It was great to get back to San Ignacio, Cayo, and Midas Tropical Resort. The staff, which I have come to adore over the years, are back at Midas. The full English breakfast continues to be the finest breakfast in Belize. The friendship and hospitality received from the staff and ownership of Midas have always been a great blessing. Midas continues to be my home away from home...only better!!!

First off, the family running Midas is indeed nice and helpful. In the whole of Belize and Guatemala, I met nothing but the nicest of people. Given the money we spent, the limited time we had, and the rooms we got, however, I wanted more than good intentions.

Despite marketing itself as the best of the city and best of the jungle, my experience was the worst of the city and worst of the jungle. I loved the Amazon when I traveled to Peru, I loved the noise of nature, I loved hiking everywhere, I loved cold water showers. I was fooled by pictures of Midas; it is not jungle, it's barely a forested back yard: cabanas crowded so close together that it's impossible to feel wild, the valley view that actually faces the adjacent city, no idyllic river view on the property, new construction eating away the greenery with unfinished piping. For all that, we heard thumping bass from the city at night (not the noise I wanted), no hot water the whole week we stayed (worth it only for a real jungle, plus they promise hot water), no floor-to-ceiling bathroom walls so sounds and smells fill the whole bedroom.

With little outdoorsy experience and comparison (real jungle in Central and South America, Yosemite or just nice hiking trails at home), this might do. Experience and expectations led to disappointment. I would gladly have 1) paid less for a downtown hotel that outright advertised cold showers and city noise or 2) paid more for a real jungle resort distinctly outside the city. My frustration is not just the poor experience (I can tolerate noisy, dirty, etc. if I'm saving money) or the higher price (I gladly paid a for nice beachfront room on the cayes), it's that overall this hotel was not a good value - I paid higher prices FOR this bad experience.

My objective was to find a place in or near San Ignacio that would also give me some quiet and lush surroundings. I needed budget rates, and wanted cabana-style, not a hotel room. Impossible? Not really. Midas was all of that, set on 7 acres right down the road from town (town ends abruptly and becomes jungle.) The simple cabana offered me all of the comfort that I needed (hot shower, firm bed, fans, electricity to recharge my laptop), and there was good wifi internet in the open dining area.

I can't say enough about the staff or the owners, who are usually on the property making life easy for people. They are also very easy to like and if you stay there more than a few days you might feel like you're losing friends when you leave. They treated us to a nice Christmas dinner at no charge, and it was probably as close to a family atmosphere as actual family.

One adventure I had on the grounds was to photograph a large iguana right on the walkway outside my cabana. After struggling to get a clear shot of an iguana in the highlands jungle for 10 ten days I finally got my best shot right outside my cabana. There are lots of birds there too. It's hard to believe you're in or near town except for the occasional sounds of the bigger trucks. Be prepared for roosters (on the adjacent property) to wake you at dawn though! I got to know the various roosters by their unique crows, and they aren't a bad alarm clock if you like alarm clocks.

If you haven't been to San Ignacio, the open market is a five minute walk from Midas. You can load up on fresh fruit on a daily basis with no problem.

If you want to be near town but still get a bit of jungle in the experience, this is a great choice in my opinion.

I have been meaning to write this for so long because we were so touched by the excellent treatment we received from Mike Preston and Maria at Midas resort when we stayed there in August for 4 nights.
Mike was such a professional from the moment I started emailing him about reservations to even after we had left Midas to ensure we were safe and sound out of Belize (we were chased away by Hurricane Dean).
Everyone bent over backwards to accommodate our every need and information request, booked us with an excellent tour operator called ¨Sandro¨ to explore the surrounding caves and rivers, and made us feel so at home.
We know that there were problems in the past under different management, but things couldnt be better now that the family have taken over the running of the property again. Mike and Co . have also made many great improvements to the property and are continuing to do so.
We loved being out of the hub bub of town - it was so peaceful there but close to a great restaurant 2 mins down the road. And our little villa was very comfortable and clean.
Thank you Mike, Maria and everyone for making our stay such a memorable one!!!
Best regards
Holly and Ryan [--]