Tag: Jungle

When a hotel is far from an airport, sometimes the long journey makes the destination seem unworthy of the trip. Do I really need to travel several hours to this resort when there’s one much closer? But, in the case of Blancaneaux Lodge, a Coppola Family Hideaway, in Belize, the answer is a resounding yes.

To get to Belize by air, you need to fly into Belize City, which is, unfortunately, not a city you’d want to spend much time in. Blancaneaux Lodge is a 70-acre retreat tucked amid the 106,000-acre Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, surrounded by the Maya Mountains, where pine trees meet the rainforest. It’s about a two-hour drive from the airport, and while the drive did feel long (especially with my two young kids), the road is smooth highway nearly the whole way until the last 15 minutes or so when it becomes dirt, and things start to feel more remote.

As we drove up that last bumpy bit, my husband, my sons, and I began to get excited by the jungle-like vegetation, signs for tapir crossings, and the sounds of a gurgling river. Turning into the entrance, waiting staff warmly welcomed us and led us up a stone path to the main building, an indoor-outdoor wooden structure resembling a giant treehouse. The indoor-outdoor construction and the feeling of lush barefoot luxury would carry throughout the hotel.

Instead of standing by a reception desk, we were handed tropical welcome drinks and settled into cozy couches by a fireplace. Registration was taken care of, and we were then led out of the building and along a stone path that crosses the property, with the Privassion Creek on one side and beautifully landscaped grounds on the other. Lush native plantings filled the property, and we spotted many birds and butterflies enjoying the plants on just that initial short walk. We passed several cabanas (what they call the bungalow-style accommodations here) and a square pool with colorful tiles before traipsing across a small bridge over a creek, finally coming to a sprawling two-room, indoor-outdoor cabana overlooking the river that would be our home for the next few days.

Blancaneaux Lodge is part of the Family Coppola Hideaways, a group of small, boutique hotels owned by Hollywood filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (he’s behind award-winning movies including the “Godfather” films and “Apocalypse Now”) and his family. There are two Hideaways in Belize, plus a private island with just three accommodations. Blancaneaux Lodge is in the jungle of the Cayo District, while Turtle Inn is on the beach at Placencia, about a three-hour drive from Blancaneaux. The private island, Coral Caye, is a 25-minute boat ride from Turtle Inn.

Family Coppola Hideaways has hotels in Guatemala, Buenos Aires, southern Italy, and Atlanta. Most of the hotels are in destinations that the Coppolas became enamored with at some point, and some were initially used as their private vacation homes, as is the case with Blancaneaux Lodge. In the early 1980s, Francis Ford Coppola visited Belize, fell in love with it, and purchased the then-abandoned Blancaneaux Lodge. The hideaway was a family retreat before Francis opened it to the public in 1993, making it his first hotel. The Francis Ford Coppola’s Villa accommodation was the famous filmmaker’s private holiday home.

Our trip plan was to spend two nights here and then head to Turtle Inn for two nights. When I checked the weather forecast before leaving New York, I noticed some rain, but figured it would just rain briefly, the way it often does in the tropics. It was late November, and as we neared our travel date, it dawned on me that it was technically still hurricane season, but I figured it was so close to the end we’d be fine. I’d also been to Belize in November a few years before with no issues, so I naively relied on my past experience.

The day we arrived was hot and sunny, with nary a rain cloud in sight. After we settled into our room, I took the kids down to the pool, ordered some drinks and snacks, and enjoyed the last few hours of sunlight. That night was uneventful, although it must have rained at some point, and when we woke up, it was drizzling. We grabbed some of the umbrellas on our porch and walked to breakfast. As we sat down, I mentioned the rain, and our waiter said, “Oh, that’s from this tropical storm they’re predicting. Hopefully it won’t reach here!”

He seemed unworried, but I immediately began frantically researching. Indeed, Tropical Storm Sara was headed toward Honduras and was predicted to possibly arrive in Belize on the weekend. It was only Thursday, but I quickly realized it didn’t make sense for us to go to Turtle Inn, a three-hour drive away, taking us even further from Belize City and its airport. (We were scheduled to take a domestic flight from Placencia to Belize City on the day of our flight back to New York.)

