Crystal Paradise Resort

I stayed here for 4 nights. The place is located in a village about a 10 minutes drive from the larger town of St. Ignaco and an hour away from most of the local activities such as the ATM cave and cave tubing which I recommend . It is a 3 hour trip to the Mayan site Tikal in Guatemala. You need a car or lifts to get around though there is a local bus/taxi to St. Ignaco. It is a good base for birders and they offer several tours in the area. There is a feeder which is usually maintained neat to the common deck/ dining area. The place is run by a family with 10 grown children, 7 of whom help out and are generally helpful though at times they fish to ask for payment at the time of service on things that were prepaid and you have to ask for help for booking trips several times. Alba was very good with organiztion and explained the next days outing and logistics at dinner time the previous day. The kitchen staff were especially friendly and helpful. The rooms were basic and a bit dim but clean and had air conditioning. The bathroom was ok with a hot shower. The beds were decent. There was noise at night from multiple issues including the road, some mechanical sounds , insects and birds so using earplugs if you are a light sleeper is a good idea. Meals were decent but simple. Overall, I would stay here again...

This family owned & operated resort is very nice.. the rooms are basic but exactly what you need for your stay in the area. Also they're cleaned every day with fresh flowers & towels put out. The best part about this place for our stay was the ability to have all adventures booked & toured by this resort. There was no having to deal with different people or tour operators... So massive/overcrowded tours like many cram you into a bus for. The guides are extremely knowledgeable and offer interesting facts and stories. We stayed 5days/6nights, each day we went on an adventure: Day 1 - ATM cave tour, only had one other couple from the resort. Day 2 - Tikal in Guatemala, only with one other couple from the resort. Day 3 - market, chocolate tour experience, and canoeing from the resort down the river for 3hrs .. all solo but booked & help from the resort. Day 4- Cahal Pech - just us with the guide, and stopped at the rio pools to stay as long as we'd like. Day 5- Nohoc che'en cave tubing - just us with the guide. All tours were also about the same price or a little cheaper than regular tour operators... The only difference is that you don't have to worry about transportation/from your resort. We also did the round trip pick-up/drop off from Belize City. In addition to the tours, they have food that's pretty good at the resort for breakfast and lunch, but just know it's more expensive then local spots & you don't choose off the menu - it's whatever they're cooking for the day. The best guide we had was Ronnel - explained so many things not just what was being toured, but local birds, local culture, local plants & life -- super nice guy & very knowledgeable.

We don't normally write reviews, but this place was so special that it deserves it. It is family run, and we felt "adopted" for our stay. Lovely people. Every evening at dinner one of the family checked with each group their arrangements for the next day and whether they wanted anything to be organised. Bird watching is their speciality. There is a lot to do in the area, we canoed with their guide into Barton Creek (had it to ourselves) and the nearby Butterfly Farm (amazing). ATM is a long day - we didn't go; Xanantunich 20 mins drive (via hand cranked river ferry); Tikal in Guatemala is 2.5 hours away (more if the border crossing is bad) and we'd recommend an overnight stay. The hotel can fix all the travel arrangements. The lodges were clean, quiet and comfortable, with no bugs. This is an ecolodge style with rooms spread through the grounds and an open-sided dining area. Food was a fixed menu (with a vegetarian variant) but very good. We had 3 nights there but could have stayed twice as long. You could hear traffic on the main road (smoothly tarmacked unlike Guatemala) but the lodges are tucked well away.

We spent six nights at Crystal Paradise and loved every minute. Our cabin was spotlessly clean, the food was delicious and varied, and staff were friendly and eager to please. There were lots of beautiful birds there - they often put out fruit scraps to feed them. Sitting on the comfy wooden swing and watching the birds was so relaxing! Nightly howler monkey serenades were lovely. We visited many Mayan sites with our guide, Ronnel. He was wonderful - knowledgeable, friendly and always concerned about our safety and comfort. I can’t say enough about the whole experience!

Just got home from a week at Crystal Paradise. I'll start by saying the staff was terrific. My wife has a somewhat restricted diet, and they graciously and perfectly accommodated her at every meal including the packed lunches. The grounds are very nice. Plenty of birds right there. And the biggest compliment is that they were efficient and everything was well planned every day. We totally enjoyed it, and we hope to go back. Loved this place.

I don't normally leave reviews, but this one definitely is worth it! We loved it so much that we're planning a repeat trip to Belize, and we don't usually visit the same country twice. This family-run property is an absolute gem! The staff were so professional and wonderful, the food was always delicious, the rooms were always clean, and the grounds are so gorgeous. I can't wait to bring more friends here to experience this little slice of heaven. I highly recommend booking your tours through Crystal Paradise as well. Our tour guide, Luz, was absolutely amazing- she was professional, proud to share her country's culture, flexible with our group requests, and so delightful to be around that she felt like part of our family right away. Alba was also a delight to work with at the resort- she was incredibly helpful each night as she reviewed the itinerary for the next day and made recommendations of the things our group should remember to bring with us for each adventure. Everyone treated us like family and we felt like Crystal Paradise was 'home'. We can't wait to go back.

We had an amazing experience at Crystal Paradise for our west side of Belize ( San Ignacio) . 😱😱😱😱 😱😱😱😱😱😱It was gorgeous literally. Nature to the max. And what to say about their wonderful service. They are so nice over there. Wowowowow. They help us planned our itinerary day by day as a lot our close because of the rain. It was the best place for us to travel to the ruins, national parks etc…. We loveeee it. ||They have breakfast, lunch and dinner there too. You can even plan your tours with them. ||They have a trail to a river that it was nice too. ||YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED. 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️||Thank you Crystal Paradise Resort for your wonderful and magical experience ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

We booked this through Expedia and were really really happy with this place. The location is just what we wanted: right on the road to get out to the activities, but the place itself peaceful with lots of birds around so you feel like you’re in the middle of the jungle, which you are. Super friendly and flexible staff who are out to give you a great experience, and you don’t feel little like you’re being taken for a ride (that you can feel in some places). A very personable approach It’s Belizean-owned which for us is a plus: you’re investing in the local people and not a foreign corporation. Finally, we were a gay couple travelling and they didn’t even blink. So it’s definitely a friendly and inclusive place.