Business View Caribbean | Volume 9, Issue 1

59 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 Hans Pfister, President & Co-founder of The Cayuga Collection, explains, “My partner, Andrea Bonilla, and I have had the same focus since beginning the company in 1999. We manage small, sustainable luxury hotels in fairly remote places. We really try to find that symbiosis of luxury and sustainability. In Dec. 2021, we opened our first property that’s not a hotel – it’s a large, 10-bedroom, very luxurious house that we’re managing. That’s something new that we’re doing. People love staying in houses, so we’re doing a bit of a test there to see how that plays out for us. It rents at a rate of about $10,000 to $15,000 US per night… right on the beach. So it’s very special.” There was a period in 2020, when The Cayuga Collection had no clients. They were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But when they initially reopened, guests came from the local Costa Rica and Panama market. When the airports opened again, people were coming mostly from the U.S. and just until recently, Europeans and Canadians were starting to return. “Over the years, we’ve developed a bit of a reputation,” says Pfister. “The great majority are looking for the location, the offerings, the activities, how nice are the rooms, what is the view, etc. Then, once they stay with us, we try to ‘wow’ them and inspire them with THE CAYUGA COLLECT ION