107 Running and marketing a successful hotel

[Richard Bexon]

Good morning, Colin. How are you doing? Good.

[Colin Brownlee]

Good to see you again, Richard. 

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, you too, Colin. It's an absolute pleasure and an honor to have you on the podcast, sir.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yes. It's good to see you again.

[Richard Bexon]

Exactly. Well, you've been in Costa Rica for a while now, Colin. And I mean, you're on the Caribbean side and a lot of the listeners here are unfamiliar with that part of Costa Rica.

I mean, how would you go about describing it to people and what does it offer that others may not? And also how has it changed since you've been there? Because you've been down there quite a while.

[Colin Brownlee]

Well, that's a loaded question. So let's unpack it a little bit. The big thing is all these misconceptions around the Caribbean.

And it's always funny when I hear people from the Pacific talk about the Caribbean and talk about different things that they've heard. And almost all of these people I talk to and hear this stuff have never been there. So I I'm not really out to sell anything to anybody.

It's been doing itself. I think the biggest thing for tourism investment that people need to realize is we have all year around tourism. Unlike the Pacific has a very defined six months of the year and six months of a lower season.

With no word of a lie, our hotel enjoys an average of 90% plus occupancy on all year around. And that's due to the weather here, how it's not as defined as wet and dry like the Pacific. And also the type of tourists that we get are just not as much the traditional tourists that would say that they would go to Guanacaste.

The other thing is is that 30 kilometer, we have 30 kilometers of beach from Cahuita to Manzanillo. And it's all these different beach communities which are all unique and different and a joy to be in. And it's 30 kilometers of nature, wildlife, extremely multicultural atmosphere, accommodations, restaurants, tours.

There's no place in Costa Rica that offers as much as we do in such a small defined area. So people can come here and experience so much of what Costa Rica has to offer in just this 30 kilometer space that was bordered by two huge parks, national parks, Cahuita National Park and again Manzanillo. And people are always usually focused on Arenal and Guanacaste and Manuantonio.

Well, imagine a 10 day trip with Tortuguero, Porto Viejo and finishing in the islands of Bocas de Toro, which are just across the border. I mean, it's a really big, action-packed, full adventure and at a real affordable price. And now with the expansion of the 32 and the new airport, five years ago we would beg for three flights a week from the local airline.

Now we get three a day. So in our old junky airport. And so things have really changed.

So that's, from a business perspective, what I can say about doing business on the Caribbean versus the Pacific.

[Richard Bexon]

It's funny that you, I mean, I've had two clients in the past week, one who I bumped into again in the airport yesterday. But again, these guys have been to Costa Rica like 12 times and they were like, Rich, where next to me? And I was like, the Caribbean.

And they were like, no, I've done the Caribbean to death. And I'm like, no. Like the Caribbean side of Costa Rica is jungle and national parks.

And it's a mix of a Caribbean flair with Tico culture. Like it's a mix of that. So it's not like your typical Turks and Caicos, you know, it's different, completely different.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yeah. Yeah. It's a very mixed experience that's really not reproducible, especially anywhere in this country.

That's for sure.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah. I mean, it's jungle, it's wildlife, sloths, you know, toucans, monkeys. I mean, it has everything that people think of in Costa Rica with amazing food and restaurants, like the area is a well-known for like amazing food and restaurants.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yes. Well, just also a difference in Guanacosta, you know, Guanacosta tends to have a lot of high end properties, more traditional, whereas here we don't really have the high end. We have one or two and then the rest are budget to mid range.

And so it caters to a more sort of consumer class versus a high end. But, you know, with, you know, the focus on the Caribbean, there's definitely some high end people snooping around these days.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah. I mean, I've definitely seen it, you know, and I think it will continue to develop. I mean, you own and run Banana Resort, which you mentioned there, you know, and you have that 90 percent occupancy, you know, and I think that that comes hand in hand with, you know, as I mentioned, you know, I think you're a, you know.

I would say marketing guru would be the word don't blush, you know, but I mean, it's a very successful property in Puerto Rico on the Caribbean side. But can you tell us about your journey with this property? How do you find it?

And also the challenges that you've had, just because I think people like to like hear about other people's experience if they're thinking about doing it themselves.

[Colin Brownlee]

Sure. Yeah. And it's a good thing to to maybe it's a good thing to talk to people.

Maybe it's also a good thing not to talk to people. I didn't talk to a lot of people, and I think that maybe that's a good thing because I probably would have run screaming. Anyway, it all started 25 years ago.

