HI! Glad to be here. My folks went down last year, and now I'm hooked.

We are getting married in August and going to Belize for our honeymoon.

I have researched the two places a bit, but I am looking for any advice from people who have stayed at VH or Portofino. We're leaning toward Portofino, but like how close VH is to town.

My concerns are the difference in proximity to San Pedro that the two places are. Will we find it hard to zip into town from Portofino?
About how long does it take from VH?

ANY advice is welcome.
Thanks!

There's tons of stuff on VH - just use your search funtion - all of it pretty favorable, it seems to be a favorite place for honeymooners. Dont' forget to take a sunset cruise (I recommend the Rum Punch with George Eiley--he works off the Coral Beach dock and specializes in honeymoon/engagement cruises)!

I just returned last week from Victoria House. It has a beautiful swimming pool in the main area and a private pool for some of the villas. The beach is the best I saw on the entire caye and the pier is very nice. I would not reccomend staying in a casita--they are very hot and impossible to cool. The state rooms are very nice, but a little small. Try to get a plantation room or a studio room in the villas. The best would be the honeymoon suite (Super nice!)It is about a 5 minute taxi ride and a 10 minute golf cart ride to town. Portifino looks lovely, but it is very far away. I almost stayed there and was so glad I did not. VH food was great. Their chef just won a national award. I saw almost every place on the caye and I thought VH was the prettiest and best location (because it is a little away, but still close enough). If it is your honeymoon DO NOT MISS a moonlight water taxi ride to Capricorn for dinner. The ambience and food is incredible. See my trip report above for more VH info. Hope this helps.

We are going to stay at VH house in Aug. When are you going? I have heard nothing but good things about it on this board. I believe it is about 2 miles from town, easily accessible by taxi. I think Portofino is a little further and less accessible

vh is pimp

Both are really good places to stay.

Portofino is very small just 11 rooms with over 20 staff,and are perhaps more attentive with out being intrusive-the suites are fabulous and the views spectacular.

Victoria House over 40 rooms the suites are really nice-the swimmingpool is large and the sun loungers very comfortable-

Pros for Portofino we are getting married there(is that a pro?)-it is 6 miles out of town and it really is only accessible by boat- a lot of honeymooners like this for it is impossible to be crowded there-they provide boat trips into town and the island ferry takes care of everyone anyway.

Pros for VH it is 3 miles out of town and you can hire a golf cart and you can move around without being dependant on anyone/thing.Everything is on a grander scale.The staff are very professional.

The food is of equal quality and I would,no matter which place you decide to stay,try both restaurants look at the comments book and make up your own mind -it really is a no brainer both have terrific reputations which are well deserved.

It would be hard to "zip" into town from Portofino. Dependent on water taxis for all your "zipping" around.

barb is right. no zip, and your hair & clothes will be messy & wet when you get there. i personally thought it was a pain.

pick VH, you would not be disappointed.

Muchas gracias, guys!
Just the advice I was looking for.
One more thing, does VH tend to get a bit more crowded... I know that it has more rooms, but is the beach still quiet or are you surrounded?

When we were at VH it was completley booked and full. There were never more than 4 or 5 people on the beach. While the pool did get crowded it was always about half full and you could always get a comfy chair. We arranged two snorkel trips through them and both times we were alone.