On Hotels in Belize
DuPlooy's Eco Lodge, the Cayo
When we started planning our trip, we really had no idea what we were doing. We'd never been to Belize, never really spent time in a true jungle before (Kauai being the closest), never stayed at an eco-lodge, and frankly had never been to third-world country.
So, like most folks, we started with a guide book. And that guide book (Fodor's) told us that we should look no farther than their recommended choice, Chaa Creek. However, we were never able to contact Chaa Creek. After poking around various lodge web sites, we decided on DuPlooy's as our second choice, and thereby lucked into spending 5 days at what turned out to be a wonderful jungle lodge.
Location
DuPlooy's is at the end of a 7-mile amusement park ride of a dirt road off of the main Western highway. It lies on the banks of the Macal River about 10 miles/45 minutes (yes, the roads are that bad) from San Ignacio by car. Note that this is a significant barrier to spending much time in town. The staff is happy to help you get to town and back, but if you plan to experience significant nightlife in San Ignacio, you may want to consider other lodging. After seeing San Ignacio, we didn't really mind (there's not much there), although we would have liked to have tried out some of the local restaurants there at some point.
The lodge is right next to the Belize Botanical Gardens, and also situated on several trails that connect throughout the region. The Chaa Creek Resort, the other lodge mentioned previously, is right next door on the access road. The Mystic River Resort is just upstream on the other side of the Macal.
First Impressions
All transfers to/from DuPlooy's were included in our package; after landing at the airport we were met by a very pleasant driver who took us directly to the lodge.
We pulled up to DuPlooy's after roughly 36 hours without sleep and 15 hours of continuous travel. As you drive up to the gravel circle in the main complex, the office is on your right, and the Macal river to your left. The rooms are down the hill before the river.
We walked into the office, and were immediately greeted by a very friendly staff member. He efficiently checked us in, gave us our room keys, and helped us set up a few activities on the spot.
Right away I was struck by an attitude which would prevail throughout our entire stay here: the staff at DuPlooy's are entirely dedicated to making sure your experience is as smooth as possible. They take care of planning all the details of excursions (rides, guides, lunch, you name it), help you decide on things to do, and essentially approach each interaction with the intent to break down every obstacle to get you where you want to go. For some, maybe this level of customer service is overkill; for us newbies, it drastically lowered the stress level of getting around Belize. I really appreciated the staff's effort.
The Room
We stayed in a "Jungle Room", which is essentially a little cabin surrounded by forest. The rooms are reasonably maintained, and the decor fits the bungalow theme, including oil lamps--which we used surprisingly often during our visit.
On the downside, the rooms are not air conditioned. We were expecting this--it's an eco-lodge in the backwoods of the Cayo. However, this means that moisture permeates absolutely everything. Your sheets will be damp. Your towels will be damp. Your clothes, once you take them out, will be damp (leave things in your suitcase until absolutely necessary; see my entry on packing for Belize for more on this). Paper swells up right away--enjoy watching your books explode. Leather just gets destroyed.
Another downside is that the rooms, while screened, are not exactly bug-proof. We had a fine variety of jungle visitors during our stay, and while this didn't bother us much, prospective guests should come prepared to deal with ants/spiders/beetles/etc.
Finally, the rooms aren't the cleanest in the world. Same caveats as above: it's an eco-lodge in the middle of a jungle. There is room service, but our floor remained extremely dirty during our stay.
The Grounds
The grounds at DuPlooy's deserve special mention: the jungle setting is gorgeous. The outdoor bar sits on huge open deck which extends far along the ridge above the river (and also, somehow, has wi-fi). At night, a local Kinkajou (possum) visits the bar railing to be fed fruit by guests.
The only drawback of this amazing scenery is that you'll need to pack some insect repellent every time you head out for a drink. But hey, it's the jungle: what did you expect?
The Food
The package we bought came with all meals included--excluding soda and alcoholic drinks.
The general quality of the food served at DuPlooy's ranged between good and excellent. Their cook knows his business, although every meat other than fish was consistently overcooked. Portion size was very satisfying--every dinner included an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert, and every morning we never needed more than the continental breakfast of fruit and baked goods.
