The Rocky Road To Success ( Opening a hotel in

The Rocky Road To Success ( Opening a hotel in Nicaragua )

Ever daydream of throwing off the nine-to-five rat race yolk, finding an exotic, sunny climate and opening a hotel, bar and restaurant where the palm trees sway and the snow never falls? Listen to the story of someone who did.

“The first six months were a nightmare. We had tiles falling off the roof on to cars in the street, we had to get permission to do everything-even to put trim around the doors. It took six months to get our cargo containers trough customs when it should have taken two,” said Ellen and Marco Snoek,
a Dutch couple from near Amsterdam.

What could have been done to prevent the nightmare?
“Nothing.”
Would they do it all over again?
“Absolutely.”

Both has successful careers -he the director of an aluminum awning company, she in sales for Heineken- but long hours in the office left little time for each other. The idea to start a business somewhere with lots of sun had been born on their honeymoon. “Why do what people expect you to do?” they said.

So they began spending their vacation searching for...