And basically, I was in a place in the big island of Hawaii and stayed on this place on the beach that was kind of funky and fun and that. And I was in my, you know, heading in my peak of career in marketing and advertising. And I just thought, oh, my God, you know, I don't want to do this anymore.

I would want to do something like this, you know. And it was really, you know, it just haunted me, you know, that this is what I had to do. And if I didn't do this in my life, that my life would be a failure because, you know, I didn't do what I really wanted to do in life.

And I just stayed in a safe position in life because, you know, strictly mainly because of financial motivations. And I just, you know, I was approaching 40, and I just thought I don't want the rest of my life to be, you know, financially, solely financially motivated. So anyway, I thought, you know, I wasn't really interested in the United States, and Hawaii wasn't the best option because of its location and everything.

So I discovered, you know, Costa Rica on the internet. And I thought, oh, that looks interesting, you know, it's the same time zone and everything and that. And then I discovered this Puerto Viejo on the internet on the South Caribbean, and I saw it was this like kind of hippie, bohemian place.

And, you know, coming from the west coast of, you know, where they call the land of the fruits and nuts, I really realized that, you know, any place that starts out with a bohemian sort of culture, you know, tends to be, you know, a really good place to invest in. And so, you know, and I visited in 2002, and the place exceeded my expectations. And of course, everybody told I was crazy to look at the Caribbean.

So I went all over Costa Rica, looking for something better. And, you know, from Guanacosta, right down to the Osa and everything. And my second runner up was Samara, was a close second, but nothing could match the tropical lushness of the Caribbean that just fascinated me.

And, you know, and also the heat in the Guanacaste, when you started approaching like, you know, April, May and everything, and we just don't experience that here. Our temperature is very sort of, you know, standard all year round. And, but please keep in mind that while we don't have the heat, we do have the humidity.

So, and I bought my property in 2003, and moved here in 2004. Everyone in CR, locals and expats told me I was absolutely crazy to be building this project, you know, on the Caribbean. It was so bad, I actually started to believe it.

But by that time, I was so far into it, that I would have taken, you know, a huge hit financially. Also, the dream would be over. I mean, that would be it.

So, so anyway, I just persevered. And then I opened in 2007. And slowly, but surely, they came.

And in the beginning, I never marketed the hotel. For years and years, I only marketed the location with my hotel as the page. So, because of my background, you know, I was able to, you know, and so that really helped Puerto Viejo take off.

And, and, and then 2017, things really, you know, since 2017, the residents and tourism in Puerto Viejo area has doubled. Wow. Why?

Just because of the increasing popularity and price and, and, and the access to the, you know, price with the access to beach, you know, the really easy, everything's built along the beach here, very little is built in the mountains. And, but unfortunately, the infrastructure has not. And, you know, then, you know, since COVID, you know, coming out of COVID, it's not only doubled, when I say now, Houston, we have liftoff.

I mean, it's just really changing. And it's, you know, hard to see that subsiding much because of what the trends that we're experiencing and everything, you know, definitely a recession is going to probably affect things. But I still think over the long run that, that, you know, that it looks very good.

[Richard Bexon]

So what do you think? I mean, what, you know, I mean, you didn't market it for quite some time there. And, you know, I think I'd mentioned is, you know, I look at you as a marketing guru, there are people I can count on my hands that I would use that word with one of them is you, one of them is with Casey.

You know, and, you know, I mean, Casey's the brain, I'm just, I'm the talker, he's the brain. Yeah, whatever, Colin, I've seen you. I've seen your work.

It's, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it's very, very good. I mean, what advice would you give anyone when it comes to marketing and tourism project in Costa Rica? I mean, you'd mentioned there about, you know, marketing and destination, and then your product, your product, but I mean, what advice would you give people?

[Colin Brownlee]

You know, first of all, you know, marketing is always limited by budget, you know, and that's something that a lot of people like, you know, I see people doing all this Instagram and Facebook marketing and all this, and I kind of laugh, I call it pretend marketing, you know, it's like your marketing, you know, oh, I got 10, 10 likes, it's going viral, you know, I can, you know, and it's just, it's just, you know, that's to me as pretend marketing. And, you know, so that's what we also call inspirational marketing.