Drinks at the bar were a mixed bag. Anything with rum or tropical fruit juice was generally pretty good, but never order a margarita in Belize if you know what real tequila tastes like.
One side note: oranges in Belize are more sour than what we typically have in the states, and this comes through in the juice. If you prefer your morning beverage to be sweeter, consider swapping out orange for pineapple juice (just as common).
Activities
If you love the outdoors, the Cayo is the place for you. DuPlooy's offers just about every type of tour and activity you can do in the Cayo; see their site for details.
The quality of the staff for guided activities (tours of Mayan sites, horseback riding, etc) was consistently good. While we balked a bit at the higher costs coming in, in hindsight we have absolutely no regrets doing everything through DuPlooy's: you get exactly what you pay for.
Overall
In general, we appreciated our stay at DuPlooy's Jungle Lodge. We were not super impressed with our room, and the price was steep. However, given the friendliness of the staff, the quality of the food and guides, and just how smooth they made our trip to the Cayo, we can't help but recommend this lodge to anyone who is visiting Belize looking for stress-free outdoor adventure.
Banana Beach Resort, Ambergris Caye
We decided on the Banana Beach resort as out base in Ambergris Caye through a combination of our guide book and Trip Adviser. Solid reviews combined with a decent price made the call easy.
However, while this technique worked well for our say at DuPlooy's, in this case we felt that we missed more than we hit. The Banana Beach resort is a pleasant place to stay, but has some drawbacks that those looking to stay here should be aware of.
Location
Banana Beach is located on the south end of Ambergris Caye, about a mile and a half out of town. It's easy to find on Coconut Drive or from the beach.
While this location makes the Banana Beach very quiet, it is also a major limitation if you enjoy any sort of nightlife or inexpensive choices for dining. There is really nothing to do on the south end of Ambergris Caye, and San Pedro is a half hour walk or $5 US taxi ride away.
First Impressions
We arrived via taxi straight from the pier, pulling up into the entry loop. The office is easy to find, and all transfers to/from the San Pedro airport or water taxi terminals are paid for.
The staff in the main office was efficient, but certainly not friendly--polite at most, and eager to get us out of their hair. The bellhop/handyman on duty helped get our luggage to the rooms.
We stayed in the resort during the tourism off-season (end of November), and it felt nearly empty. We had the pool to ourselves most days. Note also that during this time of year several of the services described in other reviews--such as the pool side bar--are not in operation.
The Room
We were in a suite on the ground floor right by the inner pool during our stay. Overall, we were less than enthusiastic about our accommodations.
On the positive side, the bedroom has AC, and it works wonderfully--a welcome relief during the 90 degree midday heat. The TV has cable, which is a small but welcome touch. In addition, we loved having a kitchen during our stay, and took full advantage of it. The kitchen came with a bare minimum of equipment, but being able to cook the occasional lunch and take leftovers home from meals was handy.
However, there were some significant downsides to our suite. The aforementioned kitchen had a small stove, a microwave, and a toaster, but no other way to warm food. Cooking implements included exactly one beat-up small frying pan, some spatulas, and two rusty knives. The tile counter was very hard to clean, and there was no garbage disposal.
The furniture was extremely cheap, old, and rickety--we were never sure if the table was going to collapse every time we put anything heavy on it. The windows are essentially rusted shut, which became a real problem when we cooked our catch from reef fishing.
Finally, the bathroom was horrible. The tub area was very dirty. There was no water pressure (although hot water worked, a major plus), and the shower fixtures were coming off the wall with huge flakes of rust every time they were used.
The cleaning staff was a trip. Every day we got a different random assortment of towels. However, they did wash our dishes in the kitchen, which we appreciated.
The Grounds
The resort is laid out with rooms surrounding and looking down on a central courtyard with a small pool. There is a smaller additional pool outside of the courtyard near the office. The ground floor is all wooden decking. A word of warning: be careful when walking on this decking, the planks are uneven, have holes rotted into them from water runoff, and flex quite a bit, causing multiple stubbed toes during our stay. It's only a matter of time before someone falls through the deck.
While we enjoyed the pool, we found it to be very dirty, and with extremely rough floors and edges. We came home sporting multiple scrapes on our legs and feet from swimming there. Note that pool/beach towels require a deposit, but may be swapped out multiple times at the tour office.
