Lodges & Cabanas

This week I would like to update you on some of the projects that will be started in the coming weeks and months. All of us are eager to see the business up and running and so priorities are being set in order to allow for Totoco to receive guests while still continuing to construct the remaining cabins.

You have been following the progress on cabins #1 & 2 and it is still our intention to open the business with these two cabins finished. Painting will begin this week on cabin #1 and we have our australian volunteer plumber doing some retrofitting of the bathroom. The colour scheme selected for this cabin includes a honeycomb exterior and an eggwhite interior. The detail work will not require Leonide, the lead mason on cabin #1, to continually be present and he will be shifting his focus on starting work on the foundations for cabin #3.

This cabin will be built to a more lightweight design, more in line with the original business proposal. While cabins #1,2 & 9 are brick structures built to the standard of an actual house, the remaining 6 cabins will all have a more open and lightweight feel using materials such as cane, bamboo and high quality canvas to offer privacy in the bedroom and bathroom. This significantly reduces the amount of cement, metal and bricks used and will also be faster to build and translates to a significant cost reduction. As such, Totoco will be distinguishing between 3 luxury lodges and 6 luxury cabanas. While the cost of a night in a cabana is still at or above the prices anticipated in the original proposal, the 3 lodges should fetch a premium and become Totoco's flagship accommodation.

Integral to our plans for opening asap is the need for a swimming pool that offers an opportunity for guests to cool down without leaving Totoco. The original location earmarked for an ambitious natural swimming pool with infinity effect will be set aside while a smaller pool is built in the short-term. The simple fact is that a true natural swimming pool with the dimensions and design we envisage is one challenge too many at the moment and we plan to return to that challenge when the other core elements of the project have been completed. In the meanwhile a design for a smaller 'lounge' pool with an elliptical shape is being drawn-up. Here our guests can sit in the water with their cocktail and enjoy the sunset behind Volcan Concepcion.











To come back quickly to the past week, here are some fotos of the large water tank under construction.