Our Story
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Hola! My name is David. My family owns and operate Hotel Bijagua. When you arrive at the hotel, chances are that you´ll be greeted by me, by my mom, Cecilia, or my dad, Jorge. We actually have quite an interesting history here in the area. Here´s our story:
My mom was born here in the area but her father, Ricardo Quirós, was originally from Naranjo, a town about 80K south of La Fortuna. My grandfather came from a wealthy family and had private tutors and many servants, but he wanted a different life for himself. He wanted adventure and conquest, so in 1937 he headed north to La Fortuna, bought 1,000 acres of land (which included the current tourist waterfall Rio Catarata La Fortuna) and became sheriff here. During that time he met a beautiful young girl, Ana Maria, with whom he fell in love, married and had 8 children.
My mom was born here in the area but her father, Ricardo Quirós, was originally from Naranjo, a town about 80K south of La Fortuna. My grandfather came from a wealthy family and had private tutors and many servants, but he wanted a different life for himself. He wanted adventure and conquest, so in 1937 he headed north to La Fortuna, bought 1,000 acres of land (which included the current tourist waterfall Rio Catarata La Fortuna) and became sheriff here. During that time he met a beautiful young girl, Ana Maria, with whom he fell in love, married and had 8 children.
During that time they suspected that the large mountain in the distance might be a volcano because of strange activity that had observed, such as evidence of sulfur gas and dead birds around the base. My grandfather and a group of explorers set off to see if their suspicions were correct. When they reached the top they found that it was indeed a volcano full of sand. But it would not become active until 1968 when La Fortuna felt the first exciting explosion. At the age of 58 grandfather sadly fell ill with throat cancer, sold all his land in La Fortuna and moved to San Jose with his wife and children where there was more access to education. He died in 1968, just 2 months after the first volcanic explosion proving to him that his original suspicions were correct. His family was saddened by his death but continued to grow and flourish. My mom was the 4th oldest child and married my awesome dad, Jorge, and started a family of her own in San Jose.
In 1989 my parents wanted a place to escape city life so they bought a small parcel of land for a mere $70 and just 3 kilometers from the land that was originally owned by my grandfather in the 1940s. For 15 years the property remained occupied only by cows to keep the grass under control. Little by little my parents began expanding as the money and land became available. 1995 we constructed a small and simple building (which is now the reception area) as a place to spend our weekends and vacations. Due to the fact that tourists were flocking the area to see the famous Volcano Arenal that had been active for decades, in 2002 my parents opened up a souvenir shop in front of their little vacation house. Shortly thereafter my brother who was studying architecture during that time, designed and directed the construction of first four rooms of the hotel. All the family pitched any way they could. My Uncle Varo (my mom´s brother) helped run it for many years and my 2 sisters would come to help my mom with English-speaking tourists and with the cleaning or whatever else was needed. For a while we even had a tourist transport van service to and from San Jose, which we eventually sold and used the money to construct the gorgeous pool you see today. Thanks to the generosity of my dad from his job as an insurance salesman in San Jose, we were able to achieve even more expansions and more constructions ¨poco a poco¨... and what we have here today is our lovely Hotel Bijagua of which the whole family is proud. Everybody has a story. This is ours. And if you are lucky enough, you might even catch a glimpse of my grandma, the beautiful Ana Maria, who still lives with us on the hotel property today.
In 1989 my parents wanted a place to escape city life so they bought a small parcel of land for a mere $70 and just 3 kilometers from the land that was originally owned by my grandfather in the 1940s. For 15 years the property remained occupied only by cows to keep the grass under control. Little by little my parents began expanding as the money and land became available. 1995 we constructed a small and simple building (which is now the reception area) as a place to spend our weekends and vacations. Due to the fact that tourists were flocking the area to see the famous Volcano Arenal that had been active for decades, in 2002 my parents opened up a souvenir shop in front of their little vacation house. Shortly thereafter my brother who was studying architecture during that time, designed and directed the construction of first four rooms of the hotel. All the family pitched any way they could. My Uncle Varo (my mom´s brother) helped run it for many years and my 2 sisters would come to help my mom with English-speaking tourists and with the cleaning or whatever else was needed. For a while we even had a tourist transport van service to and from San Jose, which we eventually sold and used the money to construct the gorgeous pool you see today. Thanks to the generosity of my dad from his job as an insurance salesman in San Jose, we were able to achieve even more expansions and more constructions ¨poco a poco¨... and what we have here today is our lovely Hotel Bijagua of which the whole family is proud. Everybody has a story. This is ours. And if you are lucky enough, you might even catch a glimpse of my grandma, the beautiful Ana Maria, who still lives with us on the hotel property today.