Review of Paradise Villa, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. We are from Prince Edward Island, Canada and stayed there from January 12-19, 2010. There are no direct flight to Belize from Canada, but one, with Sunwing, but it’s to an all inclusive and at this time you can’t buy just the flight.
You can go via several US cities, Houston, Atanta, LA, Charlotte, and Miami. We arrived via Air Canada – Continental connection via Houston. We used Tropic Air for the flight Belize City – San Pedro (http://www.tropicair.com/). Another route is via Cancun and then there is bus service to Corozal, Belize with a Tropic Air flight to San Pedro.
Your Arrival: We arrived at the San Pedro airport but due to some confusion no one was there to meet us. However a local called them and they sent along a taxi (an old Toyota van, as all taxis are there) out to get us. They took us to the resort, no charge by the way for pickup and return trip to the airport. It’s only later you’ll realize how close everything is in San Pedro.
Someone was there to greet us and they had the keys and checked us into our villa and made sure we knew where everything was.
Rooms: Our villa was oceanfront number 24A, one bedroom, living room to the front, kitchen to the right back. In the back was the bedroom, 1 king bed and adjoining bathroom. The bathroom has been redone in a new tile, but the vanity and kitchen cabinents could use an upgrade. The refridgerator also should be replaced, it had been repainted but the rust marks were showing through. Paradise Villas is not a brand new property and it shows in the fact that some doors have a second screen door, ours did not, the windows are metal casings which slide open with some difficulty, and our front window had no screen. The result of these 2 things was that we had mosquitoes some evenings. The bed was comfortable, the rooms, bedroom and living room have a fan, and the unit is air conditioned. The air conditioning is louder then it should be. The actual unit is located outside the bedroom window and the force of the blowing air does make a noticable sound in the bedroom.
The thermostats however is new, with an underneath slider control, and you can easily switch from (F)ahrenheit to (C)elcius, and the temperature gradients work well. So turning the units temperature up or down worked well.
Restaurants and Bars:
Paradise Villa’s does not have a restaurant or bars, but it is located in San Pedro and many places to eat, drink and shop are within a 5-10 minute walk. There are 2 grocery stores within 5 minutes of the entrance (what you will call the back, given you are looking at the ocean).
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Grounds are well maintained, they were raked each day and staff were on-site several times a day. The pool is small, as noted by their pictures, but the lounge chairs were made of local wood with padded covers.
Beach, there is no beach per se. The property borders a small pathway, used by visitors and locals to walk or cycle along the shore front. There is a small seawall along the water. To swim we walked out the pier and there are steps into the water, and it’s not too deep even at high tide. There is a small beach area in front of the Blue Tang resort, located next door.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
This is a very strong point for this location, right in the middle of town (San Pedro), you can walk to almost all the restaurants you want, bank, post office, golf cart rentals, shops, it’s all within walking distance. We paid $175US for the oceanfront which was less than a number of sites located around it. This little town has many great restaurants, don’t let the decor fool you, they have great cooks in the kitchen.
Other Comments: After 3 all inclusives we wanted off the buffet track and rushing early morning for chairs. We were enticed to go her by our daughter who spent 3 days on Ambergris Caye, at the end of Mount Allison University archeology dig on the mainland. She raved about the place and we can say were were not disappointed. Most of the people we met were from the southern US who go there between their Thanksgiving (late November) to late January. They offer laudry service for $1.00 BZ per pound ($US 0.50 cents), pickup, washed, dryed, folded, and returned, most often the same day. The locals are very friendly, helpful and speak English. Would we go back, yes, would we stay at this location, maybe. It’s needs an upgrade but the location is excellent.
If you have any questions please email me.
Photos: http://tradewindsparadisevillas.com/