The Sweet Spot Between Luxury Hotels and Private Homes

One of the questions I get asked all the time is, "If you could stay anywhere, would you choose a luxury hotel or a private home?"

After a recent family trip to Costa Rica, I'm more convinced than ever that the answer isn't one or the other. It's both.

Our trip began at Nayara Tented Camp, one of the world's premier luxury resorts. My wife and I were traveling with our three children—two in college and one in high school—making us a family of five with very different interests and travel styles. At this stage of life, everyone appreciates a little space, and like most families with teenagers and young adults, it's easy for everyone to retreat into their own world.

We've stayed at Nayara before, so we knew we were in for something special. For four days, we were immersed in a level of hospitality that is incredibly difficult to describe until you've experienced it. Every detail had been thoughtfully considered. Every interaction felt genuine. The property itself was stunning, but what made it unforgettable were the people.

One evening after we checked in, I asked William, one of the bellmen, if he happened to know where we might find some of the incredible wildlife that makes the rainforest so magical. During a previous visit, another member of the staff had shown us a red-eyed tree frog hidden near one of the ponds, and it had become one of our favorite family memories.

William disappeared for a few minutes, spoke with his supervisor, and returned with an unexpected surprise. Later that evening, he took an hour out of his schedule to personally drive our family around the property in a golf cart, showing us sloths resting high in the trees, colorful frogs tucked among the leaves, an owl perched quietly overhead, and countless other animals we never would have found on our own.

What made the experience so memorable wasn't simply what we saw. It was the fact that William understood what mattered to us. For the rest of our stay, every time we crossed paths, he asked if we'd spotted any new wildlife and shared new sightings from around the property. He wasn't simply providing great service. He was sharing something he genuinely loved with people who appreciated it just as much.

That's hospitality at its very best.

Then we packed our bags and headed to the second half of our trip: a beautiful four-bedroom villa in Hacienda Pinilla.

The house was exceptional. Modern architecture. A beautiful infinity pool. An outdoor kitchen where I loved preparing meals. Giant sliding glass doors that opened the entire living room to the outdoors. Every member of our family had their own bedroom and bathroom, something that's surprisingly hard to find when you're traveling with older kids.

From the moment we arrived, the experience was completely different.

Instead of restaurant reservations every evening, we visited the local grocery store, stocked the refrigerator, and cooked together almost every night. While I grilled dinner outside, the kids floated in the pool, listened to music, or relaxed inside. The house gave all five of us something that's increasingly rare as your children get older: room to spread out without feeling separated.

One evening my wife pulled out a deck of cards she had packed, and somehow we ended up rediscovering Hearts, a game none of us had played in years. If you've ever traveled with teenagers and college-aged kids, you know how easy it is for everyone to disappear into their own room or onto their phone once the day winds down. Instead, we found ourselves laughing, teasing one another, and playing cards for hours. By the end of the trip, Hearts had become our nightly tradition.

Ironically, one of our favorite memories from Costa Rica had nothing to do with Costa Rica at all.

It happened because we were all under one roof.

That's something a private home does incredibly well.

But there were moments when we realized we were missing something.

One afternoon we wanted to explore a beach town for dinner. Google made one destination sound perfect, so we made the drive only to discover it wasn't really what we were looking for. We eventually turned around, drove back to another town we had visited the day before, and had an incredible afternoon swimming, wandering through the shops, and enjoying dinner at sunset.

It wasn't a bad experience. It was simply a reminder that Google gives you information. Local people give you insight. Those are two very different things.

Ironically, our best local experience of the entire trip happened on our very last day.

We had an evening flight home and a couple of hours to spare. One animal my family had always wanted to see was a capuchin monkey. After reading through a Reddit thread, we stumbled across a small river tour on the Palo Verde River that sounded promising. We got lost finding it, eventually arriving at a tiny open-air pavilion in a small town we never would have discovered on our own.

Our guide, Angel, waved for us to follow him on his red motorcycle as he led us down a series of dirt roads to the river. There we met Miguel, our boat captain, who looked to be about eighty years old and spoke no English. He knew every bend of that river.

As we floated downstream, Miguel would quietly point toward the shoreline or into the trees. Angel would translate, and suddenly we'd notice another crocodile, a colorful bird, an iguana, or some other wildlife we would have completely missed without them. Every time our family reacted with excitement, Miguel couldn't help but smile. You could tell how proud he was to share his river with people who genuinely appreciated it.

As the tour was ending, we still hadn't seen any monkeys. Without saying a word, Miguel steered right past the dock, pulled a mango from the boat, made a few soft calls toward a stand of trees, and within moments two capuchin monkeys appeared just a few feet away, looking directly into our eyes. It was magical.

Afterward, we returned to the pavilion where Angel's mama served us what turned out to be our favorite meal of the entire trip while we all watched the World Cup together. That was a "Joes" kind of day. Not because it had been perfectly planned. Because it felt authentic. The funny thing is, we almost never found it.

As I reflected on the flight home, I realized the trip hadn't changed my thinking about hospitality at all. If anything, it reinforced everything I've believed throughout my career.

I've spent decades in luxury hospitality, including many years helping build the concierge experience at Farmhouse Inn. One of the things I learned early on is that extraordinary hospitality isn't about solving problems. It's about helping people discover experiences they never would have found on their own. The best concierge teams create confidence before a guest ever arrives. They connect people with the destination. They point them toward experiences that become stories long after the vacation is over.

In many ways, Nayara reminded me of Farmhouse Inn. The beautiful accommodations mattered, but what guests remembered most were the people. William wasn't memorable because he worked at a luxury resort. He was memorable because he cared.

That experience reinforced one of the foundational principles we've built The Joes around. A beautiful home is only the beginning. The right home brings families together. The destination creates the stories they'll tell for years.

That's why our concierge team at the Joes begins working with guests long before they ever arrive. Months before check-in, we're getting to know them. We're learning how they like to travel, who they're traveling with, what they're celebrating, and what kinds of experiences matter most to them. Together we'll help build restaurant reservations, winery visits, hiking adventures, family activities, and introductions to the people who make each destination special.

By the time our guests unlock the front door, they're not spending the first few days trying to figure things out. They're ready to start enjoying their time together.

But we also don't want to plan every minute. Some of the best travel memories happen because you take a chance, follow a local down a dirt road, or stumble onto something you never expected to find. Because at the end of the day, the home isn't the destination. It's the launch pad.

Our job isn't to eliminate adventure. It's to help point you in the right direction. When I think back on Costa Rica, I don't think about whether I preferred the hotel or the villa. I think about William sharing the rainforest with our family. I think about my wife, our three kids, and me sitting around a table every evening playing Hearts. I think about Miguel quietly steering a boat toward two capuchin monkeys and proudly sharing a place he loved.

Each memory happened for a different reason. One happened because of extraordinary hospitality. One happened because a beautiful home brought our family together. One happened because we chased a little adventure and met wonderful people along the way.

To me, that's the sweet spot. That's what we're building at The Joes.

A beautiful home that brings your family together, thoughtful hospitality that helps you discover a destination, and just enough room for a little adventure of your own.