www.CostaRicaTicas.com

How it all got started?
How did the P4P start happening there?
Who started and runs the hotel now?
How has the hotel changed over the years since it first started?
Where was the place to find chicas before the Del Rey opened?[/b]

G;
I kind of know the story but the way this board is, I'll get slammed for the slightest inaccuracy.
Suggest you get a hold of Gringotim or Circus. They know for sure.
I can tell you this though, There a 3 owners today - the same guys that bought it when it was an apartment building and they turned it into a hotel.
Big John, Gregg and I forgot the other guys name. Also, thier predessor was Key Largo. Beyond that, I just have second hand info.
LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

LVSteve,

The other guys name is Tim & he is the oldest & also a Brit the Gregg & John originated from the USA. They should collectively get together & write a book when they retire but I have a feeling it would be as many volumes as an encyclopedia. I could give a brief summary but hesitate like you.

I've always been curious about this as well... I hope someone can take the time to write SOMETHING of the history of the place... a hotel of that capacity and activity must have one HELL of a story behind it...

Anything would be great!

Ruffnutz

_________________
EVERYONE'S A ROCK STAR IN C.R.!!
"Just when I thought I was out... They pull me back in." -- Ruffnutz on trying to quit CRT

We need Circus, Dingdong, Dallasman, Don Gordo or Gringtim to chime in here.
LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

Even if we get bits and pieces it would be cool to know. I heard Big John is an ex-spook ie CIA. I guess this is how rumors and legends get started lol.

Guys;
One thing I do know about Big John is this: Back in the 60's, he did a complete tour of Central and South America on a motorcycle (a la Che).
He was looking for the perfect place to settle and invest. Well, it turned out to be Costa Rica.
There's a bit and piece for ya.
LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

Hardly like Che. When Che Guevera did his motorcycle tour of South America back in the early 50's his reaction to all the poverty and injustive he saw was to become a revolutionary fighting for the peasants and to turn to Marxism. When Big John did it, his reaction was to open up the biggest brothel in Central America as a monument to pure Capitalism. Of course Che never made it as far north as Costa Rica (and his Norton never made it past Chile), so who knows how he would have ended up if he had. Still, regardless of how their trips ended, you gotta envy or admire any guy that could undertake such a trip.

I also like the ex-spook legend, don't know if that's true but it sounds cool.

I like Big John's Take on it too me he just accepted the reality of it all & played with the best cards in his hand & did a damn good job. I might have named it different though instead of Hotel Del Rey (The King's Hotel) to something like Hotel Del Sol Creciente (Hotel of the Rising Sun) since it ruins many a poor boy .

Some organized more mob mentality tried to take over the gulch years ago with stronger armed tactics that we see in the Strip Clubs. This did not fly well & played into the concept of John, Gregg & Tim which gave them an either unexpected or very calculated boost. It is hard to go against mans true nature too be free & everyone found this out over time. Del Rey is controlled buy it's players (free lancers) & nothing is forced against anyone’s free will as far as I know & that is why I like it. I have to draw my seedy little line in the sand some where & this is where I do it. If someone is fored against there free will completely I will not enter into this because my $ would be aiding & abetting this form of conduct. For me it is more of a pickup bar with a price & a high percent of success for all. No one has to put up with an ass & they can say NO as fast as we can. I am sure there were some hairy scary times for the three some but they weathered the storm & finally it looks like the best men won & bought out KL to add it to their prize.

Most the time Mob mentality does not work as it shows its ignorance & lack of sophistication & depth of understanding the true nature of man & business concepts & practices. Greed is their worst enemy & that is the enemy within that they tend to deal with poorly trying to control & take it all for themselves instead of sharing in the growth & rewards equally. Mob type mentality only appears to work when they control it all & there is no other option in the game. Fortunately for all of us there was another option that allowed it to be what it is today. Some very strong willed men did us & CR a very big favor here! This is my own read from what I know.

There use to be a 4th partner from what I know & he sold his part out I believe & tried to make something similar to HDR at the Morazon Hotel.



It has changed in one way too me it is simply bigger & better & has become a beacon to the Caribbean belt area since legend has it a woman has a fighting chance of changer her life by working here for a while not being forced into any form of slavery. In reality I believe from talking to some of the players most are pretty geniune woman with the dream of saving their money to return home to buy a house for their familes & Ch*ldren. Most do not trust men I believe since it was a man in their native country that put them behind the 8 ball in life. Most that I have been with are not into drugs as we know it. I have been to their appartments & see no physical signs of this at all for the most part.



Well MP have always been part of CR & probably always will. Years ago the happening places where still in the gulch Key Largo, Happy Days & Nashville South were the most active & really mainly Key Largo which is owned by the same men as HDR now. Nashville is still open but is a small place & not that popular. Pretty seedy Chicas in there too me anyway. At times I have picked up nice Ticas in the Holiday Casino & the Colonial Casino.

As I've only been visiting CR and the Gulch since 1998, I'll have to defer to those who've been going since the early nineties or so, such as Circus, DonGordo, et al. The DR was for sale back in 1998 or 1999. They even had it posted on the internet with a few photos. I think they were asking either 10 or 12 million dollars. For a couple of years around 1999, the Key Largo was DEAD. I remember going in and only two rooms/bars were open, with perhaps 10 or 12 chicas there. It was dark and poorly lit. Around 2000 it started to get popular again. Strange. Maybe it had something to do with the massive influx of chicas from Colombia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
To get back to the DR, I remember when they used to have a craps table. It was a 'blast' playing there! There was always a lot of action. It was located underneath the upper bar section, underneath the tables, and between the banos and the public telephones. They took it out in 1999 I believe. I think they even moved it closed to the door on the KL side and had a 'for sale' sign on it. You remember that Circus?

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

I've PMed Circus, Dingdong, Dallasman, and Dongordo. Hopefully they'll reply on the post about it.

Gringotim;
I hear the price is up to 20 Million now and that they recently (3 months ago) TURNED DOWN 22 Mill.
LVSteve
PS: Thanks for your input.

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

I saw something in the museum a few blocks away that talked about the revolution in 1949 or so, and that many of the soldiers battling the goverment forces were holed up in the HDR. The bullet holes in the stone walls at the museum were from shots fired from the Del Ray.

Maybe someone can actually go down to the museum and check this out, I just have strong memory of seeing this and it must have been down there. It's not far from the Del Ray, just down the street a few blocks.

What I really wonder is if they had chicas in the Del Ray back then, and were the soldiers running downstairs, grabing a chica and a drink, and then going back upstairs to fire off a few rounds?

http://www.amcostarica.com/092502.htm

http://www.play-costa-rica.com/costa-ri ... ise-8.html

Not sure if it was mentioned in one of the aforementioned links, but once I read the DR was thinking of selling condo's, or making a "timeshare" resort. Good thing they decided on the contrary.

Yeah, I believe anyone who has spent lots of time there could write something really neat, especially the proprietors and management who have been there through random shots fired, fights, deaths, and all the other lunacy that we have come to experience. I'd buy any book on the subject!

_________________
.................................
0000000000000000000
.................................