So putting on Instagram, kind of inspiring people to, you know, well, to make any, there's no limb shortage of pretty pictures of pretty places on Instagram. So I'm sorry, your place is nice, but you know, it just doesn't measure up to the pictures you're going to see there. So I really always only market to the people that are already sold on Costa Rica, because that's all I'll afford.

And they've already, you know, I don't have to convince them to come.

[Richard Bexon]

And they've made that decision.

[Colin Brownlee]

Right. So, you know, then, according to what we can best figure out, Caribbean, South Caribbean here gets about 6% of the tourism in Costa Rica. So that means there's 94% out there that are there for the taking.

Okay. And the Caribbean here, we have everything virtually here except a volcano that Costa Rica has to offer. And so if we could take out of that 94 existing percent, say 3%, you know, that would be a 50% increase in tourism.

So to me, you know, this is how I really think of things. And then also go into it targeting your ideal client, you know, not shooting in the dark, because otherwise, you will eat up your budget too fast. And also if you're, you know, marketing a hotel, you know, I use booking.com as my, you know, example what to do. I mean, it's the largest company that books hotels in the world, right. And so what do they do? And they buy Google.

That's the number one thing they buy. Well, I buy Google. And all these people say, oh, but Facebook is so much nicer and cheaper and blah, blah, blah.

Google works.

[Richard Bexon]

It works every time. And we spent $2 million a year on it. You know, it works.

[Colin Brownlee]

Right. Yeah. And, you know, Instagram is, you know, whatever.

[Richard Bexon]

I mean, I think it's where you get in the funnel. And I mean, that's really the, you know, the part of it of Instagram and Facebook is very in this dreamy phase at the top. Whereas Google is like, someone's actually typing in Costa Rica, you know, something or Puerto Rico, Caribbean, like they're typing in certain keywords.

So they know what they want, you know, so it's a much more lower down the funnel. And I think the lower you can get down that funnel, you know, the better. I mean, you know, people are blown away.

Sometimes we're like, Rich, your clients nearly always buy that you work with. And I'm like, because like there are certain, you know, filters to go through in order to kind of work with us, if that makes sense.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yeah. And just, you know, adding to that, you know, I'm the other thing is, is then once you got them as branding, you know, and that's something that only people involved in marketing really understand the importance of. And for me, that's, you know, one of the things that's really made us succeed here is Banana Azul is a solid brand, you know, and, you know, who would think of a hotel in the Caribbean, I'm having a solid brand, you know, and, and when I talked to her, you know, I pooh poohed Facebook and stuff like that.

Actually, I use paid Facebook for branding. So I would retarget them on Facebook, the Banana Azul brand, you know, so, and again, making sure that that the people I'm targeting are my customer and, you know, not just the masses, because, you know, you just really need to, it's, you know, you, it's easy to drive 1000s of clicks to your website, but, you know, you really only want 10 that are going to buy, that's the only thing you want.

[Richard Bexon]

So Colin, thinking about actually, like the operation of a hotel and kind of like the client experience, I mean, what are the some of the things that you think people overlook, or don't think about when it comes to, you know, running a hotel, that's really important, you know, and I'll give you an example of like, when we had the hotel, I didn't realize how important food in the restaurant was like, it just, it didn't used to be as important as it is now.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yes, you know, yes, and also getting that food that is a good match for your clientele. You know, like for us, we're more of a consumer brand hotel. So we don't run a fancy restaurant, we run a more of a bar and grill type menu.

And so it really resonates with the clientele. Whereas if I was trying to, you know, say, well, you know, instead of charging, you know, $12 for a hamburger, I could charge 18, you know, and make it gourmet. It's like, well, that's not going to make my customers happy.

And yeah, you know, they should go into town and have that experience and going into a nicer restaurant. That's all part of their vacation experience is being able to eat in other places too. But so it's really matching to your, but I guess the most important thing is like, you know, really tapping in what is it people are looking for on vacation and give you an example.

Like one time, you know, I, my location is on the beach, right. And I'm sitting there and I'm, I'm looking and I'm out there at 6 00 AM in the morning or whatever. I got up, I couldn't sleep or whatever.

And I went, you know, cause I usually sleep in and went out and I was sitting out there. Oh my God, this is so beautiful. You know, it was like one of those moments you just felt like crying, you know, cause it's like beer and everything.

And you're just like, oh my God, you know, what's happening. And and I just realized there was nobody else there. Right.

And I thought, oh my God, you know, people really need to experience this. So I put coffee, a coffee thermos and coffee cups and cream and sugar every morning on the beach at 5 30 AM. Wow.

