Mary-Lynn |
Feb 19th, 2002 11:39 AM |
I went to Belize last summer and stayed at Roberts Grove Inn in Placencia. From all my research, I thought Placencia would be less touristy and the resort offered air conditioned rooms, a luxury I wasn't sure I was prepared to do without. Thank goodness, because I could not have survived without it. Summer is hot and humid and I'm from the south, but this humidity you could cut with a knife. I only mention this because plenty of places that I looked at on the internet would say something like "the trade winds are the only breeze you'll need". Yeah, maybe in the winter/spring months.<BR><BR>Not meaning to sound negative, because I thoroughly enjoyed my trip, I'm only trying to give you a "head's up" about a few things. The rooms in this resort have no tv, but I honestly didn't miss it. I'm a reader, and caught up on some reading. There's a tv in thier main room/bar area if there's just something you have to see. For the 5 days I was there, I don't believe I ever saw anyone watching it.<BR><BR>Also, wherever you choose to go, look for a place with a pool. The beaches have a lot of seaweed and the sand is like tiny rocks. (once again, being from the south, I'm used to the sugar white beaches of the gulf coast). <BR><BR>You can get an all-inclusive at Robert's Grove which covers all meals but two, wonderful food w/steak and lobster on the menu every night, but alcoholic drinks are not included. Down the road a bit is another place called Turtle Inn (owned by Francis Ford Coppala) that has a very neat restaurant under a thatched roof on the beach.<BR><BR>Some packages come with a couple of different tours you can choose from. I snorkeled while my husband paid to fish, and we both did the Monkey River tour. Not sure what that would be like now since the hurricane last year supposedly did a lot of damage to the Monkey River area.<BR><BR>The resort is small and everyone's laid back. On Saturdays, they roast a pig and have an outdoor bbq by the pool and locals come in to dance and sing. Also a good time to meet fellow travelers. Several couples that we met had done the jungle/beach thing, so that might be something you want to check into.<BR><BR>Placencia is a charming village to explore. When we were there, there was an Internet Cafe named Jakes Purple Monkey where you could grab some eats and drinks and use their computers to e-mail home. Probably the only place down there with any real western influence at all. The rest is very native.<BR><BR>Lastly, the package at Roberts Grove also included your air transfer from Belize City to Placencia. I think this normally falls in the $150 - $200 r/t range. I enjoyed the convenience of already having that taken care of.<BR><BR>Check out the following 2 websites and feel free to e-mail me with any questions you might have.<BR><BR>www.robertsgrove.com<BR> www.belizeforum.com (VERY HELPFUL)<BR>Under the travel section, check out "BELIZE TRAVEL GENERAL" and "BELIZE TRAVELOGUES"
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