Kelowna brothers Lucas and Travis Boychuk moved to Nicaragua in 2008 in pursuit of a dream – building an action sports resort.
Now 12 years later, the Boychuk brothers have three resorts, two in Nicaragua and another in Costa Rica, and a documentary detailing their journey from building to expanding their business.
Since the day they landed in Nicaragua, the brothers have been filming everything they did so they can look back on it all one day.
Lucas then put the videos together to show more of their journey, starting in March and completing the documentary in August.
Lucas and Travis first faced limited funds and a language barrier, but with the help of investors, friends and family they were soon able to start planning and building their first resort in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, called Surf Ranch Resort.
But protests against the government’s social security reforms that increased taxes but decreased benefits and subsequent clashes between demonstrators and authorities forced the brothers to stop working and leave.
When the protests started, Lucas said they already had plans to leave Nicaragua for a short getaway to rest before starting the last leg of the build of their second resort in the town of Popoyo.
“But the unrest broke out in a few days and everything got crazy…I had to go to Managua (Nicaragua’s capital city) one day to get my daughter and roads were blocked, tires burning, big mobs… we thought the unrest would be over after our two-week vacation but we couldn’t fly back,” Lucas said.
With flights diverted to other countries and unsure of what the future holds for them in Nicaragua, the brothers decided to build a third Surf Ranch Resort in Tamarindo, a coastal town in northern Costa Rica.
Once things calmed down, the brothers came back to Nicaragua to finish their resort in Popoyo, but the COVID-19 pandemic has since slowed down business for the brothers.
Lucas said with no tourists to serve, they doubled down on marketing to nationals instead in order to keep their staff employed.
Things are starting to look up now and Lucas said they’re grateful they stuck it through.
“We hope the documentary inspires people to get out of their comfort zone and try to accomplish something they might think is impossible,” Lucas said.
“What we have personally learned from this whole process is that if you stick with something and keep going, even through all the failures, you will eventually succeed.”
“Hotel Brothers” is now available on Amazon Prime.
