My husband and I are palnning a trip to Belize-AC in June with our kids. We have a boy-13 and girl-9. We thought that renting a time share at Banyan Bay might be a more economical way to go for a week. (Has anyone ever used http://WWW.redweek.com to rent a time share before?)Anyways, we have read good things about Banyan Bay, but have talked to someone who heard that friends of his did not have a good experience there. We don't know the details. We were p[lanning to use AC as our "home base" and take tours to the jungle, caves and ruins from there. Is this very inconvenient and expensive? We weren't planning on taking tours every day, but we don't want it to be real hassel either. Any input would be welcome!

Funny you found the same ad I did at redweek.com. If you look at the regular price of the rooms at Banyan Bay and the cost of that timeshare, it is saving $80 or so a night. There is a sign up fee to use redweek. Once you pay it they give you the humber to the condo owner. That is the end of their involvement. I do believe!

I donlt know nhiw anyone could not have a good experience there, but...to each his own.

But then, again, a friend of a friend told my 2nd cuzn..........

I've stayed at Banyan Bay and I don't think I've ever seen anyone post or report a bad experience there. I'm sure some have been unhappy -- you can't please everyone every time -- but the vast, vast majority of guests are very happy. It's only marginally a timeshare.

--Lan Sluder

What's a marginal timeshare?
Something like "slightly pregnant"?

They only have 4 units on the property that are in the time share pool. That's why it is so hard to switch your time share week to Banyan Bay.

Lan Sluder has slammed every time share project on the island, so it's surprising to read his mild mention of the time share at Banyan Bay. Maybe they comped him?

My family has stayed at Banyan Bay both times we have been to AC. We loved it both times and have already booked our trip for next february. I don't have one complain about Banyan Bay. My 8 year old son also loved it, the pool, the childrens snorkeling area, playing tag with the local children after school on the beach. He also loved have cable TV so after a busy day he could unwind watching his favorite cartoon.

We had a great time there in February.
Enjoyed the pool, beach, professional staff. My ONLY complaint would be that we paid full price, and after we returned home we found an ad on redweek.com that would have saved us a bunch of money on our stay had we used it...

My husband and I spent a week at Banyan Bay last August with another couple. It was FABULOUS. Great room, pool, beach, restaurant. If we ever go back to AC, we will stay at Banyan Bay again.

Country mouse here is going to Banyan Bay in June also. Two couples and two kids. What floor is best to stay on? Is it crowded?

Banyon Bay is upstair/downstairs condos, so it depends if you like an upstairs balcony or a downstairs patio.

Just a few notes on your trip to Banyan Bay. I was there about 5 years ago and the stay was great, no problems. My only caveat was the location. It's a looooong walk to town in the June heat (about a mile). I usually stay closer to town now because I found myself there most evenings for dinner or shopping. Think about renting a golf cart for the week.

As for tours and things. You can do all the tours you want from Ambergris but the cost is higher than if you had based yourself on the mainland for the interior tours. You just can't get around the cost of airfare to/from the island. We did a trip a year ago where we stayed on AC for 4 days and then went to San Ignacio for 4 days. While in San Ignacio we toured the ruins and caves and Tikal and all. We rented a car from Crystal car rental, it worked out fine. It was very easy to drive to a lot of the attractions on the mainland.

One note, take your kids to see the Belize zoo. The admission is cheap and they will see more cool animals than in any zoo in the states. They have all the cats such as Jaguar, Margay, Jaguarundi, Black Jaguar, Ocelot.

If you want to save money as a family try this;
Fly to the mainland to the municipal airport (half price), rent a car, see the Belize Zoo, eat at Cheers or Amigos, go Cave Tubing, return to airport and fly back to AC. You could do that for half the price of a package tour that does less.
Better yet, stay a few nights on the mainland and tour around a bit. The San Ignacio Resort Hotel is very nice and close to a lot of attractions in the Cayo District (ruins, canoing, horseback riding, cave canoing, Tikal).

John and Julie (4 kids)
questions? indianajohn41@hotmail.com