Parador Resort & Spa Celebrates 16 Year Anniversary!

It began with a remarkable piece of secluded cliff-side property blanketed with dense rainforest that offered spectacular ocean vistas stretching from Quepos to Manuel Antonio National Park. And a vision. The vision of a Dutch man named Jan Schans who upon seeing this panoramic plot of land in 1993 imagined a hotel that would both aesthetically respect this unique natural setting and commit to protect it. Towards that end, over the years Parador has reforested, under the aegis of a forestry engineer, the entire area on which our hotel sits.

Mr. Schans’ dream became a reality when Hotel Parador (now Parador Resort & Spa) opened its doors on Punta Quepos, Manuel Antonio with 56 rooms in 1995. It quickly emerged as one of the top luxe properties in the area which has, over the years, evolved into not only the largest full service resort in the area – spread across 12 lush acres of jungle-kissed grounds -- but a tenacious leader in sustainable tourism and community service.

Today, as we proudly celebrate our 16th anniversary, Parador features 129 rooms and suites, three swimming pools, four restaurants and bars, a luxurious world-class spa, fitness room, tennis court, nature trails and green areas. We have hosted innumerable weddings and honeymooners, family reunions and special events, first and repeat visitors and even a handful of celebrities to this special slice of heaven on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast.

We continue to be a family run business with more than a 150 loyal employees – many of whom have been with us for many years, some since the beginning. Our “We Share” Employee Program persists in supporting and caring for our team while our ongoing commitment to the environment has earned us the ICT’s (Costa Rican Tourist Board) top 5 Leaf Sustainability rating and the Ecological Blue Flag. Named “Costa Rica’s Leading Resort 2010” by the World Travel Awards, we work each day towards achieving and maintaining a standard of excellence within the context of our green philosophy.

Sweet Sixteen! Time marches on and so do we. Thank you for sharing in our success and participating in our ongoing efforts to save – or at least – protect our planet!

Parador Resort & Spa Supports Teatro Copaza In Quepos: First Cultural Theater For At-Risk Youth In Costa Rica

It’s a well known fact that Parador Resort & Spa is much more than just a world-class resort. Our commitment to the environment and community has earned us a fistful of awards and accolades, including Costa Rica’s highest 5 Leaf Sustainability ranking and, for the third consecutive year, the important Ecological Blue Flag.

Named “Costa Rica’s Leading Resort 2010” by the prestigious World Travel Awards, Parador’s support of numerous community and charitable groups takes equal standing to our dedication to our guests. As such, we have been intimately involved with Copaza, a regional non-profit organization diligently working towards improving the circumstances and opportunities for Costa Rica’s youth.

Of the many projects Copaza has spearheaded since its formation in 2007, the opening last year (2010) of Teatro Copaza here in the small fishing village of Quepos, stands out. As the first such cultural venture in Costa Rica’s Central Pacific region, the theater introduces locals -- particularly kids -- to cultural performances from around the world while also serving as a prototype for similar undertakings throughout the country.

In addition to visiting performance troupes from San Jose, the US, Europe and Latin America, the theater offers art, music and dance classes to local children. Many programs are free, and for those that are not Copaza provides scholarships and other financial assistance for families with limited resources. The goal is to get kids off the street, away from drugs, violence and crime and to provide positive options and inspiration for a more fruitful and successful life.

Parador Resort & Spa Awarded Ecological Blue Flag For Third Consecutive Year

Parador Resort & Spa is recognized yet again for outstanding commitment to the environment for which we were issued the highest 5 Leaf sustainability rating by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) in 2010. Now, for the third consecutive year we have been awarded the Ecological Blue Flag acknowledging our environmentally-responsible policies and achievements, outstanding green business practices and ongoing dedication towards preserving and protecting Costa Rica’s fragile eco-system.

Costa Rica’s Blue Flag Ecology Program, a joint venture between several government and non-governmental organizations, including the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, the National Water and Sewer Service, Ministry of Public Health Ministry of Environment, and National Tourism Chamber, amongst others, is associated with the international Blue Flag Program. Initiated in France in 1985, the Blue Flag Program was conceived to improve and monitor sustainable development at beaches and marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety.

Owned and operated by the independent non-profit organization Foundation For Environmental Education (FEE), the European-based voluntary awards program increased its scope in 2001 to become a globally active organization which today includes participants in 41 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Parador Receives Top Five Leaf Sustainability Award.

Last Thursday (December 9, 2010) Parador Resort & Spa was presented with the highest Five Leaf Sustainability Award by Costa Rica’s Minister of Tourism Carlos Ricardo Benavides at a ceremony in San Jose’s InBio Park. The annual event recognizes businesses in the tourist sector that duly comply with the exacting sustainability guidelines dicated by the Costa Rican Tourism Board’s ICT, Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program CST.

Parador Resort & Spa was one of only ten establishments bequeathed with the coveted Five Leaf rating, validating our passionate and enduring dedication to our environment, community and planet.

Parador Vice President Diego F. Gonzalez Monge and Sales Director Allan Ortega were on hand to receive the top commendation, joining representatives from many of the other 181 Costa Rican tourist-oriented companies that were also certified (22 for the first time).

The impressive number of honorees indicates the ongoing commitment amongst government and private industry to protect and respect Costa Rica’s fragile and fecund eco-system.

Parador Resort & Spa earns top 5-Leaf Sustainable Rating.

One of the most lush and bio-diverse countries on earth, Costa Rica takes its responsibility towards protecting and maintaining its fragile environment very seriously. So seriously that the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) initiated the Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program (CST) to monitor and rate the level of sustainability commitment and execution amongst businesses in the tourism sector. The bar is set extremely high and ratings are determined by compliance with stringently complex and comprehensive standards. As such, It’s no easy feat to achieve the top 5 leaf rating, only ten hotels in the entire country having reached that goal.

And Parador Resort & Spa is exceedingly proud to be amongst that exclusive and devoted group, our long-term dedication to environmental responsibility and passionate green philosophy having earned us the top 5 leaf rating by the (CST). Further, we are the largest and only full-service resort to be awarded the honor!

We hope next time you visit us, you will participate in our ongoing campaign to live, work and play responsibility within our community and environment.

*CST is regulated by the Costa Rican National Accreditation Commission.