Beaches and Dreams Boutique Hotel

Beaches and Dream was so well organized and relaxing. It was so nice to have all excursions set up before we got there and the warm welcome we received when we got there. Beaches and Dream is definitely a “Must Try” place!

Everyone at Beaches and Dreams was amazing and made me and my family feel like we were a priority for them. From the office seeing we had a flight delay to automatically updating our flight on the local jungle plane, to the nanny who watched our seven year old and made him feel special that he was in charge for those hours. Every driver we had shout out to Oz, Keith, K-mike, and captain Floyd especially, to everyone at the restaurant. Beaches made an impact on us and made our trip to Belize very special.

Beaches and Dreams hotel, located in southern Belize in a small town called Hopkins, was just the place for a relaxing yet eventful and adventurous 10 day vacation. At the onset, I wish to note that we both HIGHLY RECOMMEND this boutique hotel! This was our first trip to Belize and a goal was to pack in lots of adventures. We selected Hopkins as we wanted a less crowded tourist scene, adjacency to Mayan ruins, a vibrant Garifuna community, and a host of other adventures that this hotel offered. The staff is very friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, personable, kind, and thoughtful - from the office staff to the guides and drivers. A huge shout out to the Darnells (yes, there are two!) and both were helpful in planning our trip. We arrived at the Dangriga airport from Belize City (try and catch a flight from Belize City to Dangriga as it's a scenic 10-seater Cessna Caravan puddle jump across mangrove swamps as compared to a land transfer). We were met at the Tropic Air airport by Manuel, a local with a broad smile with local history and knowledge to share with us as we drove through Hopkins to the hotel. At the hotel, Darnell and Justin gave us the run down of the hotel, our inclusive meal and drink package, activities, etc. and escorted us to the Butterfly Room, a second floor room in the newer 3-story part of the hotel. It had a spacious balcony which overlooked the pool and out to the blue Caribbean Sea. Ah, the sunrises were epic! It was a great room to come "home" to after an all day adventure. We enjoyed every meal at the Barracuda Bar and Grill and felt like family at the end of our stay. The restaurant staff, especially Miss P, Kelsey, and King, really took us under their arms to insure we had all we needed for meals and drinks. My favorite dinner was the banana leaf wrapped snapper. My husband enjoyed the pork shank - best ever he said! The desserts change daily and were all so very good - favorites were the key lime pie, lava cake, hummingbird cake, and ice-creams. Drinks and fruit smoothies - enjoyed all day with the drink package, were refreshing and tasty with a beautiful delivery of pineapple or lime in them. I signed up in advance for an excursion every day of our stay. The one rest day we had, the first day, was actually spent in a hotel in Dallas as we missed the connection from Phoenix to Dallas due to a huge storm. Luckily, we didn't miss any of the activities as they were truly one of a kind adventures. We booked a guided kayak trip with Victor (& expert birder) up the Sittee River, visited Xunantunich, Nim Li Punit, Lubanntun, a Spice Farm, went cave tubing (awesome and not to be missed!), two snorkel trips to the South Water Caye, boated up the Monkey River, Birding (with Victor) and, one of my favorite activities was the Garifuna Immersion cultural tour, complete with making our own hudut Garifuna lunch with Oowana, a history lesson with her father Eugene, and topped off with a drumming lesson with none other than Warren Martin