084 Running one of Costa Rica's most successful vacations rentals

[Richard Bexon]

Good afternoon, David. How are you doing?

[David Konwiser]

Good to see you there, Richard. 

[Richard Bexon]

Good to see you too. It's been a while, but it's an absolute pleasure. And it's been great to see from afar the success that you guys have had over there in Manuel Antonio with Punta de Vista and also Villa La Isla, your new property out there as well.

And I know that we'll get into the particulars of that, but thanks very much for coming on the podcast. 

[David Konwiser]

You're very welcome. It's a pleasure to spend some time with you and talk Turkey.

[Richard Bexon]

Exactly. Well, David, I mean, you've been in the luxury market for many, many years now, but I always like to ask people kind of what has really surprised them and what trends are they seeing? 

[Richard Bexon]

Well, you know, obviously, COVID was, you know, has shaken things up quite a bit. Obviously, that's bringing people to want to not be together with other people they don't know, not wanting to be with strangers. 

I think it's I mean, of course, you know, now that the pandemic is easing and people are more comfortable to travel again, they do just want to get out of the dodge and they'll do it any way they can. And they'll stay in hotels and they'll stay in private villas and so forth. But but I think that it has called more attention to the safety and security of traveling with those you trust with your own family or friends

And maybe it's in the case of people who are a group that they can say, well, everyone's vaccinated or whatever, you know, I mean, you know, a group they can trust. That's the bottom line. So our villa has always been under that model, that business model of traveling only with your people, because we're not, you know, a hotel where we're renting rooms to different people and so forth.

So, you know, people have wanted to travel on their own. It's always been a luxury thing to travel on your own. But now it's becoming not just a luxury.

It's almost like a health necessity. 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, it is. It's like going to the gym like you need it, like, you know.

[David Konwiser]

So I think that our business model works well with pandemic and even post pandemic thinking. Yeah. 

[Richard Bexon]

Have you seen a difference? Have you seen any change in the clients arriving that you guys have at the property or is it still the same as before? Have you seen any difference there? 

[David Konwiser]

Is it the same type of client post pandemic versus pre pandemic? 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, yeah.

Like the makeup, it was families before it's still families now or it was couples before, you know, now it's like, has there been any change there? 

[David Konwiser]

I can't really say that I've seen a big change there. I think the clients are becoming more and more discerning because they really want that, you know, that security and that privacy. We're getting more corporate retreats in recent years. 

Yeah, I thought it could also be because of the master marketing of my brother, the Christian that, you know, well.

[Richard Bexon]

 I love that we've given Christian a shout out here.

[David Konwiser]

 I love that, too, and he deserves it. 

[Richard Bexon]

He does. He's done a great job. I mean, have you seen anything different with regards to booking windows as it got shorter, as it got larger, a lot of last minute stuff? But I mean, I suppose it's difficult with you guys because I mean, looking at your occupancy, I mean, you guys must be up in like the 80, 90 percent.

[David Konwiser]

Yes, we're very highly occupied. Yes, that is correct. That is correct. 

And, you know, that has taken years to achieve. I mean, we weren't we were not in those occupancies in the first years, by any means. But again, you know, great marketing and and more importantly, really, really good stays. I mean, look at our TripAdvisor reviews. I think we have close to 300 and they're all five stars. And why is that? It's not because the world is a perfect place at Villa Punta de Vista, because guess what? It's still reality where things happen.

You're right. Am I allowed to use profanity in this podcast? Am I allowed?

[Richard Bexon]

I actually. Yes, sh*t happens.

I mean, don't worry about profanity in this one. So. So, yeah, sure.

[David Konwiser]

So so, you know, right. An air conditioner goes out or or some other, you know, maybe, you know, a transport was supposed to leave the airport and they didn't have a name written down. 

You know, things happen, right? They do. But it's how you deal with adversity and how you treat your client. And that makes all the difference.

And I mean, if ever we have an adverse situation, we treat our client with the utmost respect and compensation where compensation is due. We do what we need to do to make sure that our clients feel they were treated, treated right. And there hasn't been a client that's ever left our building that doesn't feel they were treated with the utmost respect. 

And that is really one of the keys to our success. 

[Richard Bexon]

I agree. I wish more enterprises were like that in Costa Rica, that instead of chasing dollars, that they realize that taking care of the client, that the dollars will come at some point in the future.

