www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Obviously these guys made a great busines decision when they decided to make the DR into what it is today. However I think they were incredibly lucky also. Just imagine what the DR would be today WITHOUT the invention of the internet. ( probably just another Park Hotel)I'm sure the internet had nothing to do with their decision to buy the place and turn it into what it is today. Then again I could have bought some pretty good stocks 30 years ago and didn't.

Key Largo was the hot spot in Central America 15-20 years ago (before the internet).

Guess who ran Key Largo at that time?

LV Steve

In a personal meeting with Tim last month he told me that they were not really interested in selling but if someone had 30 million cash it might be considered. When I said as long as due dilligence substantiates that price he wabbled from the subject. Anything is for sale as long as there is a fool buyer out there. I would love to buy the place but I know I would eat up the proffit.

LV Steve

In a personal meeting with Tim last month he told me that they were not really interested in selling but if someone had 30 million cash it might be considered. When I said as long as due dilligence substantiates that price he wabbled from the subject. Anything is for sale as long as there is a fool buyer out there. I would love to buy the place but I know I would eat up the proffit.

Yeah imagine that ..... 30 million and you would have yourself a full time job.

By the way....Big John was the one running Key Largo in its heyday. He sold it and purchased the apartment building that now is the HDR. Key Largo was so popular (at least according to John) that Time or Newsweek rated it the best bar in the Americas (or maybe it was Central America).

I remember when the Del rey was just a cheap hotel, about fifteen years or so. I had some friends come down in the early days as it was in transition.

Glduke wrote:



I have been slow to respond because frankly I do not have a lot of knowledge concerning the Del Rey.

My first trip to CR was in 1992 and at that time the Del Rey was being converted from, what I was told, an apartment building to a Hotel. I do not think it was finished in 1993. I first recall it being open in 1994 but these dates could be incorrect.

When it opened it was basically a stop-over hotel for sports fisherman coming and going to the Pacific coast. Almost all of the guys gathered in the BM were fisherman. Even in the early days it attracted a number of "willing" female companions .

My hangouts in those days were Happy Days, "Big" Nashville, "Old" NY Bar, Nashville South, Park Hotel and occasionally the Piano Blanco Bar.
There were sufficient chicas in those places, at reasonable prices, to keep me happy.

The other chica spot was Key Largo and has been mentioned in previous posts was much more upscale then. The girls, vast majority Tica, wore very fashionable clothes rather than looking like street hustlers. There was a cover charge after 9:00 PM and the place did not really get started until after 10:00.

Sorry I can not answer most of your questions and hopefully some old timers can fill in the gaps.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I agree they were very lucky in two respects, one being the internet chat boards which decreased the travel risks considerably. More importantly the introduction of VIAGRA busted the business wide open as older hobbyists with plenty of retirement money were suddenly back in the game.

This is the biggest reason the vegas/mustang ranch girls went from $100 to $300, the demand exploded after ED drugs.

Goal,

Great point about the ED drugs putting a smile on men’s faces again & back in the saddle. VB the internet has helped a lot but HDR was in full swing without it, believe me I saw this every trip & internet cafes were just popping up & no Internet in HDR.

Believe you are right about these guys being so lucky. Timing & location are everything sometimes & look how the pieces of the puzzle fell to gather for these men. Some guys I know don't seem to like Big John that well. I take my hat off too him he is a strong man with a vision & helped us all. He I see was probably the driving force to keep the Chicas operating on their own free will & believe it or not I believe he has kept the prices down by defeating the mob mentality. Regardless what anyone thinks about John, Gregg & Tim they are very good men I believe in their hearts but had to be very tough men at times also. I respect that.

This goes back to my belief be as good as you can while being strong & good things will follow. Be an asshole & treat the Chicas with no respect like some dirty animal & watch what happens. Short sided men always phuck themselves it is inevitable it is just a matter of when.

The funny part that I have experienced about the transitions in the Gulch have been the percentages of the different types of chicas have remand fairly constant but over the last few years I have seen a improvement in the # of more innocent types coming into the game & this somewhat saddens me but what I look for which works out well in that respect. They have made their decision without my direct influence. What I mean by percentages are of hardcore, pro, semi pro & newbie status.

If everybody got along well enough here & was sophisticated enough & formed a Corporation with all of us as share holders in something we really would have fun & understanding in what we put our money in we could form the CRT Hotel Casino Bar & make the place grow further as it is going too anyway. The hand writing is on the wall because every day more men from the USA look for refuge from the Big Gringa Syndrome it carries. Just another crazy thought?

A few notes from "Travel and The Single Male" circa 1992:

Key Largo is certainly the best bar in all of San Jose for American men. It's an old, colonial mansion, fully restored in the Casablanca style, a combination bar, disco, and restaurant, situated across from the Holiday Inn and Morazan Park. The perfect place to meet the bad, the good and the in-betwen women. The charm is that you have no idea what type you are approaching.

Since this is the classiest bar in San Jose, so are the prices: girls will start by asking for about $100; the later in the evening, the lower the prices go.

Next door there are a few other interesting bars that, while not as big or sophisticated, can be lots of fun. These are great places to get to know your new partner from Key Largo in a more subdued envionment. Nashville South, Jazz Works and Piano Blanco.

He also mentions Risa's, the Park Hotel and an American style disco called
Les Moustaches at Centro Colon and Paseo Colon.

No mention of the Hotel Del Rey anywhere.

Witling wrote:



I had previously posted:



Wit also posted:



Thanks for the info Wit. Glad to know my old memory till has some recollection

About a year ago I posted that in the early 90's the girls at Key Largo were asking for $100.00 and got ridiculed by some here. Again thanks for the confirmation that my memory was not suffering a "senior moment"

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Ding Dong

Hey I remember those days also & if you go back you will see I made a similar statement. It is a better value now than then dollar wise because the chicas still ask the same cien 15 years later. I never paid the cien back then but did pay 40 to 60 or so is what I remember.

Zippy,

I never paid cein either. In fact I never took a girl out of the KL. I had those same girls, in the afternoon, at Happy Days, Nashville, etc for $15.- $20.00.
At night there was great talent at Happy Days for $25.00 or less. Yes they wore jeans or skirts and tops instead of gowns but when the spread it was just as heavenly

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Ding,
I am sure that is very true. I only hunted late at night usually after I took a real date back to her house. I am sure you got better deals than me because of this. Funny in my old photos San Jose looks really the same but hair & clothing is what stands out. I have some old photos of Ticas & have too admit they looked good back then as well. I remember LUCY in Key Largo back then you remeber this? All my old favs married Gringos & I lost track of them just as well i am sure. Since you live there now do you ever run into the old crowd?

Some interesting posts about the past. It is interesting that the girls were classier with their attire at KL in the 90"s and were asking for the Cien. Did the KL have live music like they do Now? Tux