A decade ago, as my husband and I sat in our hotel room overlooking the small Nicaraguan harbor town of San Juan del Sur, about two hours west of the capital of Managua, we agreed there was no need to ever return. The hotel, the best in town at that time, had all the ambiance of the Bates Motel of Psycho fame.

Other than brilliant sunsets, the small town had little to offer. The crescent beach was littered with debris, a rusting hulk of a ship lazed, lopsided, on the beach with a sign affixed: “Do not urinate on the beach.” That alone was enough to strengthen our resolve to check San Juan del Sur off our “we-have-to-return-someday” list.

But resolutions are made to be broken. A decade later, the view from 4-star Pelican Eyes Hotel, a boutique hotel with a unique, free-form style nestled amid jungle vegetation above the town, showed a different San Juan. The harbor was dotted with small yachts, fishing boats and sailboats. High on the hill, expensive private homes afford their owners a sweeping view of the ocean. The town is abuzz with building and energy.

La Gran Francía was once a private home. It now serves as a cozy private hotel where guests can relax and swim in the pool, located just outside the rooms.

While eating a gourmet dinner, al fresco, by the hotel’s infinity pool, we marveled at what a difference a decade makes. Two weeks of driving around Nicaragua made us we realize not only can one go back, one should go back.

All travel in Nicaragua starts in Managua, situated 28 miles (45 k) inland from the Pacific Ocean, on the shores of Lake Managua. After being leveled by the earthquake of 1972, followed by 30 years of moldering in the tropical sun, the city center of Managua is rising like the Phoenix.

A decade ago the city center was a series of grassy blocks where buildings once stood, except for the InterContinental Hotel, a white, pyramid-shaped building, which survived the earthquake unscathed. Easily seen from everywhere in the city center, it had been our landmark and one of the few upscale accommodations in Managua.

On the way into the city center this time, I said to my husband, John, who was driving, “Don’t worry, I know exactly where we are going. We just need to spot the InterContinental.” But where was it? We drove by the hotel twice, without realizing it. Then we spotted it.

The InterContinental is now the Crowne Plaza. It still retains its classic pyramid shape, but it has been completely remodeled — and it is partly hidden by a hotel convention center and a casino. A new InterContinental is only a 10-minute drive away, as is a Holiday Inn Express. Between the three hotels there are malls, more hotels and fountains.

In the city center, only the stark remains of the old Managua Cathedral, destroyed during the ’72 quake, the Rubin Dario Theatre and a few other buildings stand as reminders of the past.

For me the most intriguing site in Managua is the Huellas de Acahualinca Museum. Here, preserved forever, are 10,000-year-old footprints of men, women, children and animals desperately fleeing a deadly rain of volcanic ash. As I stared at the footprints I could feel a glimmer of their terror, and wondered, “Did they survive?”

Nicaragua is a country of lakes, volcanoes and beaches. From Managua, we headed toward the colonial town of Granada — 27 miles (45 k) north of Managua, on the north shore of Lake Nicaragua — making a detour to Laguna de Apoyo, a volcanic-crater lake.