But like I remember when you guys were building, when you guys were building Punta de Vista, I actually stayed, I think, in the guest house. Was it there on the left? Like when you came in there, when you guys were building it once, did you think that it would be as successful as it's become? And why do you think it's become so successful?

[David Konwiser]

 I didn't. First of all, you should understand that when we first were building Villa Punta de Vista, we never dreamed in a million years we were going to be operating Villa Punta de Vista.

I didn't think of myself as a hotelier or a villa rental guy. I mean, the things that my brother and I do now, didn't even dream that we were going to be doing. Our plan was to build the building, find a management company to operate it.

And, you know, on to the next thing. 

[Richard Bexon]

And how many years ago was that? 

[David Konwiser]

11 years.

[Richard Bexon]

 Wow.

[David Konwiser]

So I guess it's, you know, fortunate in a way that things didn't go that way because, you know, it's made all the difference. When we first completed the villa, we did look at that opportunity and those options. We spoke to everything from Cayuga, you know, that owns Arenas del Mar and all those other nice properties.

We talked to Enjoy Group. We talked to various entities, investment groups, you know, to step in and do that management. And they either really weren't interested in doing such a thing because they knew it'd be too big a pain in the butt, which it is, by the way, or they weren't willing to pay us what we thought we were entitled to after spending so much money on the project. 

So we just took it on ourselves. The rest is history. Well, I mean, it's definitely a labor of love, but I think it's really paid off.

[Richard Bexon]

I mean, it's you know, it's having run, you know, we have via Buena Onda. We were very much in similar, you know, shoes there as well. But sometimes I mean, I think as you said it there, if you want to do it, if you want it done right, do it yourself.

But you learn so much as well. I mean, it's just you know, this you know, there are a lot of people that I speak to that are looking to run luxury vacation rentals or buy hotels here and run them like that until you get in it, you really don't understand what you're getting yourself into. I mean, it's a chainsaw juggling act from the operation to the PR, the marketing, to the sales, you know, to the customer service.

I mean, it's a lot of moving parts. 

[David Konwiser]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

You know, absolutely. 100%.

[Richard Bexon]

 But I mean, and it can take years.

But then once it does work, you know, it really does work. Once you've got things moving, it can move like a very well oiled, like a well oiled machine. 

[David Konwiser]

Yes, that's largely true. 

But, you know, my brother actually handles the operations, I'm kind of more in charge of the sales. So yeah, and it is, you know, they both still have their challenges still, you know, even in a hot market like now and sales are, you know, still, still happening. You know, there's lulls there, there's moments of, you know, you three sales a day, and other times you don't see a sale for a few weeks. 

I mean, you know, you got to be ready for anything, Feast or Pound. 

[Richard Bexon]

Exactly, exactly. Now, I mean, you're an architect by trade, I suppose I would say.

But I mean, how would you describe the design of Punta de Vista? And why did you choose that design? And why do you think it's going to stand the test of time? 

[David Konwiser]

Well, I do love the question, because standing the test of time is what it's all about as an architect. I was once challenged to picture a color I had never seen before. And that opened me up to what my new goal was as an architect. 

And that was to design a building that had never been seen before. So that's always my goal when I design a new project is try to do something that is just, you know, so unique that's never been seen. You know, actually, I even try to stay away from the internet looking at buildings of other architects.

I feel like it's funny, because on one hand, it sort of opens your eyes to the possibilities. And on the other hand, it poisons your ability to see new colors. Because you can't invent if you're constantly trying to copy. 

So I do believe that Villa Punta de Vista is very unique, both villas are really quiet, quite unique in their shape and their, you know, the geometric aspect of Villa Punta de Vista was largely inspired by the architect I.M. Pei. And you know the great story that it was your agency, Costa Rica Vacations, that brought I.M. Pei to us as the first overnight guest of Villa Punta de Vista. And for those listeners out there who don't know who I.M. Pei was, I.M. Pei was the architect of the Louvre in Paris.

You know, that amazing triangle, that great iconic design, and that was our first overnight guest is extraordinary. But you know, what's more timeless than that design of I.M. Pei's, of that triangle? And my villa is, I don't want to compare it to I.M. Pei, I'll never compare myself to I.M. Pei, but I will say that I did my very best to make something that doesn't look like anything that's ever been built before. And I think I've largely succeeded.

I still haven't seen anything quite like Villa Punta de Vista. 

[Richard Bexon]

I have not. I have not. 

Not in Costa Rica or anywhere. No, I mean, it's very unique. But it's also, I mean, it's beautiful.

