Hotel Tropico Latino in Santa Teresa Costa Rica celebrates its 15th anniversary

[Danny Solano Alvarez]

Reinventing a business is a process not every company takes the time to tackle. It is like soul-searching. Who are we? What are we about? What are we doing and why? And it is the most urgently talked about business concept over the past five years.

After 15 years in business, Hotel Tropico Latino at beautiful Santa Teresa Costa Rica recently engaged in the challenge of redefining and reinventing their image and goals. According to hotel manager Roberto de la Ossa, they now have a stronger sense of self, a clear direction and a concise message of who they are for their guests and their staff.

“It was very enlightening for everyone to be involved in defining who we are. We had meetings with the owners and management, the supervisors and all of the employees. We’re giving our staff a ‘clear North’ of how we want our hotel to be viewed, how to do their jobs, and what our essence is,” explained de la Ossa.

Over the past 15 years, Hotel Tropico Latino has developed organically, growing and changing over time. “We needed to align our image for the staff to be on the same page working toward the same goal, and that our guests understand clearly what Hotel Tropico Latino is about,” remarked de la Ossa. “Our new image reflects our evolution.”

The hotel’s new logo depicts three leaves for natural sustainability and to represent the three areas of business: hospitality, the spa and restaurant. The colors of turquoise, gold and grey stand for respectively the sea and sustainability, amazing golden sunsets, and the earth and returning to one’s roots. An arc linking them embodies the new beginning of a sunrise.

The Hotel

On the blue Pacific Ocean and wide, light sand beach of Playa Carmen at Santa Teresa, Hotel Tropico Latino is a cozy beachfront hotel for travelers who enjoy nature and personalized, high-level service. It is a place to wander barefoot and sway in a hammock. Pressures of time and the outside world soften into beauty, nature, and relaxed comfort.

Hotel Tropico Latino is like entering a secret enchanted garden. Natural pathways meander through the four-acre property under an old forest canopy inviting you to explore. Some lead to beautifully-designed tropical bungalows tucked here and there into the gardens, or to the exquisite natural Spa area. Others lead to the wide beachfront shaded by coconut palms and tropical almond trees, or to the two yoga decks facing the sea.

Shambala Restaurant

Enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner right in front of the ocean at the Shambala Restaurant. Award-winning Chef Randy Siles’ distinctive “author cuisine” is represented by the restaurant’s new logo of a butterfly with the body of a fork. “The butterfly represents the liberty to know, to experiment and find spaces full of creativity and pleasure. Shambala is a space to feel good, eat healthy and enjoy memorable cooking,” the hotel’s new vision states.

Yoga & Spa Natural

It is impossible to not feel calm and well cared for at Hotel Tropico Latino’s Spa Natural. Their philosophy at the spa by the sea is dedicated to health and well-being, and you feel it with spa products made onsite from natural ingredients, along with two beachfront yoga decks and daily yoga classes.

Hotel Tropico Latino’s renewed concept is summed up in their Mission Statement 2014:

“Tropico Latino is a small, intimate, warm, welcoming and charming hotel located in front of the sea, created with the mission to provide a warm, personalized and safe experience of hospitality, a unique differentiated gastronomy, yoga and spa. We are a beach vacation destination focused on couples, families, surfers, yoga retreats, well-being and health, that allows people to enjoy in a sustainable manner an ambience immersed in the rich nature of the region, without sacrificing comfort, technology and communication. Our infrastructure, personnel and values permit guests to live and remember a unique experience that inspires them to return. We are a sustainable model of profit for our investors and a source of pride for our community.”

Article by Shannon Farley