Gay-owned upscale mountain artist retreat. At the foothills of Chirripó, Costa Rica’s highest mountain, is the community of Chimirol de Rivas, home to the 125-acre Monte Azul Boutique Hotel preserve. Situated in the canton of Peréz Zeledón, the hotel is three hours from San José along the Pan-American Highway south and just one hour from the Pacific coast. Three rivers provide a musical backdrop and the surrounding hills, thick with primary forest, shift from green to blue in the changing light.