It's in a great setting. And I think it's, I think you designed it with function as well, meaning that while it's a home, it also works as kind of, the back of the house does not cross the front of the house, kind of orientated stuff as well, which I think is really important. I was discussing that on a previous podcast about that.

If you're going to do a, if you're going to operate as a venue or a full service vacation rental, you need to have that separation. 

[David Konwiser]

Absolutely. You know, they say form follows function or form and function are one.

I mean, there is no question. I think Frank Lloyd Wright coined that. And that is so true.

And, you know, the key to our success I think has been, you know, trying to, you know, put that function as, you're not just designing art. Art isn't enough. It isn't.

It isn't. You know, a beautiful, you know, terrace with a beautiful view isn't enough. It's got to have all those functional, you know, requirements met particularly for an event. 

And my God, there's so many moving parts in that event. Or just delivering, you know, serving a large group. You've got to have enough, you know, toilets and, you know, we have his and hers, you know, restrooms and so forth.

I mean, we have a lot of amenities that, and a lot of separation of service and residents and guests that, you know, really make people feel comfortable and make sure that everyone gets served appropriately, quickly, efficiently. I think we've thought through those details.

[Richard Bexon]

 David, what percentage of your business would you say is like events? And what percentage would you say is actually kind of vacation rentals? Just roughly? 

[David Konwiser]

I would say because we've established ourselves with a great reputation for these destination weddings. 

I would say destination weddings are easily 60% of our business. And then another 10% also events of different kinds and maybe even another 20%. That would be, you know, generational birthdays, you know, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s.

I think we've done up to 80. Maybe we've done a 90. I'm not sure.

We do a lot of corporate retreats of all types. We do things like corporate awards retreats. We'll do programming retreats.

Those are interesting. A bunch of, you know, programmers drinking Mountain Dew, sitting there, you know, coding, coding to that beautiful view. A lot of interesting outside the box retreats where people are really forced to look outside of the box for their business. 

It's those types of clients that have been kind of meant the most to me because that's really what our bill is all about. I think it is, you know, really trying to bring the outside in and trying to, and you know, a lot of that, that tempered glass or no walls, no walls at all. Just trying to create that indoor outdoor experience and getting people to feel like they're in a truly liberated space. 

I don't want them to have anything to impede their, what they, what they see as possible in life. And I think that's one reason why these retreats, these developers retreats, the out of the box retreats, the philosophy retreats. Those have been really interesting to me and they've been rewarding to our guests.

The yoga retreats. Yeah. It's really cool.

[Richard Bexon]

 It's pretty unique though. And I'll say this having had quite a bit of experience to find a property that does so many, you know, I would say, you know, events or retreats, just because typically, you know, even with ours, with via went on that we have more families than I would say, weddings and retreats, but like, it's just interesting.

Maybe it's the destination. I don't know. But it sounds like you guys have really cornered the market on that one, in that aspect.

[David Konwiser]

I mean, the building lends itself to, to, to that. And then we've established ourselves, you know, with that reputation. So I think that's why it's become kind of a snowball.

[Richard Bexon]

Good for you guys. Good for you guys. Let's, let's, I mean, let's wind the clock back.

If we had a time machine to go back and like, if you were to change, you know, a few things about Punta de Vista, what would you change and why? 

[David Konwiser]

There's a number of things, you know, even over the last decade, the desire for, you know, carbon neutral type construction, LEED certification, and that sort of thing has become more of a thing, more in the forefront. We've watched, you know, global warming actually, you know, scientifically happening. There's no question we have to change the way we do things.

I would have done, I would have done less in the way of earth movement at the villa, I would have, I would have made some modifications in the way that the building was built. However, I still subscribe to the idea that having a small footprint is a good thing. So Villa Punta de Vista, our first villa, is vertical.

It's six stories. So it occupies a very small footprint, which I think is, I mean, for its, for its area, it occupies a very small footprint because it's more of like a tower. Now, I could only do a tower like that on our site because it's such a sloping site. 

I mean, imagine if it was a flat site, then you'd just have a big tower or eyesore. But of course it's not that way because it sort of integrates with the earth. When you have a very highly sloping site, a taller building is not interpreted as being so tall. 

So that's why that, that, that's where to some degree it's described to, you know, Frank Lloyd Wright's of the hill, not on the hill concept of architecture. But there was a lot of earth movement that I would like to, I would have changed. I would have done that differently.

From a, from a functional, functioning maintenance standpoint, I would have done it. I would have done a number of things differently. Things that we, that we realized over time, like air infiltration.

