Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras is a sprawling city surrounded by mountains and because of that it is very exciting to fly into, especially in a small prop plane! I did just that when my BFF and I helped produce a Nikki Beach White Party there. Here’s how that went down.
After 10 years working as a chef aboard the M/Y Aries, I found myself at loose ends in Roatan, Honduras, and not ready to leave Central America. My friend Ollie had taken over the sales department for Blue Ocean Reef, the Miami company that had bought the land below The View / Six Huts to turn into a Nikki Beach property. Worried that I was going to up and leave for Antigua, Guatemala, she convinced the owners of the company to hire me on commission to pre-sell the condos. Ollie and I got to travel to Milan to represent the property at Expo Italia Real Estate – EIRE – and our booth was a big hit. There’s something about that teepee that draws a crowd.
We had a cute little office beside The View where I worked on marketing and showing the property. Ollie, a licensed broker closed all the deals and did the paperwork. She could sell ice cubes to Eskimos, but Nikki wasn’t a hard sell. The model units were gorgeous. Ollie always said, “don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.”
A Nikki Beach property is certainly about the sizzle. It’s a sexy, exclusive brand, one that wealthy Central Americans who travel to Miami (that’s all of them) are familiar with. Having a place on the island with that kind of caché was super desirable, and we knew exactly how to spread the word among the who’s who of the country.
A White Party In Tegucigalpa
We traveled to the capital in advance so we could help get the ballroom at the InterContinental set up. It was quite an undertaking. The first night we were invited to Daniel “Doc” O’Connor’s beautiful home. Daniel, a top chef and cookbook author, was also a marketing consultant on the Nikki project. The company, a few VIP guests including the architect, Lane Pettigrew, and actress Tricia Helfer (who was hired to make an appearance at the party) joined us for an exclusive cocktail party and stand up dinner. I was a fan of Battlestar Galactica, so I knew who Tricia was, but I didn’t know she was a fellow Canadian from Alberta – where my parents were living at the time. She was lovely, and if you click her link above you’ll see that she’s using her power for good.
The owners of the company spared no expense on the Nikki Beach White Party. We had amazing decor, aerialists and acrobats, great food, loud music, tons of alcohol, a famous actress, and all the beautiful people of Honduras. Well, almost all. Ollie and I snuck out when we heard that Pepe Lobo was campaigning in a nearby hotel ballroom and we wanted to meet him. All heads turned when former Miss Honduras walked into the room. He came right over and shook our hands. He ended up becoming president after the coup in 2009 that ousted Manuel Zelaya.
Here is a link to the rest of the photos in a flickr album.
The party was a huge success. X3 and his best friend drove over from Guatemala City to attend, and he took the photos I’m using in this post. We had a great time, all our potential customers were exposed to the Nikki vibe and we flew out of Tegucigalpa in another prop plane the following day ready to start writing contracts on the property in Roatan.
Check out the highlight reel below.