1960
- First airport hotel – La Sabana Airport (Motel Bemo)
- First hotel with a parking lot (Motel Bemo)
- First to join AAA (Motel Bemo)
1970
- First hotel designed to attract international tourists (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
- First hotel located in the outskirts of San José (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
- First hotel in the Central Valley with a swimming pool & sports facilities (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
- First hotel with an on-site rental car (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
- First hotel with a gift shop (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
- First to organize an international beauty pageant – Miss Irazú Central America & the Caribbean (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
1974
- First hotel to offer shuttle services to downtown (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
1975
- First and largest beach resort at the time (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
- First beach hotel with a treatment plant (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
- First to have a Sales Department to actively bring international tourists (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino and Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
- First hotel group with centralized corporate/management services (Hoteles Marta)
- First hotel management company to offer an occupancy guarantee (Hoteles Marta)
- First hotel group with beach and city properties (Hoteles Marta)
1978
- First to offer hotel-to-hotel shuttle services (Gray Line Tours Costa Rica)
1980
- First to negotiate charter flights to develop the Canadian market for Costa Rica (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino and Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1982
- First hotel with a lifeguard tower and a flag tide control system (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1983
- First to develop an annual sports event agenda (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1984
- First to organize a hotel network that offered open vouchers to attract and develop the surf market (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1986
- First hotels to join the government tourism incentives program (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino and Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1988
- First casino to introduce roulette, craps, and baccarat games (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
1989
- First travel agency to sell northbound charter tickets (Gray Line Costa Rica)
1989
- First travel agency to sell northbound charter tickets (Gray Line Costa Rica)
1990
- First condo-hotel (Villas Jacó Princess)
- First Best Western hotel (Best Western San José Downtown)
- First hotel to have a breakfast included offer in San José (Best Western San José Downtown)
- First travel agency to take inventory risk on charter tickets (Gray Line Costa Rica)
- First casino operator in Jacó Beach (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1991
- First to offer toll-free reservations from the United States and Canada (Resertel)
1994
- First to organize a professional surf competition (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1995
- First Hampton Inn hotel and first limited service international brand (Holiday Inn Express San José Airport)
- First rental-car return concept (Airport Boulevard)
- First hotel to develop a commercial center (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
- First shopping strip in Jacó Beach (Plaza Jacó)
- First hotel to negotiate with an international restaurant chain – Pizza Hut (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1998
- First all-inclusive/European plan hybrid hotel (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
1999
- First Denny’s restaurant (Denny’s Irazú)
- First restaurant with a 24 hour operation (Denny’s Irazú)
- First to offer countrywide daily shuttles (Gray Line Tours Costa Rica)
2000
- First to offer online hotel reservations (Grupo Marta Hotels)
2001
- First Hampton Inn & Suites hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton San José Airport)
2006
- First hotel to offer Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone calls (Holiday Inn Express San José Airport)
2007
- First hotel to offer free international phone calls (Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton San José Airport)
2008
- First big hotel -over 100 rooms- awarded level 4 on the Costa Rican Tourism Institute Sustainability Certificate (Best Western Jacó Beach Resort)
- First Holiday Inn Express (Holiday Inn Express San José Airport)
Other regional innovations:
1975
- Largest hotel in Central America at the time (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
1995
- First hotel to offer 100% satisfaction guarantee in Central America (Holiday Inn Express San José Airport)
1997
- First international Hampton hotel to apply an environmental program – Think Green (Holiday Inn Express San José Airport)
2008
- First Holiday Inn Express in Central America (Holiday Inn Express San José Airport)
2009
- First hotel in Latin America to receive Best Western International’s Excellence in Quality Award (Best Western Irazú Hotel & Casino)