I mean, using the tempered glass that we did on everything, not, not having the, the frames like our new villa has all PVC, double pane glass, you know, PVC frame, double pane glass, keeping in that, that air conditioning, our original building, the villa doesn't have that. So it's, it's more wasteful in that respect. We've had to work really hard to insulate the rooms.

That would, I mean, it's just something that's, I would have done the window system all different. In fact, a future endeavor of ours is to change all the windows at the villa. So that's something we're going to do.

Other things too, the way our air conditioning system was designed originally, not using many splits originally, that was a disaster. We had to change them all out for many splits.

[Richard Bexon]

 I've, I've just done that as well.

We've been doing that over the wall over the years.

[David Konwiser]

 Yeah. Well, because the CR ratings are so much higher for many splits and you just get tons more efficiently.

I mean, we dropped our energy bills, something like a half just by doing that. I think more than half, because we discovered that air conditioning was something like close to 80% of our load. So that that's an important one for, for your, your, your listeners who are interested in building in Costa Rica or anywhere that's tropical is for God's sakes, insulate your building every which way, but every which way you can use the highest efficiency inverters. 

It makes all the difference. 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah. I mean, that's great.

I mean, it's just, you know, it's funny how I would probably say, Oh, fire. Well, I mean, it's always been a central AC system, you know, it's just cause you know, many splits don't look as beautiful with central AC systems, but really when you look at it from a function point of view, they make perfect sense because if when one of them breaks or something goes that you can switch them very easy and you can repair, and they're just a lot more efficient as well because you can just turn them on and off. 

[David Konwiser]

Exactly.

And we've done some things at the villa, some, some creative solutions to sort of niche in the mini splits into the, into the, into the soffits and things to even in some cases, we've covered it up sort of with wood and some clever ways to make it look almost as though a mini splits not there. So we, we, we've tried hard on that front. 

And we've done some things at the villa, some, some creative solutions to sort of niche in the mini splits into the, into the, into the soffits and things to even in some cases, we've covered it up sort of with wood and some clever ways to make it look almost as though a mini splits not there. So we, we, we've tried hard on that front. 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah.

Wow. I mean, I think we've done this, but I mean, what were some of the costs that you didn't foresee when building Punta de Vista?

[David Konwiser]

 Well, as the architect and as an artist at heart, you know, I was always striving for, for, for doing everything as right as I could, as artistic as I could. And that comes at a cost.

So I think our villa was uniquely expensive because we were trying, cause I'm an artist. And so I think, I think most people won't, you know, be as hardcore as I am to do everything just. 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah.

But I think also that has a huge part to play in the success that you guys have had is that, you know, I mean, there's a lot of David in that, in that property. Well, I mean, it's all you guys, you and your brother, you know, because again, you guys designed it. So, and I think that's a huge part of the success. 

And I think people will see that and feel that when they go there. 

[David Konwiser]

Yeah. Yeah.

There's no, there's no doubt, but I will tell you something, you know, if I could tell you some, you know, things that your callers might, or your listeners might find interesting to, to consider is, you know, obviously you've probably already discovered, discussed this in podcasts in the past. Costa Rica is not like the cheapest place to come and retire at all. In fact, it's on the higher end of places to come and retire.

If you intend to live the Western lifestyle and go out to nice restaurants and shops and, you know, nice, you know, supermarkets where you feel right at home and so forth. But it's the same thing, you know, with, with building here, if you want to import, you know, if you want to have the latest generation, you know, TV and, and a sexy car and blah, blah, blah, you're going to pay for it. So it's, it's expensive to, to, to, to realize a project of our caliber in this country. 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, no, definitely. Definitely. And I mean, I'm sure it's even impacted.

I mean, it's impacted even more by being so close to the ocean at the beach as well, because I mean, you're being attacked constantly, right? 

[David Konwiser]

Well, you took the words out of my mouth. I mean, you know, this is the, this is the number one thing anyone has to understand, but when you build by the beach, literally everything will break down in, you know, three to five times faster than it would anywhere else in the world. So just expect that, you know, I mean, I talked about this with my brother all the time, and he's in charge of operations, like I mentioned, you know, so I mean, we're like constantly buying like new plasma TVs, for example, it's like, just as an example, it's just the electronics in them, they just can't, just can't keep up. 

