Ivar Arocha, current owner and founder of Hotel Sagarnaga, was born in a small border town in the southern part of Bolivia in the early 1940’s.Raised by a young widow, Ivar always had a clear example of perseverance and hard work. He and his two sisters always aided their mother in her various entrepreneurial adventures. Together as a family their portfolio included a small convenience store, imported clothes, and later in life, the opening of one of the first cinemas in La Paz.

It wasn’t easy to be a mother and a solo businesswoman in the 1940’s, but together, the Arocha family was able to succeed and progress, which allowed Ivar to have a strong education. Furthermore, allowed him to travel the world and bring back innovative ideas for the Industry in Bolivia.

He slowly got caught in the desire of learning and exploring more, but to make it feasible, he would get out to the world through exporting. He exported alpaca and wool products, which he soon realized were in very high demand. Shortly, he decided he had factory.

A couple of years later, after being betrayed by his business partner in his first big venture, Ivar’s sock factory had not been what he expected. He salvaged what he could by selling his part of the factory to his business partner.

No stranger to risk taking and with some cash in hand, Ivar decided he had to try something new. Inspired and supported by his mother and young family, he decided he could turn his mother’s cinema into a hotel. It would not be easy, but his vision was clear. Bank loan, after bank loan, and a few years of perseverance, Hotel Sagarnaga opened its doors in September of 1980 with only a staff of 3 and a total of 5 rooms.