General Policies and Other Helpful Information

All things Medical and Dental can be found at this link

Residency

Credit Card Payments

Transportation, Bus and Ferry Schedules

SMOKING

All properties are nonsmoking inside the house.  If you smoke in the room a cleaning fee of $150 will be deducted from your deposit.  There are several outdoor areas protected from the sun and rain for smoking.  Smoking is permitted in the designated section of the outdoor garden near the far wall at Vista Mombacho apartments.  Smoking is not permitted on the steps by the entrance to the garden.  Smoking is not permitted in the private garden area.  Several guests have severe allergic reactions to smoke.  Please be considerate of their wishes.

IDENTIFICATION

Positive identification is required for all guests. The federal government requires passport identification and it must be original.  In addition, we need proof of your permanent address. This can be a driver’s license with a photograph or any military or government-issued identification. You can bring this with you and present it at the check-in. All information is confidential and will not be shared with anyone except the police if requested and this is by law.  A passport is required in addition to your proof of residency.  

DAMAGES

Things happen. Glasses get broken. Remember these homes that belong to individuals and not just rental houses. They are owned by people who live here and in other places and rent out their properties when they are not staying in them. As a result, there will be some personal items present such as books, CDs, DVDs and the like. These are for your enjoyment and feel free to use anything in the house. You will not be charged for minor damage but you must let us know so we can replace it. You will be charged for excessive damages to the property.

ADULTS

Vista Mombacho properties adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards sexual exploitation and abuse.  All persons “visiting” guests must be 18 years of age or older.

These properties are all adult properties.  Any questions about the ages of guests contact the owners.  The exception is Casa Tranquilla which is designed for family living.  The doormen are all trained in the safety of children, they will not allow anyone on the property when children are present without your permission and of course, the children cannot leave the property without you or the authorization for them to leave with another, such as a sister or close friend.  It is impossible for someone unknown to come to the property and say they are there to pick up a child and take them to the parents,  for example, without your express permission in advance and positive identification of the person picking them up.

All of our housekeepers are mothers and all our doormen are fathers and they very much respect the safety of minors.

PETS 

Pets are permitted in Casa Tranquilla and Casa de la Plaza, with some limitations.  An exception may be made for cats at Vista Mombacho but please check before you book.   Pet deposits are required and NO parrots are permitted.

A portion of the pet deposit will be applied to extermination in all cases.

Other than the most common question, “Isn’t there a war going on down there?”  (No, not for over 30 years), is “what can you tell me about being a Nicaraguan resident?”  Many of our guests come down here, fall in love with the country, just as we did 14 years ago, and have decided to make Nicaragua home.  One concern is of course about how long they can stay, can they have a bank account, what about medical and dental care and housing?  Of course, we feel we have the best housing in town but some people may want to build a home here.  No problem.  We can help with that too by putting you in contact with honest builders.  Click on the Residency link below and you will be directed to a page that will give you a lot of information, from an immigration attorney no less, on the laws and intent for what you may want to do.  Of course, we will be glad to set you up with a lot of resource information about all your legal questions when you get here

Residency

Paul Tiffer is an immigration attorney in Managua.  Here is what he said on January 6, 2016.

Interview with INTUR. Today I was informed by INTUR, as for now (2016) there is a new requirement to apply for residency as Retiree or Rentier, law 694; the applicant or applicants must be present at INTUR Managua at the time to apply for residency, somebody from INTUR will interview the applicant in order to confirm this person qualify according to the law. The objective is to clarify what the applicant is going to do in Nicaragua; primarily because this law is oriented for people who are not going to work nor do business in Nicaragua. Another recommendation is to be in Nicaragua for the interview Immigration will do –without notification- in the address stated by the applicant in the application form; meanwhile, the residency would not be processed

WAGES AND ECONOMY

Many people ask about the general economy of Nicaragua and about energy.  Wages are set by the minister of labor according to the type of job.  For example, a bank clerk or a college professor will make more than a farmworker.  Currently, the wages range from  75 cents per hour for farmworkers to about $1.25 per hour for construction workers, which are one of the highest-paid common laborers. These wages will have three increases in 2019 but that is always subject to change.  

Within the construction, area are some subdivisions.  For example, the electrician gets more than the person who hauls cement off the truck.  Everyone who has employees and pays their taxes received a notice of the new tax schedule several months ago.  Strangely, a college professor makes less than a construction worker.  Makes you want to get a college degree doesn’t it?

ENERGY

We have one of the highest energy rates in Latin America and it varies from city to city and even within the city, there may be differences.   As of December, the rate was about 51 cents a kilowatt-hour.  A kilowatt-hour is easiest shown by an example.  If you had a heater that used 1,000 watts and you turned it on for one hour it would use 1 kilowatt and cost 51 cents.

OK now that the technical stuff is out of the way what does that mean to you?  If you operate the air conditioner a lot your electric bill will be higher.  An air conditioner can use 2,000 – 5,000 watts so figure about a dollar an hour.  All the units have calibrated meters and you can check your meter every day if you wish or just ask the maintenance personnel or manager.  If they detect a spike in consumption they will contact you.  Maybe you forgot to turn off the air conditioning unit or you were not feeling well and decided to run it all night long.   If you would like to know a little more about how much energy an appliance uses go to this link.

Deposits

All deposits are by Pay Pal. All payments must be made in advance.  In the event that there is an emergency and you need to leave before your rental period is up a refund may be made based on proof of the emergency.  Refunds will be made for other reasons at the discretion of the management and will be prorated to the weekly or daily rate.  For example, if you reserve an apartment for a month and depart after two weeks for a non-emergency, the two-week rental will revert to the weekly rate and applied against the monthly payment. 

We require a $150 deposit to confirm your room.  This is applied to the final energy bill and damages and the balance is refunded to your Pay Pal account.  If it appears that you are going to exceed the amount of the deposit we will ask that you deposit additional funds via your pay pal account or cash.  No credit cards are accepted however Pay Pal does have a method of credit card payment through them.  Details on how to pay with a credit card are detailed on the pay pal website.