Plus, what would we do with two young kids by the beach for two days in the rain anyway? Tropical storm or not, it would definitely be raining.

As my husband and I started discussing our options, we managed to keep the kids entertained at breakfast by spotting two colorful toucans — my favorite bird and the national bird of Belize — so I was already beginning to feel better. That day, the rain was on and off, and we were scheduled to go on a guided horse and buggy ride to a waterfall. At the time of our excursion, the rain had luckily stopped, and we managed to make it to the waterfall and even swim before the rain started again for our short ride back to the hotel.

After lunch, we sent our older child to the kids club while our younger son napped. Bernie Matute, the hotel’s general manager, and I then chatted about the hotel’s preparedness for a natural disaster. Matute calmly talked me through the likelihood of an issue: small, given the hotel’s location and the chance of the storm reaching Belize as a Tropical Storm, and whether we should leave early. He agreed it didn’t make sense to go to Turtle Inn given the circumstances and offered to have us stay another night at Blancaneaux instead. In the end, though, given the rain and our two young children, we opted to head back to New York on Friday evening instead after we were able to change our flight.

Once I knew we had a way out before the storm hit, I could fully enjoy the rest of our time on the property, even though it was rainy. I went to the spa overlooking the river, sampled plenty of drinks and food, and spent time perusing the goods in the gift shop made in Belize and Guatemala. Our kids still had a great time, and I felt like we had experienced most of what the property had to offer, but we’ll still have to return to check out Turtle Inn.

Here’s my review of Blancaneaux Lodge.

The Rooms

As we wandered along the stone path through the lush plantings to our thatch-roofed, bungalow-style two-bedroom villa, we could hear the gurgling Privassion Creek before we saw it. But as we walked up the stairs and reached our porch, the greenish river suddenly came into sight, with a hammock and several chairs perfectly positioned to sit and relax with a water view. The porch led into an open-air, bamboo-paneled living room with a vaulted ceiling, housing a comfy couch, cushy flower pillows, and a wood-carved table laden with welcome snacks like plantain chips, salsa, and ceviche. Behind the sofa was a large desk and a kitchenette with tea and coffee, complimentary soft drinks, and a jar of sweet coconut cookies we would enjoy snacking on later.

Off the spacious living room were two massive bedrooms, a primary with a large king bed, and a room with two twin beds for the kids. Otherwise, the rooms were identical: screened-in porches with chairs at the front and an indoor-outdoor bathroom with a mosaic-tiled shower-bath combination at the back. The beauty of the cabana was in its décor and artwork, which focuses on handcrafted Guatemalan and Belizean pieces, including woven textiles; wood-carved accent tables, masks, and sculptures; and clay vases.

Favorite pieces included a hand-painted wooden game box holding Jenga and a deck of cards, painted wooden animal masks, and the Shellphone, which is present in many Coppola Family Hideaway rooms. The Shellphone is an intercom device with a wooden base and a large conch shell poised for listening. Flick a switch, and you’ll be connected to the front desk.

The resort has 20 individual thatch-roofed cabanas and villas. The accommodations vary in size, but the design is similar. They mainly feature Guatemalan art and textiles, including woven robes from the Guatemalan textile company Luna Zorro, yoga mats, and handmade scented soap bars from the local Belizean company Rubba Dub Soap.

Depending on your room’s view, you’ll have an outdoor deck or screened-in porch, and the Honeymoon Cabana has an additional lower private seating area by the waterfall. Family Cabanas have a queen-sized bed with the option to add up to two twin beds. There are two Luxury Cabanas with private plunge pools and outdoor showers, while only the two-bedroom villas, which are 1,600 square feet, have kitchenettes.

Other accommodations include the Enchanted Cottage, a secluded one-bedroom stone cottage with a private infinity pool, fireplace, full kitchen, living room with sleeper sofa, and a bathroom with under-floor heating, shower, Japanese tub, and steam room; and the two-bedroom Francis Ford Coppola Villa overlooking the waterfall, with a private pool, kitchen, open-air dining room, and artwork and antiques from Coppola’s collection. A personal attendant is included with the cottage and the Coppola Villa.

