My husband, son (20 years old), daughter (17 years old) and I will be going to Belize in January. We are planning on staying at Chaa Creek for 4 nights. Since they don't have availablility in the Tree Top Suite for the first night we are planning on staying in the Spa Villa for the first night. Is it worth it to change rooms to stay in the Tree Top Suite??Any recommendations for great activities and restaurants in that area?? We are then planning on staying in the Coppola property Turlte Inn in a Seafront Villa for 4 nights. Is that the right property to stay in at the beach? Any activity recommendations and restaurants in that area to recommend???

Hi, there. Since no one has responded I'll pipe up. You've chosen very elegant resorts, both (as you must already know) very highly rated and thought of. They're a bit too fancy for my blood so I can't help with specifics. We visited Belize in 2003 when our kids were 17, 18, and 20; if you have even half as much fun as we did you're in for a treat. Some of us are heading back this summer to revisit old favorites and hit some of the spots we missed the 1st time around.

Tikal in Guatemala was a highlight for all of us. In my opinion it's worth at least one night in the park (great to explore in the cooler evening and early morning hours when the wildlife is active and you practically have the place to yourselves) but you might consider it as a day trip if you can't fit it in otherwise. If your family is adventurous, the ATM cave is said to be amazing - we'll hit that this summer.

I've pasted a link to our photos and travelogues below in case you'd like to check them out. There are additional Tikal photos in the Guatemala 2007 collection and I'll post new collections for this summer's adventures in Guatemala and Belize in late August/early September.

You might want to check out the Belize Forum, too: www.belizeforum.com/belize Have a wonderful trip and be sure to tell us all about it when you get home. Happy trails!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

The spa villa is 3 bdrms and you'll be more comfortable and have more privacy than in one tree top for the 4 of you. TI is also a great choice. Both their web sites detail the trips from each area.

Katie- I also thought of the privacy issue but my husband has it in his head to stay in the Tree Top Villa!!! Is the Tree Top really cool and different?What is TI that you said is a great choice???

Hopefulist- Thank you for your recommendation for visiting Tikal. One of my friends actually suggested we not go to Guatemala as it is not all that safe??? What are your thoughts? She and her family went to the pyramids and thought the ones in Belize were just as nice?? I looked at your pictures and they look like you had allot of fun. Thanks for forwarding the Belize Forum site. I will spend some time tonight looking it over. I will be sure to post a Trip Report when we come home!!!

I do read the State Department travel advisories about Belize and Guatemala (and Honduras, too) and choose to return over and over to those countries. We've never had a bad experience. I'll be splitting 5-6 weeks between Guatemala and Belize this summer with groups in tow (educators for Spanish study in Guat, various extended family groups in Belize) and wouldn't do that if I didn't think it was safe enough. No place is absolutely safe - including freeways and airlines in the US - but we have loved enriching our lives with experiences in CA. Happy trails!

The tt jacuzzi suite at CC is one of the nicest rooms in the country and the two bedroom villas at TI are also impressive. You'll have more privacy at the spa villa, on the hill overlooking the river valley.

Katie_Valk- I agree with the privacy but it's good to know that it's one of the nicest rooms in the country. My husband really wants to stay in the Tree Top. Any other recommendations as to activities you would recommend or restaurants?