Jeff Grosshandler and the ‘new’ Gilded Iguana

‘Nosara has changed me… And quite dramatically. I think this place changes everyone.’ – Jeff Grosshandler.

Jeff Grosshandler is unlike anyone I’ve ever met before and historically one of my biggest adversaries in Nosara. In some ways he and I are about as different as people can be, and there have been some rough edges over the years. In fact, seeing him on a podcast with me is going to surprise many people.

However, Jeff is up to some great things and one of them is leading the remodel and transformation of the ‘new’ Gilded Iguana hotel. After learning how much care and attention went into the environmental concerns and many other items, I’ve pretty much come full circle on the project. Initially I was super bummed to lose one of Nosara’s treasured locales… However, it turned out better than I expected. The Surf Club in particular is something very interesting to me.

So I invited Jeff in to discuss the ‘new’ Gilded Iguana and many things Nosara. Fortunately, he agreed and over 3+ hours we covered a ton of information. This version is only 18 minutes and I’m extremely grateful to Jeff for coming in. I’m also proud to say our relationship is changing and I’m really happy about this.

In this podcast we talked about honoring the Gilded Iguana of the past, the environmental care and concern which went into the new hotel, the vision of the ‘new’ Gilded Iguana and the new Gilded Iguana Surf Club project, as well as discussing Jeff’s likes and dislikes about Nosara along with his personal changes since moving here full time and having a family.

Jeff is someone I’m definitely bringing back for more podcasts as we have a ton of things to talk about.

As you will hear in the podcast, Jeff and team chose to work with Benjamin Garcia Saxe for this project. I hope you enjoy the pictures during the video version of this episode showing what Gilded Iguana 2.0 looks like.