We stayed in the North Cabana and loved being on the second story, with a big porch from which we could watch everyone walking and biking by: kids on their way to and from school, shoppers visiting the market up the street or the fruit and vegetable stand next door, tourists heading to the open-air Thong's Cafe across the street, and the older Garifuna men who gathered for dominoes every afternoon next door. Hopkins is an interesting mix, with tourist spots sprinkled among the local houses and businesses. It is not quiet (think barking dogs, crowing roosters, music playing, and friends hailing one another), but we enjoyed that and slept with all the windows and doors open (the screens on both have iron bars so we felt perfectly safe). If you prefer quiet, you could close everything up and put on the A/C instead. The temperature in late January was perfect — mostly low 80's F during the day and high 60's at night, with few bugs to speak of, other than the sand flies at the beach in the evening.
Wade is a great host, full of information about the area, and very welcoming. He answered all our questions honestly, gave us tips about local events, and invited us to use his fourth-floor palapa porch whenever we wanted. The wifi in our unit was down for a couple of days during our week-long stay, but we were able to use the network serving his house in the back. (Note: The sole ATM machine in town also was out of order for much of our time there, and most of the small restaurants run by locals don't take credit cards, so bringing extra cash is not a bad idea. We ended up driving to a bank in Dangriga, 20 min away.) We mainly biked everywhere (Wade's bikes were great) or walked, as the town is small. We got a rental car at the airport in Belize City but only used it for day trips and a couple of dinners at the far end of town.