Staying With Stars; For celebrities, opening hotels makes smart business sense. And the fans love it.(Cover story)

Byline: Michelle Jana Chan (With Jesse Ellison)

He may be more famous for directing "The Godfather" film trilogy, but Francis Ford Coppola has another trio of esteemed creations to his name: three boutique hotels hidden in the Central American jungle. He found Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize while searching for the same kind of jungle paradise he fell in love with when filming "Apocalypse Now." "The area was very remote, wild, with a beautiful river and waterfall, and I thought, 'I could write here'," says Coppola. For years, he used the rain-forest lodge as a creative retreat and an escape for family and friends. In 1992, he opened it up to paying guests. He got so much positive feedback--and made such a handy profit--that eventually he launched two more hotels: Turtle Inn on a beach in Belize and Guatemala's La Lancha, on a lake near the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal. Both opened in 2003 after extensive renovations; Turtle Inn needed to be entirely rebuilt after Hurricane Iris in 2001. "I didn't mind because it allowed me to create an entire theme for the property," says Coppola. "So much of what is offered in the hotel world is cookie-cutter--you could be in Morocco or Minnesota. My films all have themes, [as] ...