My husband and I need a hotel in the city for one night. We will arrive mid afternoon after traveling since early morning, and we will be meeting a charter sailboat the next day, so we don't want to go more than a few minutes from the airport....and there's no reason to go outside of Belize City as we will be seeing many of the Cayes from our boat while sailing for a week.
Currently looking at Bellevue Hotel or Chateau Caribbean, as the price is right at these two and they look okay for one night. Are they? Anything else we should consider?
Thanks!

I ate dinner at the Chateau Caribbean and was not completely happy with the cleanliness/modernity of the place. Their room rates listed on their brochure seemed a bit high, in my opinion (I think they were about $80 for a double room). I would recommend the Radisson Fort George instead. We got a great deal when we stayed there in March--I think about $89 per night.

They are both okay, a little ragged, but you can do a lot better for little or no more money.

I'd look at the following (in order of price from most -- around US$110 -- to least -- around US$60 -- double, plus 7% tax. All of these are safe-- a consideration in Belize City, which has a serious crime problem.

Great House: Charming 12-room inn in beautiful colonial house, right across from Radisson Fort George.

Grant Residence: Well-run B&B.

Villa Boscardi B&B: In the northern "suburbs" between the international airport and downtown. Lovely place. Breakfast and shuttle from airport and into town usually included.

Colton House: Delightful B&B-style spot (but without the breakfast) in 1920s West Indies house, also across from Radisson. Great selection of books and videos on Belize.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

Wow Fluffnfold!
Don't know how you got that rate! Every site I looked at for the Radisson there had prices of $169 and UP!

Lan,
Thanks for the info. I think Great House is more than we want to pay. I don't recall seeing Grant House, so I'll look for that one.
Villa Boscardi looked nice, but maybe a little too far for walking to restaurants/bars? I had taken Colton House off my list because they didn't have a restaurant/bar either, but I didn't realize they were so close to the Radisson, so now I'm thinking there has to be something nearby, right?

I just tried the Radisson website, using Saturday, August 2 as my date. They have a Summer Special promotional rate of $109 per night. You have to hunt around on their site to get all their rates to show up.

The Radisson Fort George has deals pretty often.

Any of the hotels you are talking about (except Villa Boscardi, which isn't near the city centre) are close to a bunch of restaurants. Most are in the Fort George/Tourist Village area. Among the better ones in Belize City are the Smokey Mermaid at the Great House, Neries, Harbour View, Wet Lizard, Macy's, Dit's, and Jam-Bel.

--Lan Sluder

Thanks again!
I'm leaning towards Grant Residence. We're not really a big fan of 'chain'hotels like the Radisson, but thought the pool might be nice the afternoon we arrive so I was checking it out. We usually stay at smaller, independent hotels in our travels.
The captian of the boat we chartered emailed this morning and said he's putting the other couple were sailing with at the Great House. Maybe we'll splurge a little and stay there.....decisions, decisions!
Thanks for the restaurant info! Now, in the absence of a pool, is there anywhere nearby for decent swimming or should we just hang around with some cocktails and save the swimming for the sailing trip?