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Harry eye to eye with Charlie Sheen and picking up
picking up Don Johnson by helicopter in San Jose…
Harry celebrating the birthday of Chuck Norris in
Manuel Antonio, Harry with the Saturday Night Live
and Bay Watch crew in Manuel Antonio. Harry during
a relaxing encounter with the President of the
United States like they have known each other for
years.

These are just some pictures from the impressive
photo collection of Harry Bodaan, owner of the
Five-Star La Mansion Inn in Manuel Antonio. The
photo collection includes some of the worlds
famous and powerful and demonstrates a long career
of accommodating some of the most interesting
people of the last three decades.

The Dutch-born American hotel owner built an
interesting career with stints from Frankfurt,
Germany to Washington D.C. and Moscow until he
finally settled in Costa Rica as co-owner of the
El Parador Hotel before opening his own Boutique-
type hotel, La Mansion Inn, in December 2000.

La Mansion Inn in Manuel Antonio is a very
successful hotel catering to a mostly upscale
clientele and a constant stream of international
visitors of friends, former colleagues and
acquaintances.

Working for his father in the family’s hotel
business, Harry left Holland for Germany after his
father told him that he was unfit for the
Hospitality Industry. By himself and with less
than $200 he started his own career in Frankfurt,
Germany in the Hospitality Industry, working
himself up the ladder. Harry became General
Manager and C.E.O. of the National Press Club in
Washington D.C. and Moscow as president of the
first independent, non-profit press center in
Russia.

Today, Harry is deeply involved in community work
and serves as Vice-President of the local Chamber
of Commerce, Police Advisor to the Mayor and City
Council, Chairman of Sister Cities International
Quepos and heads the Fraternal Order of Police
Quepos. He strives to make Quepos and Manuel
Antonio the best places they can be and is a major
contributor to a number of charities. His passion
is his love for animals and his conviction that
anyone, no matter what difficulties, can make it
if they are committed, honest and willing to
dedicate themselves. According to Bodaan; “I am
the very proof that you don’t need to be born with
a silver-spoon in your mouth to be successful.
Nothing is more important in life than persistence
and the willingness to work hard”.

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