Hotel Dos Aguas is redefining what tourism can look like in coastal Colombia by placing community, ecology, and long-term resilience at the center of its model. Located in Rincón del Mar, an Afro-Colombian fishing village on the Caribbean coast, the hotel was founded in 2019 by Dania Bianuni and Daniele Bertolotti with a simple but powerful idea: tourism should strengthen the place it touches. Built using bioclimatic design and local materials, Dos Aguas operates as more than a hotel. It is a living system where hospitality revenue supports dignified employment, sustains local supply chains, and funds community programs through Fundación Dos Aguas. In a region where tourism has often grown without shared benefit, Dos Aguas is demonstrating a different path, one where economic value stays local and travel contributes to both people and place. Following a devastating fire in 2025 that destroyed most of the property, the UnTours Foundation is supporting the rebuilding of the hotel, helping restore livelihoods and strengthen a model that has become deeply embedded in the community.
The Hotel Dos Aguas Origin Story
The story of Dos Aguas begins with a question about responsibility. When Dania and Daniele first arrived in Rincón del Mar, they were struck by both its natural beauty and the inequality that shaped daily life. Tourism was increasing, but many residents remained disconnected from the opportunities it created. The founders saw a chance to build something different.
Rather than importing a traditional hospitality model, they chose to start with the community. The hotel was constructed alongside local builders and artisans, blending ancestral Caribbean techniques with sustainable design principles. From the beginning, the goal was not only to create a place for travelers to stay, but to build a model that could generate lasting value for the people who call Rincón del Mar home.
As the hotel grew, it became clear that long-term impact required more than employment alone. In response, the founders established Fundación Dos Aguas, funded through a portion of hotel revenue, to support education, youth development, entrepreneurship, conservation, and animal welfare. What emerged is a connected system where the success of the hotel directly supports the wellbeing of the community, and the strength of the community, in turn, enriches the experience for travelers.
How Hotel Dos Aguas Is Making A Positive Impact
Every aspect of Dos Aguas is designed to keep value within the community. The hotel employs 25 people, the majority from Rincón del Mar, with women representing a significant share of the workforce. Beyond direct employment, the business supports a wider network of fishers, farmers, artisans, guides, and small enterprises whose livelihoods are connected to tourism.
Through Fundación Dos Aguas, the company invests in long-term social programs that expand opportunity across the community. Initiatives like TitaNext support young people in designing life plans, accessing higher education, and building pathways to meaningful work, while additional programs focus on entrepreneurship, cultural preservation, and animal welfare.
Environmental stewardship is embedded into the hotel’s design and operations. Dos Aguas generates the majority of its energy through renewable sources, reduces water consumption through reuse systems, and operates with a zero-waste approach that eliminates single-use plastics and prioritizes composting.
The company also protects and restores a 14-hectare tropical dry forest at La Cumbre de Rincón, where native tree planting and conservation efforts contribute to biodiversity regeneration and carbon balance.
In September 2025, a fire destroyed most of the hotel’s infrastructure, temporarily halting operations. The response from the community was immediate, reflecting the depth of the relationships built over time. Reconstruction is now underway, with a focus on restoring livelihoods, strengthening resilience, and reopening in a way that builds on everything the model has already proven.
Why the UnTours Foundation Invested in Hotel Dos Aguas
We invested in Hotel Dos Aguas because it represents a clear and grounded example of regenerative tourism in practice, and because of the opportunity to support its recovery following the 2025 fire that halted operations and impacted the livelihoods of those connected to the business. The company shows how a hospitality model can generate strong economic performance while prioritizing community ownership, environmental responsibility, and long-term value creation.
This investment is supported by our funding partner Skyscanner, whose commitment to expanding tourism into underserved destinations aligns closely with Dos Aguas’ approach. Together, we are helping fund the reconstruction of the hotel in a way that restores income for employees and local partners while reinforcing the long-term resilience of the business.
Dos Aguas stands out for its integration. Employment, supply chains, conservation, and community programs are not separate initiatives but part of a single system. Prior to the 2025 fire, the company demonstrated strong demand, consistent growth, and a stable operating model. This investment allows the team to rebuild while strengthening the very systems that make the model effective.
More broadly, Dos Aguas offers a model for what tourism can become. It shows that travel can move beyond extraction and toward regeneration, where visitors contribute to the places they experience and communities remain at the center of their own development.
How You Can Support Hotel Dos Aguas
When you stay at Hotel Dos Aguas, you directly support local employment, small businesses, and community programs in Rincón del Mar. Travelers can book a stay once the hotel reopens and take part in experiences led by local guides, artisans, and community members. Supporters can also contribute to Fundación Dos Aguas, which funds education, entrepreneurship, and conservation initiatives across the community. Tourism businesses and partners can collaborate with the team to learn from and help expand this model of regenerative hospitality.
