ur company El Club® was founded the 7th of March 2003 by Marco Snoek and his wife, a Dutch couple from near Amsterdam.

Both had successful careers - he the director of an aluminum awning company, she in sales for Heineken - but long hours in the office left them little time for each other. The idea to start a business somewhere with lots of sun had been born on their honeymoon.

On their next trip to Central America they had hopes of fulfilling their dreams in Costa Rica, but after five days of incessant rain they left for Nicaragua. They visited Granada and fell in love with it. "It was like another life, back in time, and there was sunshine".

They drove around with a realtor for three days until one big old house, built in 1869 grabbed their hearts. "It was like an old abandoned castle. We had to kick the door open because of all the bat and pigeon droppings on the floor." They made the down payment that day by credit card, signed the purchase paper in Spanish, which they didn't speak a word of, went back to Holland and with no residency or place to live, shipped their possessions and the supplies needed to open their "dream" hotel in Nicaragua.

After two years of doing successful business in Granada they decided to buy a precious property near the Pacific Ocean to build their private second home. Accidentally, some pictures of this property were showed at the reception of El Club, and soon visitors asked of they could visit this peaceful refuge far away from the busy world. Spontaneously the idea was born to start a new adventure, today's El Club del Mar.

At the end of 2005 a well known local attorney showed up at El Club with the simple question. "Are you interested in a spectacular property in the colonial heart of Granada?". The property was owned by the Christian foundation "Lumen Christy" and needed renovation investments. A business construction between the nuns and the owners of El Club made a theoretical formula become a successful project in reality. The property will return after a rental period of 25 years to the nuns of "Lumen Christy", as one of Granada's most prestigious colonial buildings, and future El Club Suites.

In July 2006 a frequent guest of the hotel, Cor Elias showed serious interest in the company and asked for investment possibilities. After several meetings he became the third Dutch owner of El Club. With his lifetime experience in construction and high-end developments in the Netherlands and the prominent Côte d'Azur of France, he was a welcomed addition to the team.

In late 2006, the founders decided to separate and follow each of their own dreams, both personally and professionally. Thus, Marco Snoek and Cor Elias continued the successful direction of El Club, with new exciting goals, and fresh ambitions.