Although the rooms and bathrooms have mosquito-netting-type screening, it still seemed easy enough for bugs to get in from our open-air living area within a jungle environment, so I requested mosquito netting for each bed, which housekeeping set up each night. Be aware that the rooms have no air conditioning, but we found the fans to be more than sufficient. However, it’s possible that it would be an issue for some in the more humid summer months.

Food and Drink

Blancaneaux Lodge has four drinking and dining venues.

The main one off the lobby with indoor and outdoor deck seating is the all-day Montagna Ristorante. It offers primarily Italian cuisine in tribute to  Coppola’s family heritage and even includes a few family recipes. I did find myself wishing for more Latin American-style breakfasts, though. When I ordered what were called chilaquiles on the menu, I got what appeared to be an Italianized version of them, with a marina sauce instead of salsa and mozzarella cheese instead of queso fresco — it wasn’t very tasty. We fared better when we stuck with Western breakfast dishes like pancakes, oatmeal, and omelets, plus the fresh fruit and juices were great. All rooms include a continental breakfast with fresh fruit, Belizean pastries, coffee, and juice.

There was brick-oven pizza at lunch, although being from New York, I didn’t think I needed pizza in Belize. The fresh salads and Italian-style sandwiches were quite good—I loved the one with smoked chicken and mozzarella. A blackboard with special dishes and drinks is displayed at every meal, and some of those ended up being our favorites, like the fish tacos I had for lunch one day.

The Jaguar Bar is off the lobby on the other side and serves tropical cocktails like Jaguar Juice made with local craboo liqueur, aged rum, and pineapple juice, and the Blancaneaux piña colada with housemade coconut puree. There’s also a section of the menu devoted to “Great Women Spirits Cocktails,” with each drink honoring a significant woman from history, including Ada Lovelace, recognized as the first computer programmer, and Dorothy Arzner, the first woman to direct a sound film, called “Manhattan Cocktail.” The menu notes that “she taught a young Francis Ford Coppola.” Of course, Coppola wines were available here and at all the restaurants.

Our favorite meal was at Guatemaltecqua Restaurant, located adjacent to the pool and serves dinner on a screened-in porch or a deck outside. Here’s where guests can get more local food, with Belizean, Guatemalan, Mayan, and Mexican food appearing here. The menu changes nightly, with items listed on a blackboard at the entrance — the night we went, there were three appetizers, three mains, and two desserts. Since we were four people, we just got one of everything on the menu and found it all delicious. Highlights included a black bean soup with tortilla, which my older son requested a second bowl of; pepián stew, which is a Guatemalan chicken stew in a tomato, chile, and pumpkin-seed-based sauce; and fried bananas for dessert.

The dinner I had the highest hopes for was at the Garden Spot, a small restaurant within the three-acre organic garden, a short drive from the main hotel grounds. This vegetarian meal is a communal experience, and reservations are required. Unfortunately, it was raining quite hard the night we ate here, so we couldn’t tour the garden before our meal, as is typical. However, I could see many plantings and dozens of chickens in a henhouse.

The experience begins with two types of mojitos (non-alcoholic is available) and snacks on a table for guests to help themselves. The night of our dinner, snacks included fried cauliflower and cucumber and hummus bites. The seated family-style dinner consisted of soup, salad, and a stir-fry with rice that genuinely felt like something I could make at home. The idea behind this dinner is to showcase the garden’s bounty, and while there were lots of vegetables present, I got the sense that the chef isn’t skilled at cooking vegetarian food, and this is all they could come up with — much more creativity is needed here. On the other hand, the dessert — freshly fried bombolini served with guava and pineapple jam — was delicious.

Bug spray is essential before dining, as the restaurants are all outdoors.

Activities and Experiences

Being in the jungle brings lots of options for activities, and several are complimentary, like sunrise bird watches, hiking, and swimming in the pool or river. Mountain bikes and tubes for the river are also free for guests to use (unfortunately, the weather didn’t allow us to experience any of these). The staff makes it easy to plan and book diverse experiences on- and off-property. You can book experiences before you arrive, but each night at dinner, a staff member will stop by your table and discuss what you have planned or want to do the next day.

