Who Pays for Luxury, You or The Country it's in?

Indeed, last night's stay at the Cliffs Preserve along the Pacific was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, exclusively meant for the rich and famous, or the occasional humble travel writer. Even the Prince of Monaco escapes here when he needs a day of fly-fishing, horseback riding or sea-kayaking.

"The average stay is 4 days" says Project manager Jim Ackerson, "anything less than that makes it hard to develop relationships."

Jim tries to explain the differences between his lodge and other posh resorts. The philosophy of the owner, multimillion dollar real estate mogul James Anthony (who visits here twice a year) is one of trying to give back to the local Chilean economy by buying fresh local meat and veggies, providing dental and optometry care for the poor and employing quality talent from nearby regions, the country is divided into 13 regions.

The lodging is indeed very expensive ($1200/per person per night) but building the infrastructure and the roads to accommodate such a beautiful place took 7 years and roughly $25-30 million.

The price includes your pick of a private or shared 4-bedroom villa with hot tubs, a fireplace, kitchen, bar, laundry and tv room, along with a 4-wheel Suburban taxi to pick you up at the airport. All meals, an endless supply of wine, activities like stone oil messages and 8000 acres of trekking is yours for the asking. All 7 villas also overlook a U-shaped expansive of sandy beach and jagged rocks. In the morning all you have to do is pull open the shades and paradise shines in.

But, the place doesn't just cater to a day of sun and surf. It aims to showcase the many social programs they help and the hardworking community that, in return, help make this oasis so special. A few months ago they even launched an interest in helping at-risk girls in local shelters.

Its a wonderful place with wonderful features and it was a treat of unexpected proportions.

Now the controversy... after Jim's speech, a few of the other journalists; an expat couple from NYC living in Brazil and two young hothead revolutionists from Chile debated the authenticity of his claims with me.

For their own suspicious reasons they took umbrage with Jim's approach, claiming his sales pitch was condescending and patronizing. They didn't like that he was recruiting American dentists to provide services to the poor when Chile has a number of qualified dentists who could do the same. They also presumed that the staff wasn't getting paid well enough, a guess made in haste but probably true (the average yearly income in Chile is under $10,000).

My buddy Max from GoNomad.com, says it was a classic case of 'socialism vs. capitalism' and I surprised myself playing devils advocate for the latter.

But, because I don't speak Spanish or live in South America it's impossible for me to understand their indignation. From Jim's speech, I took the Cliffs to represent a "rags to riches" story. The owner became a real estate mogul after working as a linesman in the telephone industry for 30 years.

And, again, from all appearances the staff seemed friendly and grateful to have jobs, considering the changing fishing industry has left 40,000 without full-time work.

As far as green energy goes, some alternatives are in place, perhaps not as much as what can be done but Jim left no illusions about that. And, social responsibilities goes a long way in my book and I was happy to hear the Cliffs volunteers to give back rather than be forced to.

So, why bite the hand that feeds you or take a marketing approach personally? I pick my battles with great care but this one was surely not one I was going to win.