Overall, we enjoyed our stay, however, felt like we did not get the full experience we were hoping for.
To start with the positives:
-The island and surrounding waters are beautiful! We saw nurse sharks, starfish and stingrays right from the deck!
-The staff is really nice and friendly.
-The trip there is long but made very easy and stress free with the assistance of Jason and his team from landing in BZE to getting to the island.
Areas in need of improvement:
-Too much dependency on one person-the main staff person (Manny) dropped us off at the island and did not come back until our last day there, which prevented us from enjoying excursions and activities which were paramount to the experience like snorkeling, island hopping and parasailing. In addition, certain ingredients needed for our meals were unavailable as the staff was waiting for Manny to come back in order to get it, which did not happen
-Even though we filled out the intake form prior to our arrival, the staff were unprepared to accommodate my vegetarian dietary preference. I ate the same vegetables of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots the entire week for lunch and dinner. There was no variety even though the menu indicated there was eggplant available, when I asked for it, I was told they were out.
-The staff was stocking the house while we were there, as opposed to having it prepared prior to our arrival and certain things were not restocked such as toilet paper which we needed to request.
-For a $500 cleaning fee, the house was not as clean as I would expect. There was an empty bottle of rum sitting on the deck from the previous guests, a used washcloth in the shower, and used opened snacks in the cabinet as well as opened drinks.
-We requested to have our flight from Dangriga changed to a later time because whoever originally booked it made it for way too early as our flight from BZE was much later in the afternoon and we had a 3 hour layover in BZE. We would rather have had a couple extra hours to spend on the island (still would have checked out before the check out time) since we paid so much to be there, and not to sit in BZE for 3 hours, but were lied to and told the flights could not be changed as they were booked. We checked ourselves and saw that there were two later flights we could have taken but they just wanted us to leave because when we left, they also left and had time off before needing to go back for the next guests.
-There were other people on the island besides the staff. We heard laughing and voices as well as music playing and were later told it was people from the "statistics" office. I have no idea if that was true or not but it felt uncomfortable to have other people there other than the staff.
-There is no way to communicate with staff like a two way radio or phone. This would assist with privacy as staff walk up to the house during the day unannounced besides to yell out "hello". As the only guests on the island, you expect a little more privacy and security.
-The main house could use some updated conveniences, for example, the coffee pot was very old and had a burned and tattered heating element. It would have been nice to have a Keurig. (I later saw a Keurig in another guest house which I didnt even know existed until mid way though my vacation there) and even though I hinted that I wanted to borrow it to take to the main house, it was never done. Oh well. We also did not have bowls or spoons.
Other items for you to consider:
-Even though we did not mind at all as nature lovers, you should know there are a lot of geckos that climb the walls inside the house every night and make a lot of noise. We enjoyed the little critters but if you are not ok with lizards climbing around you, you may not like this.
-There are a lot of sugar ants all over the house. You will have to share your food with them. There is no way to get rid of them it is just part of the experience. Again, we werent bothered so much by this.
-There is no air conditioning except in the evening, when you need to let the staff know what time you want it on and they need to come in every night to turn it on. It shuts off very early morning and during the day, you rely on the fans and breeze.
-You only have one time (which you need to let them know) when you can take a hot shower. We usually took them in the evenings after a day of swimming
-The staff hopped a ride with us in our taxi to the airport as they were going home after we checked out. While we did not mind as we enjoyed our conversations with him, this may not sit well with everyone, so i thought it is good to note here.
-The boat ride in to the island was a little rough, we bounced out of our seat when the boat hit big waves, Be sure to hold on tight, as we were unprepared for how much it jostled us around. Also, on the way back home, the boat stalled out. We were not affected as we still made the flight.
-There was a strange boat that came very close to the house when we were sunbathing, the staff later told us it was most likely people lobstering. We never felt unsafe, but for a minute, we were a bit concerned because you arent expecting to see anyone that close to the island.
Hopefully you find this helpful as we would have loved to