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Comment by webwright | Hacker News Reader

I did the first StartupWorkaway in Costa Rica. The other 15 founders were awesome (handpicked from 200ish applicants if memory serves). The venue was epic (12,000 square foot villa with 2 pools on a cliff). And it was cheaper than any vacation that I've ever taken (the economies of scale when 15 founders rent a big villa and a chef are pretty amazing). In fact, it was probably cheaper than staying home.

I'd recommend the experience without reservation.

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Very cool. Let's say I wanted to create something like this with 10 of my friends. What would it cost, ballpark-wise?

It depends on how fancy of a place you want to get, and if food is included. Last time, in Costa Rica, we had 16 people in a $4 million dollar mansion with a private chef preparing all our meals. It cost about $10,000.

Do you mind sharing a) How long was your stay? b) Was that $10,000 per person or for 16 people c) Any information about amenities included

It was $10,000 for 16 people. 10 days. Food and private chef included. That's about it for amenities.

You can find great places on http://homeaway.com/

Villas can be super affordable when you're travelling with large groups. I'm the CTO of a startup that provides these sort of vacations. It's pretty common that the per person rate works out to much less than a hotel would be and you get the added bonus of an entire house!

Here are a couple of examples:

Sleeps 24 - $4,501/week - http://demeure.com/properties/villa-turquesa--2

Sleeps 13 - $4,569/week - http://demeure.com/properties/casa-fermentini

Tell me more!

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