Places to stay in Belize
 

I am looking to go to Belize in Feb 06. I am planning to stay at Blancaneaux Lodge and Turtle Inn. Can anyone tell me how these places are and if the lack of A/C is a problem?

Also should I be concered about bugs?
I have to admit I am not much of a roughing it type girl and enjoy comfort and nice ammenities so I'm wondering if this is a trip for me. Please give me your honest opinion. At the same time I don't want a typical carribean island vacation. I want to experience something different.

Please share your thoughts.

We tend to stay in lower priced lodgings, so haven't stayed at either property. However, we did wander through Turtle Inn in February 2004. The beach front units were absolutely stunning. Simply beautiful. I don't think lack of air conditioning will be a problem in February. We were actually chilly one night.

The village of Placencia is pretty laid back and undeveloped. There are several good restaurants and a couple of fun bars.

I'm seriously considering Belize as my retirement destination, so my thoughts on the place are obviously pretty biased. We love it, I certainly wouldn't consider either property 'roughing it', but Turtle Inn also doesn't have the manicured 'Disneyesque' type appearance you will find at a Hyatt.

We didn't have any problems with any insects while we were there. Only used Deet on a trip to Monkey River town and up the river. We were darn glad to have bug spray there, the mosquitos were thick while we were hiking.

For a more developed town, you might look at Ambergris Caye and Victoria House there.

You will not be roughing it by any stretch of the imagination in either of these places. And Belize is NOT just any Caribbean destination. Enjoy!

Forgot tomention about AC. Should not be a problem in February.

TI has good ceiling fans, but I would suggest getting one of the beachfront cabanas instead of the seaview, where breezes are blocked. Feb is generaly comfortable and can drop to the 60's in the Mtn Pine Ridge where BL is located

My husband and I were at Turtle Inn in Dec. 04. You sound like me. I was wary of the bugs and lack of a/c. Bugs were nothing--we brought some hardcore Ben's 35% Deet which we really only needed in the rainforest. Some OFF is fine for the hotel. the bugs really only come out in the later afternoon, after 3:30 pm.

The weather was delighful! So cool in the evening that some nights we had to turn off the ceiling fan. The restaurant was really good. It was such a wonderful trip and so relaxing. We loved the outdoor shower. Used it twice a day. We also brought a portable DVD player since there's no TV and in Dec. it got dark at 5:30 and the restaurant didn't open for dinner until 6:30.

We can't wait to go back. I still think about our trip every day!

We were in Belize and Tikal this past February. We sprayed our clothes before we went and brought deet-huge overkill.In the Cayo and Tikal we saw no bugs-even on a midnight jungle tour in Tikal. There were a few on the Monkey River tour and a few more on the Jaguar Preserve - nothing really bad. So bring the Deet but don't worry.At the resorts we ate and sat outside at night after dark- we can't do that at our house in Massachusetts in the summer. We did not use the AC anywhere.
I didn't stay at either lodge you will be at but saw both of them -you definitely won't be roughing it. If you don't want a typical Carribean trip sign up for all the jungle and Mayan ruin trips that you can.

I haven't stayed at either property but just wanted to say that you don't really have to worry about bugs or lack of A/C around the Cayo/Mt Pine Ridge area. The elevation is high enough that it's cool at night.

In February, no A/C is probably OK at the beach too. Just make sure that 1.) the rooms are well screened and 2.) have powerful fans, that will keep the bugs to a minimum. My worst bug experience was actually in Placencia and we ended up cutting our stay there short and moving on to Ambergris earlier than planned. I was wearing 98% deet and it still didn't help (but bugs are especially drawn to me). They attacked at night while I was sleeping. If you choose where you stay carefully, you should be OK. The place we stayed had neither of the 2 very important features that I mentioned.

Belize is absolutely wonderful (it's still one of our most memorable trips after many years) and really worth roughing it a bit and any minor inconveniences that go along with that.