joan95448

We cannot decide for next February. Both have such good reviews, similar cost. Victoria House is further from town and only had one negative review--that it seemed a little sterile. Anyone able to compare/contrast the 2 of them? Any info appreciated.

qwovadis

Victoria House for me understated elegance great chill vibe...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ouse-San_Pedro

JeanH

I've never stayed at either, but walk by often. The Phoenix is a relatively new condo development. The units are individually owned. The pool is lovely. The restaurant is decent (I've only had lunch there). No beach to speak of, just a sea wall. Right on the north edge of downtown. Close to grocery stores, restaurants, bars. If you want a condo, and can afford it, I'd stay there.

Victoria House is a couple miles south of town. Walkable during the day, cab or golf cart at night. It's beautiful. Nicely landscaped, reminds me of a British plantation (not that I've ever really seen one, but it's what one SHOULD look like). It's where I've always said I'd stay if I wanted to splurge. Lots of different room types. The restaurant looks lovely, but I've never eaten there. Nice pools. Large beach area with loungers spread around. Some sea wall, some areas where you can walk in and wade around. Swimming off the dock.

To me Victoria House feelsl more like a resort. Tough decision.

volcanogirl

I can only speak about VH, but we absolutely loved it. It might be one of my favorite hotels that we've ever stayed in. Great restaurant and bar on site, beautiful white sand beach, good dive shop, nice pools, very comfy rooms and beds. Our room had a nice balcony. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. A taxi into town was five US dollars, and they also have free bikes on the property that you can use or golf carts you can rent. We actually really liked the location as it seemed really private.

petite43

I haven't seen the Phoenix but I also loved Victoria House & thought the food/service was great!

volcanogirl

Jean, we were posting at the same time, but plantation is exactly the word I would use to describe the rooms - they have nice dark wood furniture, prints of palm trees, and creamy colored fabrics. Our bed had a canopy around it. The whole place is really charming. I had some great lobster at the restaurant. There's also a bar with more affordable food. Like petite said, all of it was great.

joan95448

Thank you all for your opinions. We still can't decide--we may flip a coin....

volcanogirl

Maybe you could do a split?

tallky

volcanogirl:

My daughter and I are planning a trip to Belize for Christmas - two couples, one single - mom,dad,daughter/husband/brother . . . all adults, New Yorkers, young and old but all adventurous and fairly well traveled. We'd love to rent a house, but don't know what we're doing. A family we love have told us - Belize is the place. We'd like to manage this affordably for Christmas week 23rd through 28th or 29th (mom and dad could stay a bit longer if rental or rates are better for full week, etc.

Think we prefer beach and lazy vs. jungle experience with perhaps a taste of nightlife, just a taste and we love to eat, but cook well too. Everyone is fairly athletic, walkers, runners, bikers . . . help!

loved your blog and have read all you've written. Fodor's guides have always steered us well. j

volcanogirl

talky, we really loved Ambergris; it has a lot of restaurants and is close to the reef. The area where we stayed was very quiet. In town would be too much for me, but we did like going in for shopping and meals. Have you checked out VRBO.com? You can see condo and villa rentals there. Jean lives on the caye part time, so she could probably give you some good info. We got some good deals by going in the low season; prices will go up for you around Christmas.

JeanH

Here's a link that lists many of the lodgings on Ambergris.

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/lodge/lodging.html

If you want easy access to town, I wouldn't stay too far north. The 'road' can be terrible (depending on weather)and it's really, really dark. Not where I'd want to be at night on a golf cart. Water taxis get expensive in a hurry and you're on their schedule.

joan95448

Jean, this is an excellent website, thank you for posting it. We surprised ourselves when we heard back from the Blue Tang--which we had thought was full. We are going to stay there, on the top floor!! The surprising thing about the Phoenix was that they only have a few one-bedrooms and they are in the back for not a great view. We thought the $325 price was too high for that. It was still a tough choice between Blue Tang and Victoria House, but we decided to be close to town this trip and will go to VH for dinner one nite.

volcanogirl

joan, we also thought Wild Mango's had good food. The owner is the former chef from Victoria House. It's a cute, casual spot on the beach. D&E's Custard is a tiny little shop that serves great homemade ice cream and sorbet if you're up for dessert.

JeanH

We stayed at Blue Tang for our first trip to San Pedro. We were on the top floor as well, but, not the 'primo' rooms facing the sea, we were facing north up the beach. Still a nice place to be.

Certainly a different level of place than either the Phoenix or Victoria House, but it will leave you with lots more cash for excursions and such.

I like the food at Wild Mango's as well. Also, they make great mojitos. We had a ceviche sampler one night, really fun to taste the different versions of this dish. And you can't beat the coconut shrimp.