This is my experience from Corozal Town. We opened our Inn on April 20, 2000 with 4 units. Business is great and a year later (April 27th, 2001) we opened our swimming-pool, restaurant & bar. The first swimming-pool in Corozal Town. It was another success and we have since remodeled the restaurant/bar area twice since then. We have now found the look we and our customers love and a design that is most productive. Our workday starts at 8am and ends at 2am, almost daily. You have to be on site 24/7 to be sucessful in my opinion. Maybe after a few years and you know the business like your hand can you take it a bit easier. Good workers are hard to find but are out there. You might go through a lot of workers and have to filter out the bad ones. You also have to have a lot patience. One guest might complain your beds are no good, room is too hot and ruin your day and the very next guest will say you have the best bed they have ever slept on and that they were so cool throughout their stay, and you will say "I love this business". It has happened to us, and most guests are great and come back year after year.
You have to enjoy what you are doing or forget it.
Now, 3 years after we first opened our doors, we are about to start building again, 15 air-conditioned rooms right on the waterfront. The demand is there. It is also said there is no business in Corozal but it is just the opposite. We have no off season. When the fourign tourist do not come to Belize we get the local tourists who do not mind the heat or rain. For many months now it has been hard to find a vacant room in Corozal Town.
If you are working in your own resort I do not think you will have any trouble with Immigration kicking down your door and arresting you. After all you will have to train your staff
to do things your style. And if you have a crowd and have have to help out in the kitchen, laundry room or behind the bar, front desk, ect. no one will bother you once you have Belizean workers and treat them right. The workers will be glad for the extra hand.
And rule #1 you have to get a bit Belizeanized and nothing will bother you. You better Belize it.
Good luck in your adventure.