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Hotel Piedras y Olas Sets the Standard in San By Tim Rogers SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua – Less than 10 minutes after arriving at our hilltop villa overlooking the fishing boats in the bay, my girlfriend Cecilia was already taking digital photos from every angle of every detail of the house. “Someday I want to have a home that looks exactly like this,” she explained. It was hard to disagree; the spacious, high-walled rooms are done in a stylish combination of strawbale construction detailed with hardwood beams, cane ceilings and colonial tile floors. That, combined with a state-of-the-art kitchen, air-conditioning and the Red Sox playing on satellite TV in the living room, made the villa more comfortable than my home. Once the matter of firming up the architectural plans for Cecilia's future dream house had been sorted out – and the memory chip on her camera filled – we headed down to the poolside restaurant, where the view overlooking the bay is no less spectacular, and the food is locally famous. The bartender agreed to put the Sox game on the TV behind the bar. Hotel Piedras y Olas – perhaps better known as Pelican Eyes – set new standards for tourism in San Juan del Sur when it opened in December 2003. A year and a half later, the success of its restaurant, hotel and turnkey development project with property management services has shown the rest of the country that San Juan del Sur can, in fact, support a higher-end tourism market. Located on a 28-acre hillside overlooking the bay, Piedras y Olas has seven hotel rooms, nine villas and two casita villas, with more development in the works. Owner Chris Berry, originally from San Francisco, California, and now a Nicaraguan citizen, sailed down to San Juan del Sur in 1988 in a 42-foot Gulf Star named Pelican Eyes. He anchored in the cove of this once-sleepy fishing town and started offering sailing charters. When, years later, he opened the restaurant, pool and hotel, he gave each a different name, but the name Pelican Eyes seems to have stuck to him and all his projects. Today, while not everyone seems to agree on the name of the hotel and restaurant, no one appears at odds over the quality of either. The restaurant and the hotel, which is gay-friendly, attracts a wide range of people and does good business all year long, even during the off-season. The horizon pool overlooking the bay and gourmet restaurant are a favorite meeting spot and hangout for expats and tourists from all walks of life. “We tried to develop a profile of our clients, but we're still not sure who they are,” Berry said with a laugh. “If you had told me that 30% of our clientele was going to be yuppie surfers, I would have laughed at you. But that's who many of our clients are.” Despite the enticement of the hotel and restaurant facilities, Berry encourages his clients to go down off the hill and get to know the town and more of Nicaragua. He has also gone to great lengths to develop positive relationships with the surrounding community. Through the hotel's connection to the A. Jean Brugger Education Project, Berry helps provide scholarships and educational resources to underprivileged children in the community. After a decade of living in San Juan del Sur, Berry has seen a lot of area kids grow up and bloom. And they could say the same thing about his business. |