But it's interesting, because we've actually looked at buying, you know, marine grade things and blah, blah, blah, you want to know what, you pay so much money for that stuff. It's just cheaper to, to, to replace stuff than it is to pay three times more for some marine grade television, supposedly, guess what, it's not really marine grade anyway, maybe it'll last a little bit longer than something else, but just nothing can take that that that ocean air. Yeah, we also have one of my favorite examples is our buggy, we used to have a Polaris Ranger, six passenger beach buggy, which was, you know, it's in our video and stuff.

It's one of the coolest things we ever bought. And I have to say it was a big hit. But I'll tell you where it was a big hit.

It was a hit in the pocketbook. That's where it was a big hit. I mean, there was no way to keep that thing from breaking down from corroding.

It's just impossible. So some things are cool. But good God, you got to be smart in your purchasing of a product when you're by the beach.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah. And I think you just, you know, I always say to people if you don't know what you're doing, speak to someone, get an advisor here, someone that's done it before and speak to people before jumping in the deep end. Because, again, I mean, we've all we've all done it.

We've all made mistakes. But speak to people that have made the mistakes so that you can learn from their mistakes. 

[David Konwiser]

Yeah, that's it.

So everyone who's listening, don't buy a Polaris Ranger. Unless you're loaded in your in you're ready to buy a new one every three years. 

[Richard Bexon]

Well, my last question for you, David, is I'm confident of your time.

But if you inherited five hundred thousand dollars, it's the last question I love. I love to ask everyone and have to invest it into a business or real estate in Costa Rica. What would you invest it in and why? 

[David Konwiser]

Oh, my God, is this the five hundred thousand dollar question? I thought it was like the million dollar question.

[Richard Bexon]

No, I've only got up to five hundred thousand dollars at the moment, not a million. 

[David Konwiser]

It's like trading places, the one dollar bet. I get it.

Listen, Costa Rica is a great place to invest. I still believe in Costa Rica. You just look at the turmoil going on around the world.

I mean, you know, of course, all eyes have been on the United States in recent, with political upheaval and the election in 2020 and all this nonsense. And then you've got but look at what's going on in Europe right now with Ukraine and everything like that. I mean, Costa Rica is just looking better and better every minute.

[Richard Bexon]

The country where nothing happens. 

[David Konwiser]

Don't we love it? Don't we just love that? So I still believe in Costa Rica. I mean, we are receiving a large volume of inquiries where we're still doing good business here.

So I think it's a country you can believe in to invest in doing a bit. I don't. Well, not only do I not want every one of your podcasters to copy my business model, but guess what? You don't want to, because it's really, really, really, really, really hard.

Yes, it's really, really, really hard to do what we do. And it's taken us a very long time to where we can generate some returns. And it remains a struggle to do what we do.

So I wouldn't recommend your but it's not just because I don't want people to copy our model. It's more because I don't think it's what most people should be doing with their lives. Most people actually want to invest their money and actually still enjoy their lives and not have to be tied to their business the way I am.

I can't say I mean, I enjoy my business because I'm the architect of my villa and I and I sell experiences in my architecture. I feel like I'm like I mean, like an art gallery. And I show my art pieces and I sell my art pieces.

That's kind of like that's what I do. That's how I equate what I do to my sales job and as an architect. But not everybody's in that position.

So I think that, you know, buying, you know, buying a nice condo that's already built. And if you're clever about it, and I think you talk to, you know, put your ear to the ground and talk to the right people. There are some I think there are some sure bets in Costa Rica, you know, areas like, you know, Tamarindo, which my brother swears by, and and others are really happening.

I mean, I've got a friend who did an investment in Nosara that went amazingly well for him. I think he tripled his money on that. There's some good investments that you can make here in Costa Rica, investing in either new construction, or any new construction where you're going to triple your money, you won't triple your money on buying something built.

But, new construction is also very painful. Not as painful as what I've done in doing new construction and then operating it with a huge staff. Yeah, I mean, you'd have to, you'd have to be crazy, right?

[Richard Bexon]

 Wow, well, David, this has been an amazing podcast, really informative.

I'm sure that everyone listening to this, thanks you for your time and also passing on some of that knowledge. But I will put all your contact details in the description, David, for Punta de Vista and Villa La Isla, as well. But just want to say thanks again for taking the time to jump on the podcast.

[David Konwiser]

It was a pleasure to speak to you, Richard. Congratulations on your newfound, your new life kind of doing different things as well. Change is good, as they say, I'm happy for you.

[Richard Bexon]Thank you very much, sir. Have a good one. 

[David Konwiser]

You too.

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