Trip of a lifetime

Guest: kk (Waukesha,WI)
Date of Stay: 01/26/12 Review Submitted: 02/02/12

Not sure where to begin, other than saying, being home for only two days now, it's still difficult to look at the photo's without wanting to turn right around and go back. It was a slice of heaven... a surprise 40th birthday party for my husband, made possible by 13 of our closest friends willing to make the trip- we couldn't have asked for a more serene, picturesque location. Jimmy was our guide... for tours, meals, transportation - you name it. He somehow knew exactly when we needed him... The location was a quick golf cart ride from town and even closer to Joe's where we often dined or had drinks, however, none topping the meals prepared for us on site by Jimmy and his family...amazing local cuisine! The Blue Hole/Half Moon Caye snorkeling trip is an absolute MUST. We also had other memorable visits to Lamanai Ruins, Hol Chan, Shark Ray Alley, Caye Caulker and Fly Fishing for Bonefish - all set up by Jimmy with the best guides around. We dined at Blue Water Grill in San Pedro and had a most memorable cab ride back to the villa enjoying the 'Scorpions'. We wouldn't even change the stormy boat and golf cart rides back on our last night. If after reading this review you are still wondering if this is the place for you, We promise, 'you'll have a great time'. Until next time Jimmy...we thank you for everything, it was truly one of the greatest memories of our lives.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children.

Most amazing vacation ever

Guest: Nettie (Green Bay, WI)
Date of Stay: 01/26/12 Review Submitted: 02/01/12

This place is well maintained, has a fabulously slightly remote location, gorgeous views and is under fantastic management. Jimmy takes great care of you and definitely have his wife cook some local cousine for your group. Bedrooms all have room a.c which was above and beyond in my opinion. The security was fantastic as we had a guard there each night plus there are 2 safes in the villa. Some planning is required due to the 15 minute golf cart ride into town, so I'd definitely suggest having the villa stocked for your first day/night until you make it into San Pedro. Mr. Joe's place is close by for food, drinks and groceries....we prequented his place and enjoyed reasonable prices and great service there. Do the excursions...the Lamanai ruins tour and snorkeling in the Blue Hole were two of the most fantastic experiences of my life. This was a vacation of a lifetime....we had 15 people, 6 couples and 3 singles. The villa is set up perfectly for a large group such as ours. I would highly recommend it and will speak very highly of Jimmy, the villa and the gorgeous country of Belize. GO, you will not be disappointed.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children.

Awesome

Guest: Island Hopper (Tigerville, SC, USA)
Date of Stay: 01/14/12 Review Submitted: 01/30/12

My wife and I took our entire family to Villa Incommunicada. This was my 10th visit to Ambergris Caye and first in a house. Of all the houses that we have stayed in around the world this one rates right at the top. The web site clearly showed the house as we found it. Being a very laid back family the neighbor everyone talks about never came into play. In fact we had great conversation with them. The highlight of this stay was Jimmy the property manager. He was helpful before we arrived and unbelievable when we landed. Everything he said he would do he did. We took the boat ride to and from the main land, this is the way to go. We only asked for a few food items ahead of time, as we love to eat out, but he had them there waiting for us. He advised us on all the places to go for groceries and for fresh meat he actually took us to a meat market. Nothing like you find in the states, but awesome cuts of steak and chicken,,,FRESH...We rented the golf carts, and we needed them. The house is 3.8 miles from town and that was great, enjoy the hustle and noise of the town and as soon as you get off the cobblestone road you are in the quietness of the island. We highly recommend this house for the family, not so much if your crazy party animals. It has plenty of room, clean and well maintained. We have stayed at homes costing a lot more and not nearly as nice. We only took two of the three floors, but once I saw the penthouse, we should have taken that too. The owners and Jimmy have gone out of their way to make your stay a pleasant one. Now as far as tours, use Jimmy, he sets up everything start to finish, they are better priced then other tours, and on the mainland you are transported in an air conditioned 15 passenger BUS not van. Was it worth it-Yes, get your monies worth-Yes, do it again- absolutely

Owner response:Thanks for taking the time to review and yes we have new neighbors that are great. To our future guests we now have great neighbors please help us keep that good relationship going by being as courteous as possible. Thanks Villa Incommunicada

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, pet owners, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

What a fantastic place to spend a week!

