It's a long review, but I suggest you read it till the end.
Mike's Place villa is simple, nice, and has all the necessary amenities. The surroundings are impressive: the jungle and the entrance to the Barton Creek Cave. You can hear lots of birds singing and even the howling monkeys in the distance.
However, Mike's Place is not for someone, who wants to explore Belize on his/her own due to a reason that seems to be underestimated in the description - the access and road conditions. We were looking for a place, which would serve as a base for our exploration adventures, but due to road condition this place is not suitable for that.
Even though it is called a governmental road, it was on a deplorable condition. The driving distance from Belize City to Mike’s Place was not as described (instead of 2 hours that we were told, it took us 3.5 hours to get to the place). There are two off-roads to access the villa. One involves a steep hill that our 2WD Jeep could not climb (vehicles run the risk of getting stuck) and the other one - crossing a river (depending on the amount of rain it can be impossible to cross it). As we were trying to leave the villa, the road was blocked by a tree that fell down the night before, and since there is no phone reception in that area, we had to drive back to Mike's Place to request assistance. It has to be mentioned that the tree was removed quickly, within 30 mins.
Consequently, we determined that this location is not suitable for our plans in Belize: to explore the country on our own. It could be OK for people who stay in one place for some time without any plans to leave the place often. Mike did offer all kinds of tours, but at a higher price than other tour agencies in the country. Also, we felt that we were too much dependent on Mike's Place, since no other services (stores, restaurants, etc) are available.
We had intended to stay at the villa for 3 nights, but due to all the things mentioned above we decided to return the keys and check-out the next morning following our arrival.