Steve Case’s newest hospitality project was launched in April, on a peninsula in Costa Rica that his investment company has owned for almost two decades. The Waldorf Astoria at Punta Caciique is more than another luxury resort.
AOL’s co-founder bought the 600-acre Punta Cacique property in 2006, through Revolution Places. This is his hospitality investment company. Case, who has spent years planning and enduring the 2008 financial crash, opened a resort he hopes will encourage guests to explore beyond the resort’s borders into Costa Rican communities.
Case, as executive chairman of Exclusive Resorts (a company that owns several hotels around the world), has a broader vision of travel. Case explained, “When I visited Costa Rica for the first time, over 20-years ago, I felt like I was in Hawaii during my childhood 50-60 years ago.” It was just a shift from agriculture to tourism.
Case, who was born in Honolulu in 1959 just before Hawaii joined the Union, saw the islands transform from a farming economy into a tourism powerhouse. Case believes that creating exciting destinations was the key.
Case explains, “I believe people enjoy going to Hawaii because they get out of their hotel, travel around the island and stop at a local restaurant.” They use the resort as a sort of launchpad to explore the real Hawaii.
Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique. The first resort within the 600-acre Punta Cancique will open in April of 2025.
