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Has anyone stayed at either the Paradise Villas in San Pedro or The Villas at Banyan Bay? Banyan Bay looks gorgeous but it would be nice to have some input about these two places. Thanks!

I really am on a mission about my favorite place, right next to Paradise Villas. I'm incredibly fond of the Paradise Resort Hotel. I did have to go to Paradise Villas once, when Paradise Resort was full. They were very comfortable rooms. The pool, like most in AC is short and shallow. But it has fresh water, so that was nice. The rooms are large, spacious and nice. We stayed at the back of the complex, and it was very noisy. Be sure to book closer up front. Re Banyon Bay, it looks nice. Never stayed there. If I can't lure you into my favorite place, I'd say stay at the Villas. You are close to town and don't have to waste time and money on taxis. Have a great trip!

Ms Sharon, I don't think you can really compare Paradise Villas and Banyan Bay. It's apples and oranges really.

Tell us what you want, need, desire, budget, space requirements and maybe we can help you better.

We always stay at Paradise Villas, nice place and laid back, very pretty and serene. The beachfront and poolside rooms are best, I can see where the "garden" rooms at the back might be kind of noisy backing up against the street. I would not hesitate to recommend PV to anyone.

I've stayed at Villas at Banyan Bay and have toured several of the units at Paradise Villas but haven't stayed there.

They are both good places, but Banyan Bay is more upscale, with much bigger units (1,000 sq. ft or so). To me the Paradise Villas two-bedroom units are pretty small. Banyan Bay has two bedroom units only, with two full baths (one has a whirlpool), full A/C, beautiful kitchen and living room area (high ceilings are paneled with tropical hardwoods). Also a bigger pool and a nicer beach.

But from Paradise Villas you are closer to restaurants, bars, shops in town. Banyan Bay is about 1 1/2 miles south of town, and I wouldn't stay there without having a golf cart.

--Lan Sluder

We just came back from a week at Banyan Bay and loved it. We traveled with two young kids (4 and 8) and it was the perfect place. The beach seems to be one of the nicer ones on AC. The units are very, very well done with lots of room and nice furnishings. The grounds are beautiful and it is just far enough out of town to be quiet but not be that far of a walk. We did rent a golf cart for the week to make it easier to get around with our kids.

Having a full kitchen, living room, etc was key with children. We were able to eat in for breakfast and lunch and go out for dinner.

We found Rico's (the restaurant on-site) to be pricey and good, but not great. We ended up heading into to town most nights, which was fine with us. Our favorite place to eat was Mikey's on the middle street in town.

The pool also was perfect for our kids, with one half being shallow and the other half being deep. The two halves were connected by a little waterfall set up.

We also splurged a got a beachfront unit. The beach was literally five steps from our front door and the breeze of the ocean meant we never had to run the air conditioning.

I agree it depends on what you are looking for. For what we were looking for it was great. In fact it was all so perfect that my wife and I are suffering from a mean case of the post vacation blues.

It was pricey but we found it was well worth it.

Ms Sharon- we just booked at Banyan Bay. They have a great special right now for summer. Just check out their website

My wife & I will be at Banyan Bay in 17 days, and staying from 3/29 thru 4/6. I will definitely be writing a full trip report upon our return. I have visited tons of websites looking for any & all info regarding Banyan Bay, and I honestly haven't found a single negative comment anywhere about this resort, and believe me, I looked!! Look for my report around March 10th or so, it will be very detailed.