Guest: Anonymous
Date of Stay: 01/07/12 Review Submitted: 01/23/12

We just returned from a great week at Villa Incommunicada. We rented the entire villa including the penthouse and loved it. I am a "planner" and it was especially nice for me to have what amounted to an on site 'concierge' in Jimmy, the caretaker. He had our golf carts there when we arrived (and when one broke down, he was right there to make the call to get it fixed in time for us to head out for dinner!). He checked in with us each morning to see what we wanted to do the next day and set us up with the BEST snorkeling guide ever! Also called to make dinner reservations in San Pedro for us one night. I would definitely suggest setting up a few dinners at the villa with his sweet esposa as the cook. You'll get very authentic, very yummy local food with the added bonuses that a. you don't ever have to leave the pool and b. she does the dinner dishes! (lol, this is a BIG bonus when you're with 10 people on vacation who definitely DON'T want to do dishes!) Regarding the wind turbines mentioned in an earlier review, they were loud, but we mentioned it to Jimmy and he took them down on our first day and no more problems! We spent the majority of our time at the pool and (my personal favorite), the end of the dock and went out to Hol Chan twice. I'd have gone out there everyday if I hadn't wanted a little relaxation time. The fish and coral are absolutely incredible and its about a 5 minute boat ride from the villa's dock. I'd also suggest Mr. Joe's Lone Star Grill for great food that is really close. We had breakfast there a LOT, and I'd suggest the Belizean breakfast or the pancake omelet. They also have delicious homemade chocolate rum cake which made for a great after dinner treat. Many thanks to the owner for the user of your home for the week!

Owner response:Thanks Amy for taking the time to comment on the house

Recommended for:Sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers.

Needs attention

Guest: Deanna A (Lafayette, LA - USA)
Date of Stay: 01/01/12 Review Submitted: 01/09/12

Need to update photo of Villa. There are three huge wind turbines on roof which sounds like a helicopter landing on the roof when the wind blows. Of course, the wind blows most of the time and the sound keeps you awake most of the night. The mattress are very old and makes for very poor sleeping when the turbines are not keeping you up. The house itself was nice, but there is much that needs to be maintained. When we arrived the house was not really clean and there was water on the floor from leaks in the windows and etc. The top floor was not prepare for our arrival and had alot of water in the floor. The second floor was the only one without leaks or water on the floor. This property is overpriced for what enjoyment you receive. It was similar to camping with the ants invading.... The property is situated 3.9 miles from the city on a very bumpy road. Seclusion is the only thing going for it.

Owner response:Unfortunately, This guest was not happy even before they arrived at the house and we were never given a chance to make them happy. The guests missed their plane coming to Belize and did not call us to cancel the private boat pick up we arranged for them in Belize City. In addition to being unwilling to pay for the boat, they also wanted their money back for the first night of lodging as they missed their flight. So even though we didn’t end up charging them for the boat trip, they remained sore and unwilling to work with us the rest of the stay as they felt we owed them for the first night stay. Water: If you read the review the weather is most of their complaint. Belize experienced an unseasonal record rainfall during their stay. So yes, it was windy and very rainy, and with over 3” of wind driven rain in an hour we can get some leakage under the door and in the windows. The first we heard of this issue was in her review, and in a subsequent call she could not quantify the amount of water or verbalize the cause of grief due to the water. Since this review we have had the windows re-caulked to prevent this in the future. I explained if she had let us know we would have fixed it. Ants: Yes if you leave food out or don’t clean up you will get the sugar ants found all over the tropics. Best way to get rid of them is to clean up the food they are after. Wind Turbines: We have wind turbines on the roof in an effort to make our business more environmentally friendly, and to provide a back up power source to the house. The wind turbines can be shut off very easily, and had she let us know they bothered her, we would have shut them off immediately. Again, all she had to do was to tell us she had a problem and we would have taken care of it immediately. Beds: We replaced the mattresses that were complained about with new ones as of 1.30.2012. This was a valid complaint and we fixed it as soon as it was brought to our attention! We would have fixed during the stay, had she told us! Overall if you read the review it is more about circumstances that were out of our control, or that we were not given the opportunity to make right, and more about circumstance of the stay. For any of our future guests please call me while we can fix the issue, and we will do our best to fix it and make your stay as pleasant as possible. Please don't do as this guest, and be mad the entire stay, then tell us you are mad after your stay.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers.