Main access to the beach is through the pool area. The beach itself is a small sandy area dotted with palms and ending in a seawall. Most resort beaches on Ambergris are similar, so Banana Beach gets a pass here. If you want a beach, don't come here: go to Ramon's or Banyan bay (confirmed by locals as the best beaches on the island).
Unfortunately, the beach was under construction and inaccessible the first half of our stay. When we finally did get to use it, it was nice, but we found that most of the beach/pool recliner seat cushions were very moldy. Not a deal-breaker for us, but those with allergies should take heed.
Dining Options
Banana Beach contains an on-campus restaurant named El Divino. Overall, the food there was reasonable (see my review). However, the service there was almost uniformly extremely poor, with waiting staff that plainly hated having to serve touristas. We quickly got tired of being barely tolerated at mealtimes, and looked elsewhere for most meals outside of the included breakfast.
The bar is a tiny nook in the corner of the restaurant. Ambiance is terrible--it's a dark, tiny room. Drinks, however, were generally good. We particularly enjoyed the $3 US rum drinks during happy hour.
Activities
There is a tour booking company on the campus of Banana Beach named "Monkey Business Tours". With town so far away, we ended up booking everything through them in the name of convenience.
This worked out reasonably well. The proprietor at Monkey Business was nice, but a bit clueless. As an example, he arranged a sailing outing for us without checking the hours--it was closed when we hiked over. Further, he had no idea what the outing actually cost, and tried to charge us roughly double. To his credit, he took our word on this and corrected the charge. I don't think he was being malicious.
Next door to Monkey Business is the Ambergris Dive Shop. We got all of our snorkel equipment from here. Prices are high--$8 US for a day of snorkels and fins, and $10 US to rent an underwater flashlight for a night snorkel. Further, the equipment choices are limited. Size selection is not optimal--our feet were bloody from the flippers after the trip. Those requiring glasses will need to bring contact lenses.
Overall, the tours we booked here were generally good. Our guides were helpful and enthusiastic, and we enjoyed every activity we tried.
Overall
In sum, the Banana Beach Resort offers decent value for the money. It is not a magical getaway destination (in particular, the surly staff saw to that). However, the included transfers and daily breakfasts were a very nice touch. Additionally, while there was much to dislike about our room, we appreciated the advantages of having a full kitchen.
If we return to Ambergris Caye, we will likely stay somewhere closer to town. This is not to take away from the strengths of this resort: those looking for a good value the convenience of on-campus tour booking should give the Banana Beach a look.
When we started planning our trip, we really had no idea what we were doing. We'd never been to Belize, never really spent time in a true jungle before (Kauai being the closest), never stayed at an eco-lodge, and frankly had never been to third-world country.
So, like most folks, we started with a guide book. And that guide book (Fodor's) told us that we should look no farther than their recommended choice, Chaa Creek. However, we were never able to contact Chaa Creek. After poking around various lodge web sites, we decided on DuPlooy's as our second choice, and thereby lucked into spending 5 days at what turned out to be a wonderful jungle lodge.
Location
DuPlooy's is at the end of a 7-mile amusement park ride of a dirt road off of the main Western highway. It lies on the banks of the Macal River about 10 miles/45 minutes (yes, the roads are that bad) from San Ignacio by car. Note that this is a significant barrier to spending much time in town. The staff is happy to help you get to town and back, but if you plan to experience significant nightlife in San Ignacio, you may want to consider other lodging. After seeing San Ignacio, we didn't really mind (there's not much there), although we would have liked to have tried out some of the local restaurants there at some point.
The lodge is right next to the Belize Botanical Gardens, and also situated on several trails that connect throughout the region. The Chaa Creek Resort, the other lodge mentioned previously, is right next door on the access road. The Mystic River Resort is just upstream on the other side of the Macal.
First Impressions
All transfers to/from DuPlooy's were included in our package; after landing at the airport we were met by a very pleasant driver who took us directly to the lodge.
We pulled up to DuPlooy's after roughly 36 hours without sleep and 15 hours of continuous travel. As you drive up to the gravel circle in the main complex, the office is on your right, and the Macal river to your left. The rooms are down the hill before the river.
