(CNN) — Forget Disneyland! Costa Rica is the happiest place in the world, according to an independent research group in Britain with the goal of building a new economy, “centered on people and the environment.”

Costa Rica is known for its lush rain forests and pristine beaches.

In a report released Saturday, the group ranks nations using the “Happy Planet Index,” which seeks countries with the most content people.

In addition to happiness, the index by the New Economics Foundation considers the ecological footprint and life expectancy of countries.

“Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the new world (second to Canada),” the organization said in a statement.

They “also have an ecological footprint that means that the country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of … consuming its fair share of the Earth’s natural resources.”

The Central American country, tucked between Nicaragua and Panama, touts its lush rain forests and pristine beaches. Its president, Oscar Arias Sanchez, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for trying to help end civil wars in several Central American countries.

This year’s survey, which looked at 143 countries, featured Latin American nations in nine of the Top 10 spots.

The runner-up was the Dominican Republic, followed by Jamaica, Guatemala and Vietnam.
Most developed nations lagged in the study.

While Britain ranked 74th, the United States snagged the 114th spot, because of its hefty consumption and massive ecological footprint.

The United States was greener and happier 20 years ago than it is today, the report said.

Other populous nations, such as China and India, had a lower index brought on by their vigorous pursuit of growth-based models, the survey suggested.

“As the world faces the triple crunch of deep financial crisis, accelerating climate change and the looming peak in oil production, we desperately need a new compass to guide us,” said Nic Marks, founder of the foundation’s center for well-being.

Marks urged nations to make a collective global change before “our high-consuming lifestyles plunge us into the chaos of irreversible climate change.”

The report, which was first conducted in 2006, covers 99 percent of the world population, the statement said.

On April 7, 2009,  Ocean Home published the following article in their print and online editions of the magazine:

Expats turn your Costa Rican siesta from lame to lavish.

Casa Mono Loco in Los Suenos Resort & Marina, Costa Rica

If you’re planning an escape to Costa Rica this year, be sure to check in with Mark Mead and Michael Brown of the eponymous Mead Brown, a full-service, vacation rental marketing and property management company specializing in the country’s Central Pacific Coast. The company is widely regarded as one of—if not the—best for travel to Costa Rica, a hard-earned distinction for its two founders. After all, Mead and Brown gave up fast-paced careers in the United States to set up shop in Costa Rica, where they drew on their own experience as tourists to create one-of-a-kind vacations for a market that had, in their eyes, gone uncatered to, or at least insufficiently so.

“After rewarding careers in the US, we knew we wanted adventure and to live abroad,” says Brown. “Several visits as tourists to Costa Rica illustrated the need—and business opportunity—for a professionally managed vacation rental company that could deliver to the expectations of North Americans. After a year of research and planning and the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars into the best systems, we opened for business.”

The result was Mead Brown, which now boasts a diverse collection of privately owned beachfront villas, houses, condos, and fincas in the Jaco, Playa Hermosa, Herradura, and Los Sueños areas. Mead Brown has also become the preferred vacation rental provider for the Los Sueños Resort & Marina, where clients enjoy lavish condominium accommodations and leisure, sporting, and spa privileges.

Mead Brown also offers complete concierge services, meaning clients can craft the ultimate vacation package. Spa services, championship golf, world-class sport fishing, horseback riding, sea kayaking, and flora-and fauna tours are among the wishes and whims the outfit’s dedicated guest services staff can fulfill. There’s also the placement of private chefs, as well as air- and watercraft charters, housekeeping, and transportation.

“Service is what sets us apart from most of the vacation rental companies in Central America,” Brown says. Even when the most hedonistic at heart come calling, Brown, like a seasoned hotelier, has the answer: “We will do virtually anything to meet our guests’ needs, expectations, and wishes,” he says. “This is a promise not easily fulfilled in a developing country, but we give it our very best and we typically deliver.”

So how are these American expats adjusting to life in this business? “It’s been really gratifying and rewarding for us,” Brown says. “When [guests] leave, they tell us that they’ve never been so well taken care of. It seems a bit odd to us . . . it’s not as though we are peeling their grapes.” Maybe so, but we have a feeling that this hospitable pair would be happily willing to do just that.—Lindsay Lambert

Mead Brown’s accommodations range from fully equipped three-bedroom condos from $300 per night to seven-bedroom villas at $7,500 per night; all properties include daily housekeeping. For more information or to make a reservation, visit www.meadbrown.com or call 866-567-1516.
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