IJanieC

We are a family of 4 with 2 sons, 15 and 18 years old and are planning a trip to Belize at Christmas. I have looked at a number of hotels with availablity during that time and have narrowed it down to The Tides (2 rooms at $125 each) or the Holiday Hotel (1 room with Queen and 2 doubles at $176 total). Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the best value for my money? Has anyone stayed in another place that they loved? Thanks in advance.

Seapru

I am not sure what the rates are at current time but we stayed at Ramon's and absolutly loved it. Great location and the dive shop is in my opinion the best around there. You will have a great time no matter where you stay. Enjoy!!

TC

We stayed in a two bedroom at Banyan Bay and loved it. Saved lots of money on meals by eating breakfast and lunches at condo. Wonderful beach, nice managers, good location. You should be able to book a deal there with lots of different travel companies. Try a Google search.

http://www.ambergriscaye.com/pages/lodge/banyan.html

LanSluder

The Tides is at the north end of town, and the Holiday Hotel is in town near the south end. They're both good mid-level places. The Tides does have a pool, and that might sway me.

You might also look at some of the small condotels, with two bedrooms. Banyan Bay is the nicest but would be pretty expensive at Christmas. Xanadu is also very nice but also a bit pricey at that peak time. Possibly you might get an affordable rate at Paradise Villas (several groups rent units) or Coral Bay Villas. Or if you don't need to be right on the beach, Coral Reef Villas.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

ewesthoff

In my opinion, stayed there this past July, Banyan Bay is hands down the best family resort on AC. Can't go wrong. The previous post offers a great idea about food. The small market is only a few blocks and you can buy breakfast and lunch items to save some money. The villas are very nice. Also, many hotels in the downtown area have no beaches, only docks/piers, and concrete walls. might want to check into that. Banyan has wide open beach, lots of seagrass, but that is every where on AC. Have fun.

fluffnfold

We stayed at Belizean Shores, which is on the north end of the island, accessible only by boat or the hand-pulled ferry. It's a condo-tel, so you would have a kitchen, living room/dining room (with pullout sofa bed), separate bedroom, and bath. The upper units have an additional sleeping loft. We stayed there several years ago (I think it was 2003), but it was very reasonable at the time, and we liked having all that extra space. Belizean Shores has a nice pool, too. Check it out! The website is www.belizeanshores.com. It's running about $200 per night when you are going for a beach-level unit and $220 for an upper-level unit, with an additional $20 per night to be closer to the ocean.

BzeGail

I have stayed at both hotels you mentioned. The Tides does have a small pool so that may be a plus. The first floor is an apartment if you want a kitchen, living, and dining room area but the view is better on the second or third floor. Your rate at the Tides does include breakfast. The beach is a bit nicer infront of the Tides and you can swim off their dock.

If I am not travelling with my 15 yr old son and I want to be right in town, I stay at Holiday Hotel. They also have a detached apartment but again the view is better from the second floor. They have a restaurant on site which I like and always eat at when I am in San Pedro.