And people are told when they check in, oh, there's coffee service on the beach at 5 30 AM. Right. And how many people now go out and do that and they just sit there all by themselves out there and just, and they're not watching their Instagram or anything like that.

They're just looking out and having this, you know, you know, brewed cup of coffee. It's not even, you know, fancy Starbucks or anything, but they could never reproduce that moment. You know what I mean?

And, and, and so what can you do to create those moments, you know, and how, you know, one time when I was in a market one time, you know, in Costa Rica and San Jose, and that in December of all places, this guy came up to me with a big machete and a coconut and hacked it right in front of me. And then just stuck it in front of me with a straw and said, here, have this, you know, it was really kind of shocking because this is not a traditional, you know, market experience in Canada. And, and I was just like, so blown away by that.

It was this amazing cultural experience, you know, so we will have maintenance guys will point out sloths while they're gardening or, or they'll, you know, bring people PIPAs and things like that. And, and, you know, what can we do to really enhance their experience? And most of it doesn't really cost that much money.

It's just really paying attention and saying, what, what could we do to make this memorable, you know? And so that's kind of, you know, my thing is, it's not get all crazy about everything. It's this, they came here for an experience, a unique experience and something that they'll remember.

Well, what can you do to make that happen? You know? And, and the country has no shortage of, you know, aha moments, you know, and awe, you know, so it's, it's not that hard to do.

[Richard Bexon]

Well, and talking about destination here a little bit, you know, because a lot of people are like, Hey, I found this really cheap piece of land, which is in the middle of nowhere, where they want to do some form of project, you know, and I'm like, guys, I understand that, but like you may be pushing a boulder up a hill here. Like it's going to be a lot of work. I mean, what's your viewpoint on anyone investing in Costa Rica, whether it be a vacation rental or home, you know, of like, Hey, look, look at maybe a C plus or up and coming destination to one that's already finished to one that's like in the middle of nowhere.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yeah. Well, first of all, I want to say, and I've been here almost 18, almost 20 years, be 18 years is, you know, thank God that I found people like you that actually had some integrity. Okay.

Because, you know, for everyone, you, there'll be nine of them that will say, Oh, you want to buy that land? Absolutely. And I'll arrange to sell it to you.

And in fact, I'll go arrange to buy it first in some cases and resell it to you so I can get, you know, 20% instead of my 5% commission, you know, so it's just, it's horrible. And it really upsets me to watch stuff like that, because I just can't, I can't participate in that. And so maybe sometimes I wish I did because I would be definitely be a lot more wealthier than I am now.

But I just, it just goes against everything I believe in. So you're absolutely right. And, and, and that's why I say, you know, location, a desirable location.

And if you can find one like the Caribbean, but there's other places in Costa Rica as well, that's not already, you know, been really developed, you can get in. And as long as you've got like a 10 year plan or something like that, and you can see the vision of that, like what that's going to look like in 10 years, you can be pretty safe and make a solid investment. And, and, you know, so that, you know, find people that, that you trust, and that have really undisputed references.

That's the, you know, there's really good people out there, especially on the Pacific. And, but there are few of them, but, but you've got to scratch around. Yes, yes, exactly.

You know, and so your advice is very, you know, and ensure something in the middle of somewhere out in the middle of nowhere could be a great investment. And, but start thinking 20 years, you know, and yeah, you know, so, and most people are out.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah. And you have to create that destination. I mean, you have to put it on the map, you have to market it, like, you know, I know that there are.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, thankfully, I got in here so cheap. And I had such a passion about being here, that my passion exceeded my expectations of my return, you know?

Yep. So, and I never really had any expectations of return. I just wanted to live a different life and, and hopefully have some money to do it.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah. Well, and I think that's important. It's passion, you know, and I say that to a lot of people I work with where I'm like, look, you better really want this because like, it's not going to be easy.

Like, and I don't think, you know, I, nobody, nobody runs a hotel or any tourism establishment that goes, wow, that was really easy. I'm going to do that again. Like it's like, it's difficult and that's why not everyone's doing it, but that's why you need that passion because it's going to get you through those difficult times.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yes, yes. And, you know, despite my difficulties and, you know, whether it would be our location in Caribbean or, or even just Costa Rica. And also, I mean, I never built a hotel and opened a hotel before.