We walked into the office, and were immediately greeted by a very friendly staff member. He efficiently checked us in, gave us our room keys, and helped us set up a few activities on the spot.
Right away I was struck by an attitude which would prevail throughout our entire stay here: the staff at DuPlooy's are entirely dedicated to making sure your experience is as smooth as possible. They take care of planning all the details of excursions (rides, guides, lunch, you name it), help you decide on things to do, and essentially approach each interaction with the intent to break down every obstacle to get you where you want to go. For some, maybe this level of customer service is overkill; for us newbies, it drastically lowered the stress level of getting around Belize. I really appreciated the staff's effort.
The Room
 |
| Our bungalow. Cute! |
On the downside, the rooms are not air conditioned. We were expecting this--it's an eco-lodge in the backwoods of the Cayo. However, this means that moisture permeates absolutely everything. Your sheets will be damp. Your towels will be damp. Your clothes, once you take them out, will be damp (leave things in your suitcase until absolutely necessary; see my entry on packing for Belize for more on this). Paper swells up right away--enjoy watching your books explode. Leather just gets destroyed.
 |
| The interior of our room. |
Finally, the rooms aren't the cleanest in the world. Same caveats as above: it's an eco-lodge in the middle of a jungle. There is room service, but our floor remained extremely dirty during our stay.
The Grounds
 | |
| The outdoor deck, extending far along the valley. |
The only drawback of this amazing scenery is that you'll need to pack some insect repellent every time you head out for a drink. But hey, it's the jungle: what did you expect?
The Food
The package we bought came with all meals included--excluding soda and alcoholic drinks.
The general quality of the food served at DuPlooy's ranged between good and excellent. Their cook knows his business, although every meat other than fish was consistently overcooked. Portion size was very satisfying--every dinner included an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert, and every morning we never needed more than the continental breakfast of fruit and baked goods.
 |
| The outdoor bar at DuPlooy's |
One side note: oranges in Belize are more sour than what we typically have in the states, and this comes through in the juice. If you prefer your morning beverage to be sweeter, consider swapping out orange for pineapple juice (just as common).
Activities
If you love the outdoors, the Cayo is the place for you. DuPlooy's offers just about every type of tour and activity you can do in the Cayo; see their site for details.
The quality of the staff for guided activities (tours of Mayan sites, horseback riding, etc) was consistently good. While we balked a bit at the higher costs coming in, in hindsight we have absolutely no regrets doing everything through DuPlooy's: you get exactly what you pay for.
Overall
In general, we appreciated our stay at DuPlooy's Jungle Lodge. We were not super impressed with our room, and the price was steep. However, given the friendliness of the staff, the quality of the food and guides, and just how smooth they made our trip to the Cayo, we can't help but recommend this lodge to anyone who is visiting Belize looking for stress-free outdoor adventure.
Banana Beach Resort, Ambergris Caye
We decided on the Banana Beach resort as out base in Ambergris Caye through a combination of our guide book and Trip Adviser. Solid reviews combined with a decent price made the call easy.
However, while this technique worked well for our say at DuPlooy's, in this case we felt that we missed more than we hit. The Banana Beach resort is a pleasant place to stay, but has some drawbacks that those looking to stay here should be aware of.
Location
Banana Beach is located on the south end of Ambergris Caye, about a mile and a half out of town. It's easy to find on Coconut Drive or from the beach.
While this location makes the Banana Beach very quiet, it is also a major limitation if you enjoy any sort of nightlife or inexpensive choices for dining. There is really nothing to do on the south end of Ambergris Caye, and San Pedro is a half hour walk or $5 US taxi ride away.
First Impressions
We arrived via taxi straight from the pier, pulling up into the entry loop. The office is easy to find, and all transfers to/from the San Pedro airport or water taxi terminals are paid for.
The staff in the main office was efficient, but certainly not friendly--polite at most, and eager to get us out of their hair. The bellhop/handyman on duty helped get our luggage to the rooms.
We stayed in the resort during the tourism off-season (end of November), and it felt nearly empty. We had the pool to ourselves most days. Note also that during this time of year several of the services described in other reviews--such as the pool side bar--are not in operation.