Because I had a little one in tow, we were somewhat limited with our options, and then the weather got in the way, but we did manage to do the horse-drawn buggy ride leading to the impressive Big Rock Waterfall, with rock pools to swim in. The buggy was a very basic wooden set-up, and the bumpy dirt road meant some sore rear ends, but my kids enjoyed it, and the two guides who came along with us were excellent.

At the end of the road, we had to hike down to the publicly accessible waterfall and carry our toddler down some somewhat rickety stairs. But it was worth it once we got to the waterfall, and my older son and I even swam a bit. This experience can also be done while fully hiking or on horseback.

Off-property adventures include a day trip to see some of the region’s preserved Mayan ruins, like the famous Caracol; cave explorations that include hiking, kayaking, and swimming in caves; and a day trip that visits the Mayan site of Cahal Pech and Ajaw Chocolate, a family-owned business that offers a hands-on experience in the traditional chocolate making process using Belize-grown cacao. I definitely got the sense that guests can come up with personalized full- or half-day trips throughout the region.

The Spa

The intimate one-room Waterfall Spa is inside a thatch-roofed cabana overlooking the river. There’s a bathroom, changing room, and an airy main treatment room that can fit a couple.

The website notes that the masseuses here are trained in Thai massage “at the request of Francis Ford Coppola. ” While I didn’t book a Thai massage, some of the techniques used in my Essential Oil Massage resembled Thai practices. This was a good thing: It was probably one of the best therapeutic massages I’ve ever had, easing severe tension in my back and shoulders.

The spa also offers several body scrubs and wraps using local ingredients like papaya, banana, herbs, and two facials. Just outside the spa is an adults-only pool, heated entirely by hydroelectricity.

Family-friendly Offerings

It’s not really advertised, but Blancaneaux Lodge has a kids’ club of sorts, which I was thrilled to discover. It’s not the type of club where you drop off your kids at a building filled with playthings for an entire morning, afternoon, or day. Instead, it is a more bespoke experience with a staff member who will take children to various activities around the property — a much better way to experience the true character of a place.

My older son spent several hours feeding and petting the horses at the stable and painting a wooden mask like the ones on the property’s walls. If the weather had been better, he would have gone on a bug-hunting walk.

Aside from the kids’ club, as noted above, there are several family-friendly accommodation options, and Montagna Ristorante has a kids’ menu.

Accessibility and Sustainability

The lodge is spread out, and there are stone paths and steps everywhere, including even more steps leading up to most buildings and accommodations. Thus, it wouldn’t be accessible to anyone in a wheelchair or with mobility issues. Our toddler had trouble navigating the stone paths, some of which didn’t have railings he could reach.

Sustainability and conservation of the jungle environment are taken seriously here. The hotel’s building materials and design use low-profile, local materials, including thatch, hardwoods, bamboo, and regionally produced tiles. The wood is purchased from a local company that replants at harvest and consciously reduces its carbon footprint. The carved furnishings are all built in-house with wood suppliers that support NGOs that protect the forest. The open-air design and vaulted roofs of all the buildings and accommodations allow for the absence of air conditioning.

The hotel uses local and regional plants for landscaping that do not rely on intensive irrigation, and of course, there is the organic garden that provides ingredients for the restaurants, which also only uses biodegradable takeout materials. There is no single-use plastic anywhere on the property. All pools use saline instead of chemicals; the spa pool is entirely heated by hydroelectricity.

Speaking of hydroelectricity, Privassion Creek supplies 26 kilowatts of power via a hydro system for the entire property and staff housing — equivalent to 85 percent of the property’s energy use. The other 15 percent is supplied via butane for water heating, clothes drying, and cooking. The river also supplies water for showers and laundry (all water is treated before it goes to the rooms).

Each stay supports select local charities and non-governmental organizations via a five percent Belize community fund fee added to the daily room rate.

Location

The lodge is located in western Belize’s Cayo District, and the closest city is San Ignacio. From the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City, it takes about two hours by car to get to the hotel. There is also a private airfield adjacent to the hotel.

How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Stay

Blancaneaux Lodge is part of the Mr. and Mrs. Smith Collection and is therefore part of the World of Hyatt, so you can redeem or earn Hyatt points on any stay.