COSTA RICA: Four Seasons Papagayo Hotel To Close From August In Order To Be Remodelled

The Four Seasons Hotel in the Papagayo Península, Guanacaste will close down for four months, August through November, in order to undergo a complete remodeling.

This hotel was inaugurated in January of 2004 it has 139 rooms and 25 suites, spa, restaurants, bars, pools and other entertainment areas.

The company will invest close to $20 million in the make over which will include all areas, from the rooms, to the lobby, the fitness center, restaurants, etc.

“The idea is to keep it as one of the best hotels in Latin America and the world. We want to modernize the product, provide a high level experience with a strong local touch, reinforce the interaction with the country, its culture and gastronomy”, explained Manuel Ardón, spokesperson for the Four Season Hotel.

“The intervention is big, which is why we considered it best to close down for four months. We considered that if the work was done with the hotel open it would affect the clients’ experience and the security of our guests and our employees”, concluded Ardón.

The hotel currently has 640 employees, which according to the hotel will be terminated with the possibility of being rehired when the hotel opens doors again. They expect they’ll actually need a total of 890 employees once the remodeling is done.

American firm Gencom recently acquired the majority of the shares of the national company Ecodesarrollo Papagayo S.A., owner of Papagayo Resort; this purchase included the Four Seasons and an 18 hole golf course, the clubhouse, the Papagayo Marina and the Prieta Beachclub.

Occupation of the Four Seasons Hotel averages 75-80%.

Meanwhile, A group of three American tourist and their Costa Rican guide were able to capture today a video of a young tapir (Tapirus bairdii) bathing in a sector of the Celeste River in the Tenorio Volcano National Park in Guanacaste (video included at the end of the article).

The tourism guide in an interview with local journalist Allan Jara, explains that the video was taken when it had just began to rain and one of the tourists noticed the beautiful mammal and brought it to the attention of the group that was surprised and amazed by the wonderful scene.

Just about one year ago another group of visitors had a similar experience in the same location.

Tapirs are a species in risk of extinction in Costa Rica and are considered as such by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is why coming across one of them in their natural ecosystem is very rare. Tapirs are the biggest land mammal that inhabits the neotropical realm.

In Costa Rica it is usually found both in the lowlands, (Guanacaste and Corcovado) as well as highlands such as the Cerro de la Muerte.

Costa Rican biologist Esteban Brenes from the Nãī Conservation Organization (Nãī means Tapir in BriBri language) explained in an article published by ENSIA online magazine that Tapirs being fruit – eating animals help disperse the seeds of the trees in the tropical forests. “There is research linking the loss of large herbivores like tapirs to the loss of a forest’s capacity to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in leaves, wood and roots”.

Tourism Observer
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