We stayed at Paradise Villas for a week in April, 2022, with Mom, Dad, 14 and 10 year old boys.
This is was our third trip to Ambergris Caye. On our fist trip, we stayed WAY (4 miles) south of town at a glorious (expensive) private condo. It was a beautiful space to hang out in (which was a good thing because it was a long golf-cart slog to get back to town).
On our second trip, we stayed at a luxury resort 1.7 miles south. Again, it had expansive living room and kitchen space, and every amenity. It was a small resort, and perhaps only half-full during Covid.
On this trip we thought we would try something different. We stayed right in town at Paradise Villas. This had a few consequences. First, it was WAY cheaper. Second, we were able to completely forgo renting the golf cart for the week. This gave us a lot of time back that was spent in previous years driving and parking.
(You might want a golf cart for some exploring days - our trip was really designed to be just a family SCUBA trip, with most of our time spent at the dive shop a 5 minute walk down the beach.)
Thirdly, the lack of big glorious living space in the villa actually sort of gave us permission to NOT cook much at home. We did a much better job of eating out this time. We essentially told the kids that we weren’t going to restaurants with beachfront property - and found some real gems a few streets back.
My biggest concern about the property was whether it would be LOUD at night. It is right across the beach from a busy bar. Interestingly, this turned out to not be a factor. As soon as you enter the compound, it’s very quiet. We all slept like babies.
FULL DISCLOSURE: We were booked in a unit on the south side and started our stay there. There were some electrical issues which the host responded promptly to, but understandably was unable to get fixed on Easter weekend. She generously moved us to another unit, which was similar, but actually a little nicer.
Note: There’s a decent pool. I didn’t swim much, but the kids did.
Note: There’s a dock out front. It says “Just for guests” and “no fishing”, but it seems too be the dock of choice for locals to fish off. My kids joined them, caught and released a few little fish.
Note: You may need COVID testing before you return home. Right across the street is a friendly doctor’s office that efficiently tested our whole family and provided professional documentation for $15 / person less than the standard rate.
Overall, for the way we did this trip, Paradise Villas was a great match. We played hard every day, and ate almost every meal in “locals” restaurants. we came home and all fell right to sleep. If I was planning on spending a lot of time lounging around the rental, I’d spring for something with a proper kitchen, but for my family this worked great.