Luke Shantz and Steph Sitt decided to go all in for Betting on Paradise. The couple at the center of a new HGTV series, which premieres January 7, made a major move from Toronto, Canada to Jacó, Costa Rica. Cameras follow their journey as they work to breathe new life into a rundown boutique hotel formerly known as Cabinas Stefano before resort season begins. Shantz and Sitt sold their house, drained life savings and enlisted help of investors and family and friends to make their dream a reality. Failure was not an option.
They’ll work through financial pressures, construction challenges and budgets to get Hotel Amavi up and running. Outside the renovation, Shantz and Sitt also have two young daughters to care for. So, a lot on their plate. We caught up with the pair to chat about what’s to come during the series.
Did I read right that the show was born out of a connection with a neighbor?
Steph Sitt: That is true. She knew someone at Cineflix [Productions], and she told them about us thinking about remodeling this hotel.
Luke Shantz: What also happened is we came home every day thinking, “What are we going to do with his hotel?” I think she thought it was pretty interesting and would be a good show.
Luke Shantz and Stephanie Sitt walking through the progress of the construction of their renovated hotel in Jaco, Costa Rica. (HGTV)
Sounds like a pretty quick turnaround.
Steph: It did happen pretty quickly. We already had the hotel.
Luke: It was one of those things when you also have HGTV on board, that’s a lot of pressure too. You have the whole world watching and want to make sure you make this look as good as possible. It sped up the process.
How was it getting used to having cameras on you as you’re going through the process?
Luke: Our crew was pretty amazing in general. At the start, it was absolutely strange. It’s unscripted. I think we’re in what we’re doing so much, eventually you forget the cameras are there most of the time. We’re already in this new area and adding this was an experience too.
Luke Shantz and Stephanie Sitt in the lobby at their renovated hotel in Jaco, Costa Rica. (HGTV)
I know this was a vision for you Steph, especially after you were laid off from your job during the pandemic. Luke taking the big plunge as well. Given the incredible stress you were under and working together, how was it making sure you didn’t bring all that home with you?
Steph: That was a big challenge. I wasn’t working. He was for a bit. We had the kids and so much time to spend with them. Then we took on this project. Then there was so much stress between the both of us. I think that it helped we both took turns being stressed out. I would start being stressed out, and Luke would be the level-headed one and take over. We took turns. It helped we leaned on each other because we were the only other people who knew what we were going through. There was a lot of crying and laughing and crying and laughing.
Luke: One of the main reasons we moved down here was to be closer. It would be hard to spend time with our kids back home because we were working so much. We started to loose some of that. One of the things we kept focusing on is whatever is happening, we need to leave it at the hotel as much as we can. Whenever we come home, it’s just about being present for ourselves and our children. Thank God we love each other a lot and can lean on each other for these hard moments.
What made you choose this property initially?
Luke: In Jacó, there is the north side and south side of the beach. We were living on the south side of the beach. It’s a really beautiful part of the beach. You can surf, but it’s also super safe. There is really nice sand. We just loved that area, but there wasn’t a lot around that was available. The location was great. It’s a corner lot. It’s a stone’s throw from the beach. We just kept driving by it and imagining it. We loved the location of the property.
You have eight months before the high season hits. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced to the finish line?
Luke: You’re always going to have that unexpected expenses coming up. You anticipate that. This one though was not the 10 or 15 percent you expect. This budget kept blowing up and blowing up. The budget would increase and the timeline would get backed up. Plus, you’re doing it in a country where you’re facing the elements, the language barrier and learning on the fly as you go. There were so many challenges and they kept coming at us from every angle. It was make or break. We had a strict deadline. If we missed the high season, we were in big trouble. Every day and episode you’ll see it on our face just how challenging every moment was.
This season we’ll see you have a wedding, which you never had before. What did it mean to you to have this gathering documented?
Steph: It was amazing because we had gone through such hell that year. Building the hotel, not being sure if it would be ready in time and the challenges we faced, it was so nice to mark the occasion with our friends and families and finally get married after being together for so long. It was a nice way to celebrate everything we’ve accomplished. I think that was really exciting. I’m excited for people to see it. This is nice because that day was such a blur, so here we have documentation of that day forever now.
Luke: It was such an emotional day. It was Steph just weeping the whole time. It was a really cool way for us to celebrate our love for each other but also this huge accomplishment we just had and then getting to share it with the people we love. It worked out amazing. There was also a little surprise at the wedding we weren’t expecting.
You have investors who are also friends of yours. How is it managing that dynamic?
Luke: It was challenging, honestly. We were really lucky we got the investors we did because they are supportive but they are taking a big risk as well. We didn’t know them that long. We met them there. Now we know them very well because we spent a lot of time figuring how we would make it through this. It was almost like a marriage. There were times you almost wanted to kill each other and times you loved each other. In the end, all those times made us stronger. It worked out really well, but there were some dark days we would make it through.
The Hotel Amavi is up and running now. How has the show and impacted business so far?
Steph: We have definitely seen a bump in our socials. It’s also high season right now. I was thinking we would get a bump anyways. It will be interesting to see what business is like once the show finishes airing.
Luke: We try to be at the hotel as much as we can. We want to be engaged with our guests. I have noticed now over the last couple of weeks people are saying, “I can’t believe it’s this.” We’re hoping after this airs business is wonderful forever.
Are there plans to do other projects now that you’ve tackled this one?
Luke: Absolutely, we are. We already have a couple of things now we’re thinking about doing. We just have to test the waters to see which one the universe wants us to go to next. It was a tough challenging year, but the rewards are so great we’re looking to see what our next chapter is.
Luke Shantz and Stephanie Sitt at their renovated hotel in Jaco, Costa Rica, as seen on Betting on Paradise, Season 1. (HGTV)
How would you describe what makes this hotel stand out?
Steph: It has a little bit of everything. It has Jacó. I always call it tropical Mad Men because it has a lot of mid-century touches with a tropical vibe. Also, the idea of it being a five-star luxury property without the stuffiness. I define it as casual luxury.
Were you fans of HGTV before?
Steph: I watched a lot of it. I watched House Hunters International. That was always a big one.
Luke: The place we lived was actually on House Hunters International. One of the condos we lived in. I think that was a big inspiration to move down here.
Steph: I always loved Fixer Upper, Love It or List It was always a big fun one from Toronto. And everyone knows about the Property Brothers.
How is it being part of this universe? Any interest in continuing on with potential projects
Luke: We love working with HGTV so far. We’re open to everything. Right now, we’re just trying to get through this premiere and see what happens. It’s such a new experience for us. We’re super excited to get into this universe and see what opportunities come of this.
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A lot of people don’t have the courage to take the leap of faith you all did. What do you hope people take from watching your journey?
Steph: We always talked about how sometimes when you are in your routine and life and home. I think sometimes at a certain age you feel you can’t go on another adventure. We’ve always lived by the mantra that there is always one more adventure waiting around the corner. To lean into it was always a big thing for us.
Luke; We’ve traveled some and taken some risks. Nothing like this. The risk paid off. This was massive and very scary.
Steph: Especially, because we have two kids. It’s different when you have all these things.
Luke: At the same time, not everyone had the opportunity we had to be able to do this here. I’m excited to share with everyone. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows when you do this. The show will show you what comes along with doing it. It’s very real, but we’re excited to take everyone along for the ride. We may have people say, “Hey, this is a cool idea.” Others may say, “You guys are out of your dang mind.” Either side, we hope everyone enjoys the adventure.
Betting on Paradise premiere, January 7, 9/8c, HGTV
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