I cannot speak of how successful they were at this. If they didn’t do well in Marketing and Sales, I doubt they will do well as a developer unless they work with the right real estate agents. 😉
Why don’t you try looking for used TV’s in Craig’s List for Costa Rica? If you are looking for new sets, then your best bet is to either go to Golfito or Panama.
Buy a piece of land and sit on it. Make sure you hire an attorney, create a Costa Rican Corporation (LLC preferred), open a bank account, fence the property well and hire a local person to live and maintain the property on a regular basis to keep squatters away. Also, make sure that you either sign a “professional services” contract or pay add this person to your Corporation’s monthly payroll. If you pay them “under the table” they may claim your land after 15 years of living in it. Enjoy paradise!!!
I visited Punta Playa Vistas last year with Lukas Kaliszewski and I was very impressed with the ocean view and the fantastic view of the Catalina Islands from this project. My first impression of the project is that the master plan and infrastructure are very good, but I was not impressed with the architectural renders of the condos, the main gate and the community pool. The project’s construction company is Design & Build from Villareal (no idea who they are), the engineering company is GCI from San Jose (Professionals), design was done by SUMMA Consultores from San Jose (very good!) and the developer is Desmond Coastal Properties (never heard of them before). In my opinion, the best thing about this project is the overall infrastructure. They have solid water wells with pumps and holding tanks, they have a sewage treatment plant with a residual water recycling system, the internal roads are asphalt, the building pads are solid and electricity is onsite (above ground though). Another positive aspect about this project is that it is a legally registered Condominium and not a “shared ownership” type deal which is very common in Costa Rica and also each lot is owned by a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) which is beneficial at closing for tax purposes.
I am very picky with architecture quality and developer credibility and experience so I would not buy at this project, but I would recommend someone to check out this project due to its location, infrastructure and the project’s legal composition. Nearby they are developing a high quality project called Bella Colina, there is another project nearby of similar quality called Condor Heights, it is located very close to Reserva Conchal and the future Canyon Ranch is suposed to be developed close to this project. This area is still undeveloped compared to other areas so the equity might be stellar in the future.
Lukas, next time it would be better that you identify yourself as the Sales Coordinator for your project before promoting it. Scott is very strict with regards to cheap marketing and sales tactics on his website and will not hesitate to point it out. Hope sales are going well!!!
My girlfriend takes her chihuahua to “Pet Vet” in Santa Ana (Next to the Mega Super Supermarket) and they have always provided a great service, the Doc speaks English and he can get certification papers approved quickly for a modest fee. I highly recommend it.
$90K for that house was a steal!!! I wish I would’ve seen it earlier to buy it but unfortunately I have been away from this forum for a while. I will be visiting constantly now as I forgot what a great resource your site is Scott. Keep up the good work buddy!
Carol, I live in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste and I’m Managing Villas Sol Hotel & Beach Resort. We have been working with Grupo ASC for our Resort Security for 1 year now and so far we have had good results. Before we hired Grupo ASC we quoted several security companies such as Delta, G4S, SIP, CDA and Carabineros de la Peninsula and they were either too expensive or not too professional. I highly recommend you talk to them and have them give you a quote as their security guards and company is very professional. They just obtained the contract at Palo Alto and they are negotiating with Pacifico and Punta Cacique. They can help you select alarm systems and video surveillance which is a great combination. We ourselves are in the process of installing 8 surveillance cameras.
With regards to management, I think that Worldwide is a good property management company but I don’t think they have enough experience with managing HOAs. I thought that C21 At The Beach (Scott and Jeremy) were managing this project? I think that Coldwell Banker in Coco has experience with HOAs and perhaps REmax Resort Properties. Other than that the only Property Management firm in the area is Worldwide.
Charlie, I believe that saying that Latins in general are used to corruption is a very prejudice remark, a lack of respect to other people’s cultures and a very ignorant statement on your behalf. Allow me to remind you that some of the biggest corruption, scandals, frauds and bribes in the World have been done by Americans. Here’s a list of American companies involved with Corporate Scandals found on the Forbes website: Enron, Adelphia Communications, AOL Time Warner, Arthur Andersen, Brystol Myers, Halliburton, Qwest, Xerox, Worldcom, Tyco, Qwest, Reliant Energy and others. Not to mention the War on Iraq, Watergate & Richard Nixon, Assasination of JFK, the CIA, the Teapot Dome Scandal, Whitewater, Koreagate scandal, Pardongate, Abu Ghraib prison torture and prisoner abuse, Guantanamo Bay POW camp, Mark Foley sex scandal, Lawyergate, etc. In the World’s corruption control rankings Costa Rica places 67th and the US places 89th. FYI, Costa Rica is the least corrupt country in North, Central and South America.
Would the U.S. government imprison an expresident for corruption? The Costa Rican Government did it with the Alcatel and Ericsson bribery scandals involving Expresidents Rafael Angel Calderon and Miguel Angel Rodriguez. We are definitely not used to corruption and we don’t tolerate it.
I don’t want to see a lot of projects like Marriott Los Suenos in Costa Rica, but I do respect Mr. Royster’s success and vision of creating such a succesful project. I would really like to hear about his experience throughout the years in Costa Rica and the whole development process. I belive that Intel, Marriott Los Suenos and Four Seasons are responsible for putting Costa Rica on the map so it would be interesting to learn more about his story.
If not, how about an interview to Oscar Arias? Perhaps we could ask him what are his intentions to improve the roads, the international airports, ICT marketing of Costa Rica, real estate regulations, security, etc.
Scott, I would really like for you to interview Bill Royster in particular. I would love to learn more about his life story and his vision of creating the Marriott Los Suenos Resort, his experience in Costa Rica Real Estate, his future plans in Costa Rica or Panama, his view on the real estate market and the situation in Costa Rica in general. He created Costa Rica’s most famous and succesful Resort so this is definitely a person worth interviewing. What do you think?
Here’s my list of experts that I believe would provide an incredible interview and wonderful insight about Costa Rica:
– Carlos Ricardo Benavides (Minister of Tourism)
– Javier Bolanos (Director of Polo Turistico Papagayo)
– Pat Pattillo (Hacienda Pinilla)
– Bill Royster (Marriott Los Suenos)
– Alberto Kader (Grupo Genesis)
– Ronald Zurcher (Zurcher Arquitectos)I recommend you stay at Lapa Rios in Cabo Matapalo http://www.laparios.com. They are the best hotel in the area and is world famous for its conservation efforts, quality and service.