The Room
We were in a suite on the ground floor right by the inner pool during our stay. Overall, we were less than enthusiastic about our accommodations.
On the positive side, the bedroom has AC, and it works wonderfully--a welcome relief during the 90 degree midday heat. The TV has cable, which is a small but welcome touch. In addition, we loved having a kitchen during our stay, and took full advantage of it. The kitchen came with a bare minimum of equipment, but being able to cook the occasional lunch and take leftovers home from meals was handy.
However, there were some significant downsides to our suite. The aforementioned kitchen had a small stove, a microwave, and a toaster, but no other way to warm food. Cooking implements included exactly one beat-up small frying pan, some spatulas, and two rusty knives. The tile counter was very hard to clean, and there was no garbage disposal.
The furniture was extremely cheap, old, and rickety--we were never sure if the table was going to collapse every time we put anything heavy on it. The windows are essentially rusted shut, which became a real problem when we cooked our catch from reef fishing.
Finally, the bathroom was horrible. The tub area was very dirty. There was no water pressure (although hot water worked, a major plus), and the shower fixtures were coming off the wall with huge flakes of rust every time they were used.
The cleaning staff was a trip. Every day we got a different random assortment of towels. However, they did wash our dishes in the kitchen, which we appreciated.
The Grounds
The resort is laid out with rooms surrounding and looking down on a central courtyard with a small pool. There is a smaller additional pool outside of the courtyard near the office. The ground floor is all wooden decking. A word of warning: be careful when walking on this decking, the planks are uneven, have holes rotted into them from water runoff, and flex quite a bit, causing multiple stubbed toes during our stay. It's only a matter of time before someone falls through the deck.
While we enjoyed the pool, we found it to be very dirty, and with extremely rough floors and edges. We came home sporting multiple scrapes on our legs and feet from swimming there. Note that pool/beach towels require a deposit, but may be swapped out multiple times at the tour office.
 |
| A shot of the Banana Beach "beach" from a boat, once construction was complete. |
Unfortunately, the beach was under construction and inaccessible the first half of our stay. When we finally did get to use it, it was nice, but we found that most of the beach/pool recliner seat cushions were very moldy. Not a deal-breaker for us, but those with allergies should take heed.
Dining Options
Banana Beach contains an on-campus restaurant named El Divino. Overall, the food there was reasonable (see my review). However, the service there was almost uniformly extremely poor, with waiting staff that plainly hated having to serve touristas. We quickly got tired of being barely tolerated at mealtimes, and looked elsewhere for most meals outside of the included breakfast.
The bar is a tiny nook in the corner of the restaurant. Ambiance is terrible--it's a dark, tiny room. Drinks, however, were generally good. We particularly enjoyed the $3 US rum drinks during happy hour.
Activities
There is a tour booking company on the campus of Banana Beach named "Monkey Business Tours". With town so far away, we ended up booking everything through them in the name of convenience.
This worked out reasonably well. The proprietor at Monkey Business was nice, but a bit clueless. As an example, he arranged a sailing outing for us without checking the hours--it was closed when we hiked over. Further, he had no idea what the outing actually cost, and tried to charge us roughly double. To his credit, he took our word on this and corrected the charge. I don't think he was being malicious.
Next door to Monkey Business is the Ambergris Dive Shop. We got all of our snorkel equipment from here. Prices are high--$8 US for a day of snorkels and fins, and $10 US to rent an underwater flashlight for a night snorkel. Further, the equipment choices are limited. Size selection is not optimal--our feet were bloody from the flippers after the trip. Those requiring glasses will need to bring contact lenses.
Overall, the tours we booked here were generally good. Our guides were helpful and enthusiastic, and we enjoyed every activity we tried.
Overall
In sum, the Banana Beach Resort offers decent value for the money. It is not a magical getaway destination (in particular, the surly staff saw to that). However, the included transfers and daily breakfasts were a very nice touch. Additionally, while there was much to dislike about our room, we appreciated the advantages of having a full kitchen.
If we return to Ambergris Caye, we will likely stay somewhere closer to town. This is not to take away from the strengths of this resort: those looking for a good value the convenience of on-campus tour booking should give the Banana Beach a look.