According to the Minister of Tourism here in Costa Rica, Allan Flores, tourism in Costa Rica is divided into six sectors: adventure, ecotourism, wellness, medical, rural and convention tourism. I’m not sure where people who just want a break and come here to relax and do nothing fit in. Anyway, he thinks we are strong in the first five sectors but lacking decisively in the last, much of the convention trade lost in particular to Panama over the last decade. A national convention center has been on the drawing board for the last twenty years, but that is as far as it ever went until recently. I ..read more

I never thought I’d find a member hotel that I would actually write about, but my simple overnight experience at The Lookout Inn Lodge in Carate changed my mind. The lodge is a series of open-air cabinas surrounded by jungle, all pressed against a near-cliff on a remote stretch of pristine jungle-backed black beach, each cabina adjoined by stairs and platforms to the main lodge. The entire lodge gives you the feeling it was hand-made from jungle findings, and gives you great visual access from the comfort of your cabina to the distant soothing sea and the nearby plethora of wildlife that makes ..read more

With my 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 directi ..read more

This month’s Sabores magazine, Costa Rica’s number one food and nutrition magazine, features an eight page article by our award-winning chef, Jeffrey Torres.  The article consists of  six original gourmet recipes with step-by-step instructions on how you can prepare them at home, a brief history of Jeffrey’s experience and a bit of information about Adventure Inn. Every month Sabores magazine has a different theme or ingredient and this month’s ingredient is corn. His featured recipes are: Pickled baby corn Corn Enchiladas Corn croquettes with red pepper sauce Corn dip ..read more

The planet’s population keeps increasing, especially because of high birth rates in the poorest nations, yet the planet’s resources essential to survive (food and arable land, shelter, water, energy, space, and places where climate is not extreme) are finite. Obviously this cannot continue indefinitely. The divide between the haves and the have-nots keeps getting larger. Destructive advanced technologies and biochemical warfare could easily fall into the wrong hands and be used to bring much of the world as we know it into the dark ages. Nobody knows where this will all end; global terrorism k ..read more

The Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica is idyllic with yellow sand beaches, palm trees and crystal clear water. Its perfect for snorkeling, surfing and just laying out at the beach. The one notable distinction about the Caribbean Coast is the lack of development. It has not exploded like the Central and Pacific regions. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path, you owe it to yourself to make the trip. The Cahuita National Park The park was created to protect the coral reef and as a result, it is pristine and perfect for snorkeling. It has large schools of colorful tropical fish and almo ..read more

Avoid the rainy season – why? How often have you heard those immortal words, “Avoid the rainy season”. In my opinion, whoever wrote those words has never been in Costa Rica between May 15th and November 15th, our terrible rainy season, or what the tourist promoters call the green season. Most of Costa Rica was originally a rainforest, much still remains, so rain is a part of our lives, and can’t be avoided living here but I question why? The words ‘rainy season’ conjure up images of a 24 hour non-stop hurricane inundating Costa Rica, forcing people indoors, streets turning into rivers, Grandma ..read more

Adventure Inn is a pet-friendly hotel. We have certain rooms reserved for people with well-behaved pets, not far from the front door where in the case of dogs, you can walk it across our quiet street to a field where your dog can relieve itself. For cats we put a cardboard box in the guests room with torn newspaper. We ask everyone to take full responsibility for their pets. Any loss of income because of their pet or damage will be charged to the guest. We insist guests keep their pets off the furniture and make sure that it does not disturb other guests, including noise; growling, barking, wh ..read more

People are quite flexible, adaptive and mostly patient when it comes to every day living. The drive to work was congested, the cable company charged you for channels you aren’t getting, your boss forgot to tell you about a change in your schedule, someone enrolled your daughter in the wrong class at swimming lessons, you forgot to pick up your son after his dentist appointment, these are all things that are frustrating and annoying at the time, but you roll with the punches, and tomorrow’s a new day. You put up with a lot to function in this world, sometimes feeling like a small cog in a huge ..read more

City Square Tours An enterprising company, City Square Tours has started a new service for $25 per person taking visitors from attraction to attraction within San Jose. The bus has a bilingual guide familiar with the functioning and history of the various attractions, and San Jose in general. There are eight different attractions they stop at beginning at 8:45 am and finishing the day at 4 pm. You can stop at each attraction for 45 to 90 minutes, then go on to the next. Included are the ornate Teatro Nacional, the Museo Nacional, the Paseo Gastronómica LA LUZ (maybe for lunch), the Museo for D ..read more