Word: solness
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...years Sol Feldman, 81, of Tamarac, Fla., successfully treated his hypertension with the prescription drug Hyzaar. Then his HMO was sold to another company, and the new plan insisted he use a lower-cost substitute. "I took it for about a week, and my pressure went sky high," Feldman recalls. When the HMO refused to let him go back to Hyzaar, he switched to another plan that covered it. A few months later, however, the new HMO also dropped its Hyzaar coverage. At $79 for a month's supply, Feldman couldn't afford to pay for the prescription...
Such attention to detail is just what German del Sol had in mind when he designed the 30-room Explora hotel five years ago. "We wanted to create a place for tourists to spend a week without worrying about survival or unnecessary sacrifices," he says of his $7 million retreat in the windswept Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, a six-hour drive from Punta Arenas, Chile's southernmost city. "We aim to soften the roughness of nature...
...Sol, 48, is the exuberant chief executive officer and president of the rapidly growing Explora hotel chain. He founded the venture in 1989 to bring five-star accommodations to Chile's most isolated regions, ranging from rugged Patagonia to the arid Atacama desert in the north. His chain is geared to environment-conscious baby boomers who have limited time but substantial savings and boundless yearnings to revel in wilderness with all the comforts of home. "We belong to a culture of cities," he told me. "We do not want Explora guests to face the wilds unprotected...
...Sol's insistence, the Explora blends in with its surroundings. Hotel waste is treated with a complex system of filters, ultraviolet light and two kinds of beneficial bacteria so the sewage is crystalline before it enters Lake Pehoe. The staff burns dead wood purchased outside the park, places generators in soundproof sheds to prevent noise pollution, and uses some solar power...
...Sol hires a high percentage of local residents, mostly from the nearest town, Puerto Natales, but his bilingual guides come from Sweden, Britain and the U.S. Although construction costs were twice those in the city, Del Sol spared little expense: floors are made of Bolivian slate and interior walls of perfumed cypress; bed linens are imported from Barcelona, and towels hang on heated racks. With his clientele in mind, Del Sol devised a sophisticated communications system that includes fax machines and international direct dialing...