Guests in for a "Suite" experience at Banyan Bay
From the Magnum Belize Newsletter...
It's called The Villas at Banyan Bay, and guests who stay there are assured of a suite experience. Located on the island of Ambergris Caye,about a 15-minute walk south along the beach from the town of San Pedro, Banyan Bay is an all-suite tropical luxury hotel, along the beachfront at Mar De Tumbo beach, one of the nicest beaches on the island.
All suites are fully furnished with two bedrooms and two baths, a completely equipped full kitchen, and living and dining area. The master bath in each villa features a jacuzzi tub and shower, cable TV, phone, and air conditioning. Each suite, with plenty of space at over 1,000 square feet, also features a large front veranda with beach view.
"We're enjoying a lot of success with our suites, which are very popular with families and couples traveling together," says Resort Director Bill Bellamy.
Banyan Bay features the renowned Rico's Bar & Grill, which serves indoor/outdoor dining on the beach, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Rooms ervice and poolside service is also available. Banyan Bay has an on-site dive shop, and golf cart rentals are available for guests. Golf carts are a prime means of transportation in and around San Pedro, home to about 8,000 San Pedranos with gift shops, restaurants, street vendors and the ever-present beach bars. The roads on the island are sand-except for a stone-paved section at the airport.
The menu of activities that Banyan Bay can offer are varied: You can snorkel or dive the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. You can go fish the flats, the reef or the deep sea. Take a tour of Maya sites or tropical rainforests. Or take a siesta in a hammock under the coconut trees.
Here's what one guest from Minneapolis had to say about Banyan Bay: "Great diving and fishing. Our friends won't believe our fish stories when we get back. Best trip was snorkeling at Hol Chan with the sharks and rays. If we didn't take photos, no one would believe us."
Banyan Bay recently expanded its lobby, as well as the tropical landscaping around its pool area. The new 8,500 sq. ft. lobby and office building features a circular brick-paved entry drive and covered portico, all marble floors and a Mayan fountain in the lobby that compliments the 28-foot hardwood ceiling. That's just the start of major expansion plans: Also in the works, says Bellamy, are six new buildings that will feature 68 one-bedroom junior suites and a new swimming pool adjacent to the existing hotel property.