Pictures Don't do this house justice

Guest: Holly (Denver, Colorado)
Date of Stay: 09/10/11 Review Submitted: 10/10/11

We had an amazing time. We stayed during the off season in September and the weather held up. Had a little rain a couple of the days but it goes through quickly and even showered on the pier during the rain because it's so warm. The water is amazing and warm and we spent so much time hanging by the pool. The house is perfect layout since we travelled with 7 couples and it allowed for privacy as well as great group get togethers. The house staff cooked for us most of the days and the food is amazing. Some of the group went diving and the staff took care of everything even when we went zip lining and cave tubing. This is the second year we have stayed at this house and it gets better every year. This year we had a 20 year renewal of vows on the pier (again staff helped arrange everything) and then a great reception on the upper level. It was perfect and beautiful looking out over the water during the ceremony. I can't wait to stay here again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

August Stay

Guest: TC (Massachusetts USA)
Date of Stay: 08/20/11 Review Submitted: 10/03/11

My family rented the entire villa for a week in August and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and actually almost too hot on some days but the house stayed cool and sitting on the dock in the breeze was lovely. Jimmy is fantastic as a house manager and set up everything that we wanted to do and every guide he put us with was great. Our only regret was that it would have been nice if the house had not been set up as three seperate apartments as it made congregating in one place difficult. Also everything is expensive in Belize so keep it in mind when planning your stay. The house is a great place overall for large groups and it's a beautiful setting. I would highly recommend for anyone.

Recommended for:Sightseeing, adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Great Rental for Group of 12 Friends - Just as Amazing as the Listing Sounds!

Guest: Allison (Boston, MA)
Date of Stay: 07/09/11 Review Submitted: 08/03/11

Villa Incommunicada was a perfect rental for 12 friends in their late-20’s/early-30’s looking for vacation that would combine local activities and sightseeing with plenty of relaxation. We went in July, rainy season, but found that the storms passed through quickly and it was nice to have the island and excursions free from hoards of other tourists. The villa is gorgeous and we loved the pool area, horseshoe pit, air conditioning, private pier and general lounge space. Provided computer and wi-fi on personal laptops worked well (though wi-fi was slow). Electronic code entry on the doors was the perfect way to be able to keep the house locked up but have 12 people come and go at different times as they please. One safe wasn’t working but we kept passports and valuables in the other and felt that everything was safe and secure even if not locked in the safe. Jimmy, the villa caretaker, was an amazing and always seemed to be there at just the right moment for any assistance we needed or even just recommendations and general questions. Having Jimmy so accessible allows you to take your mind away from worries or logistics and just enjoy your trip. He contacted us prior to the trip to answer any questions and ask if we wanted the villa stocked with food or beverages. He even went to the Ambergris airport to pick up and deliver all 10 of our late-arriving suitcases. He set up a van transfer for all 12 of us from the international airport to the marina and then took us by private boat to the villa. We had arranged to rent 4 four-person golf carts and Jimmy had them ready for us when we arrived. A couple of the carts had problems over the week but Jimmy took care of repairs/replacements immediately. The ride to town feels brutally longer than it is due to the bumpy roads but as long as you’re wearing plenty of bug spray you can call it part of the adventure. And we mean PLENTY of bug spray. We recommend seeking out a night or two of island karaoke (we liked Road Kill Bar), having breakfast at Estel’s, dining at Elvi’s, grabbing drinks at Cholos/Wet Willy’s/Fido’s and hitting up the unique Chicken Drop at Wahoo’s. Jimmy arranged excursions for us: a full-day mainland tour including cave tubing Mayan ruins, snorkeling at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley, and reef fishing. All were incredible experiences and we were fortunate to have some amazing local guides. They knew something about everything!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Fantastic Wedding at the Villa!

Guest: Nicole (Minneapolis, MN)
Date of Stay: 04/28/11 Review Submitted: 06/30/11

We had a 45 person wedding at Villa Incommunicado and it was the perfect location! 16 of our friends stayed at the house with us for 4 days and it was a great space to relax on the dock, cook dinner together and relax. The apartment upstairs was new and needs some finishing touches but was the perfect place for the bride to get ready for the big day and a secluded location for the wedding night. Jimmy took care of EVERYTHING for us. He was practically our wedding planner and made sure we had everything that we needed. He made us feel incredibly comfortable and relaxed for our stay. The only downside is the neighbor who complains about noise level at every opportunity. We had a noise permit and it was no problem at all, but it's unfortunate to have to deal with his complaints. I would highly recommend the villa for a group of friends getting together or a family gathtering. It's relaxing, beautiful, and truly is paradise. I would also highly recommend having a wedding here. Our guests had the best time, our pictures are amazing, and we couldn't have asked for a better day!

Recommended for:Girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Nice Home but...

Guest: GeorgiaGuys (Dahlonega, GA)
Date of Stay: 01/29/11 Review Submitted: 06/18/11

Home well represented by the pictures. Good price for size and location of home. Construction noise for owners suite went unmanaged for several days despite assurances it would not. Finally got it stopped on day 3. All day cook did not work out. Only wanted to work occasionally and not do the dishes. On site management need to be more dedicated and service oriented. Internet worked half the time only. Safes did not work most of the time. Place and towels not well cleaned on arrival.

Recommended for:Age 55+.