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The other day, I wanted to escape to a hotel to get some work done for a few hours. I needed excellent Internet access, a comfortable room, good food on site (I planned to eat lunch there) and I wanted to pay about $100. I wanted to check-in early (about 10 am) and I would be checking out at 11pm or midnight or so.

Did I hop on the Internet and start searching? Nope. I called my personal concierge Francisco and told him my requirements. He called back in 10 minutes and told me I was all set up and Wilbur would be picking me up in 20 minutes to take me to the hotel.

The cost for this excellent concierge service? $0. Zip. Notta. Zilch. Free.

Of course Francisco doesn’t call himself a concierge. He calls himself a driver. If he hadn’t been busy with another customer, he would have picked me up himself instead of sending Wilbur.

The reason Francisco was willing to do that for me for free is that Costa Rica works like an affiliate program. Most restaurants, hotels and tourist activities will all pay a commission to any Costa Rican who brings in new customers. He was paid by the hotel, not me.

The commission program is really only available for the Costa Ricans so I couldn’t have really done that myself and collected the commission. The cost to me is exactly the same whether I use Francisco’s free concierge service or if I go through all of the hassle to find the place myself.

Also, since everyone basically offers commissions, Francisco really wasn’t tempted to send me to an inferior place or anything like that just to get a higher commission. He was going to recieve a commission regardless of where he sent me and he knew I would call him back again and again if he found me a good place. He did just as he has done for me dozens of times.

Would you like a free concierge service here in Costa Rica? Just leave a comment and tell me where you are staying or give me a phone number. I’ll have Francisco or one of his friends call you right away. From that point on, I think you will find your stay a lot more pleasant when you always have you own free concierge to call to set up anything you wish.

The author lives and plays in Costa Rica when he isn’t helping others learn how to live and play in Costa Rica.