You know, I still never can recall a day that I dreaded getting up in the morning and having to go to work, you know, when I look back at my career in marketing and advertising, and I would just dread those meetings that I would have to sit through. And, you know, while somebody was like talking to me about deliverables and I just thought, oh, you know, you know, I, you know, I have no regrets and, and, you know, but, you know, this, you have to just, you know, like really let go of your past life, you know, and be open to discover, not only discover, but embrace a whole new way of living with passion, you know, do not try and live the life you came from, because it will never measure up, I can assure you. And, and if you can do that, you'd be like me, you know, you never look back. I just, you know, I'm a citizen now, you know, at my, I will die here.

And, you know, it's, it's just, and I come from an amazing place, you know, I come from Vancouver, Canada, and, and it's wonderful and everything. But it's, you know, here, for better or for worse, it's never boring. That's true.

You know, it's always adventurous, no matter what. And, and, and that's not always a good thing. But, you know, you'll have things to talk about at the bar.

[Richard Bexon]

I mean, talking about culturally about Costa Rica, I mean, what are some of the things culturally you think that some people should just be aware of when moving here? Like, I'm always like, like, Tico's find it really difficult to say no. Yes.

[Colin Brownlee]

To a fault. I mean, you know, they will not tell you the truth with good intentions. Well, they don't want to offend you.

Yeah, but it's a problem. It is.

[Richard Bexon]

I mean, that's the beauty of Costa Rica. Like it's relaxed. It's chill.

No one says no. It's kind of, you know, yeah.

[Colin Brownlee]

You know, that was funny. You mentioned this because I was I was at the bank yesterday. And, and again, it usually took my the usual, you know, I, even though I'm a corporate client and everything, I have to get in line.

Everyone does. Yeah. And, you know, and it's well over an hour and everything.

And, and, but I was totally fine about it. And I was thinking about, you know, and what I always tell people that move here, listen, you've got to learn patience and tolerance. And then I can see they're like, you know, wondering what I'm talking about.

And I just say, they will beat it into you.

[Richard Bexon]

Yep. It's that or you'll go home.

[Colin Brownlee]

Yeah, exactly. Trust me that you can throw whatever hissy fit you want. It will, it will be worse.

And then they will, you know, lots of Tico's and rightfully so will take glee in making you wait or, you know, government officials. Yes, absolutely. So, you know, you win, win a lot with honey here.

And if you can do that, you can actually go a long ways, you know?

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah, I did a podcast a while back where someone was like, look, you need to understand it's 80% relationship, 20% business here. Absolutely. Yeah.

[Colin Brownlee]

And to a fault because they overlook the business part, you know, which is very important, which is why people like us tend to do well is because we don't overlook the business part.

[Richard Bexon]

Yeah.

[Colin Brownlee]

We might let them do it, but we don't. Because we know how important that is. So yeah, so that would be one.

I mean, one of the other ones, which I am the worst of, and I'm one of those horrible North Americans that has really not fully learned Spanish after 18 years. And I'm just one of those, you know, lazy people that just I bet you admit it. I've done it, you know, I've still done it here and I still love it here and everything, but trust me, you know, that I don't recommend that.

But your Spanish is not horrible, though.

[Richard Bexon]

I mean, you get by.

[Colin Brownlee]

I call it survival Spanish because whenever I'm forced to do it, it's amazing when I could, you know, talk my way out of a ticket with a crapper cop, you know, without pain. Not all the time.

[Richard Bexon]

Well, Colin, this has been amazing. My last question for you, if you like had to invest, meaning you inherited $500,000 and had to invest it into a business or real estate in Costa Rica, what would you invest it into and why?

[Colin Brownlee]

Do you know, not too long ago, you know, just with all the remote working demand and everything like that, I would have said, you know, vacation rentals that catered to a more, you know, longer term client versus, you know, the Airbnb, the typical Airbnb clients and everything like that. And I still think that that's a pretty safe investment because of the demand of people wanting to come here for longer periods of time for whatever reason, whether it be remote work, you know, not having a second home and just renting a second home in another country and just also people, you know, traveling for longer periods. But now I feel that if I had the money and I look in hindsight at these locations, I would put it into developable land in a desirable location with making sure that you had the proper, you know, road and electricity and water, you know, the key ingredients.

And I feel that that is a pretty solid investment that will give you a great, a good return, not this, you know, it won't be Bitcoin or anything like that, but, you know, it would be a safe, a pretty safe investment as well.

[Richard Bexon]

I agree. I agree. Well, Colin, I really appreciate your time.