Best Hotels near Hol Chan Marine Reserve, San Pedro

This was by far THE BEST family vacation we've taken in 29 years!. I can't say enough about our experience but will try to give you the highlights to ensure your experience is just as good as ours. Little did we know July is not ”in season” in Belize, but for Americans looking for a relaxing, beach getaway with as little or as much as you want to do, this is the place to visit. In addition, July starts Lobster season there, so we had fresh lobster options at every meal. We looked at Air B&B and VRBO listings before looking at resort options, and I'm so glad I made the choice to stay at Mahogany Bay. This property is unique in that you get your own ”villa” for your accommodations. There are small villas to accommodate a couple of people. And there are larger villas to accommodate a small or large family. Mahogany Bay is a 5-10 minute golf cart ride from where our flight landed. Because we were Hilton Diamond members, they arranged complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport. Word of caution, if you are taking a puddle jumper from Belize City to San Pedro (which I highly recommend as it takes less time than a boat road and the boat ride is not that smooth), don't be surprised if your gate agent is also your pilot : ) Upon arrival at the resort, we were greeted by Dennis who not only helped with our bags and getting us to our villa, he got us complimentary Lemon Grass Teas (non-alcoholic) which was unbelievably refreshing on a steamy day. I'm not sure he ever leaves the property, because any time I needed something he was there...including when I was trying to find the name of one of our excursion guides. We had prearranged a gold cart rental through Mahogany Bay which we recommend doing versus arranging your self, as it will be waiting on you at the hotel and can be serviced / traded out should you have any issues. Sephenie, the concierge, assisted us with this in advance which was extremely helpful. I would guess 96% of the island runs on gold cart traffic. There are cars, but almost everyone is on a two wheeler or golf cart. This can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but there are three main roads that you have to know, and by the end of the first day, you can easily get around. As well, Sephenie assisted us in making several of our dinner reservations in advance as well. We did a couple of excursions through Tuff E Nuff Tours (see their page for that review), but if you don't want or decide not to spend the money on the excursions, VISIT the private island and make sure you find Duane. Duane is by far the best waiter / porter / all-around amazing employee/ person this property has. Duane not only suggested what became known as our favorite drink ever (frozen coconut mojito), he also took the time to hand write a list of restaurants we should try if we had the chance. He was a plethora of information. I don't believe he's a manager, but he should be because he understands service and getting to know his custo

We were in San Ignacio when Hurricane Lisa decided to come toward Belize. We had a reservation at the Mayan Princess on Tuesday, all flights to Ambergris Caye stopped at 2pm on Tuesday and we had a 12:40 flight to the island. We had no idea what to do or where we would be safest. I called the Mayan Princess and spoke with Marla who tried to assist me and answer my questions to enable me to make the best decision while trying to predict the weather! lol Thankfully, we decided to continue with our plans and went to Ambergris Caye. This is this a nice little hotel where the rooms feel like a small condo and in it's in an excellent location to walk to everything, but the staff is the best part. Marla, Manny and the rest of the staff were so wonderful during what was a stressful time for us - being this was our first hurricane! lol They made sure we had plenty of water, a battery operated lantern and kept calling to check on us. We definitely felt well cared for during our stay and it lowered our stress level immensely! Thankfully, Lisa decided to spare Ambergris Caye but had she made things more difficult it is nice to know that the Mayan Princess has a generator so we would have still had water had the electricity gone out! Definitely recommend this hotel!