Chan Chich Lodge

Had a great 4 night stay here to celebrate our anniversary. Read so many great reviews that I might have come in expecting too much, but in retrospect Chan Chich mostly delivered on those expectations. Location: if you're into nature, birding, quiet, it was great. It was SLOW though during low season, so if you love the idea of having a huge lodge just to yourself, this is absolutely your place. It is definitely far away from anything else touristy -- which also means you have no other food options, no other activity options, the lodge is it. Price: we booked through booking.com which offered a super high discount on the room rates. Overall it was a good value given what you get -- but just be aware that transfers and tours can add up -- choose wisely! Transfers: highly recommend flying in. The road was very very bumpy and took 3 hours of travel. For two people, the 15 min charter flight would have been less than $100 more. And the truck doesn't have a covered back, so had it been thunderstorming, I worry the luggage would hqve gotten a bit soaked. Food: overall I would say 3.5/4 stars here. Some dishes were really impressive and gourmet, others were a bit more meh. Of the things we tried, particularly memorable were the tostados, burger, shrimp ceviche, shrimp curry, and zucchini soup. Wish they had something chocolate for dessert at least once! Service: super friendly staff everywhere -- trying very hard, what ends up being not perfect is not due to lack of effort but more lack of knowledge/training. Rooms: we started off in the Cottages, but because of how many mosquitos there are, I was really suffering...Mr. Elijio was kind enough to upgrade us to the Villa which had A/C. The A/C is worth the extra $$! Amazing views also, but man it was nice coming back to a room that was dry and cool. Activities: I wish there were more to choose from. A beer tasting would have been really fun. Something more adventure would also be nice (like maybe even install a Zipline course?). The nature and bird viewing was amazing (we even saw a puma on a night safari!!!) and the lakes were both so picturesque too. I LOVED the pool. It was my favorite place to hang out in the afternoons. If I weren't so sensitive to bug bites, probably would have done more biking/hiking. Internet: not amazing as Wi-Fi didn't really extend to the rooms, but cell service for me worked generally throughout the property so I was fine. Last thoughts: probably won't be back because of how hard it is to get to -- but if the roads were to improve, would consider coming back during the cooler/drier/less-mosquito season with the kids as a nature getaway.

I traveled to Chan Chich with my husband and 11 year old son for 5 nights in June. This was a very special trip that we had planned for some time, after previously traveling to Belize 20 years ago when we were first married. We wanted to take our son for the experience. We chose this jungle lodge because of the chance of spotting jaguar/wild cats, as well as monkeys, birds, and other wildlife. While we did not see jaguar, we were fortunate to check the other boxes! The location is surrounded by a larger forest reserve area than other lodges that we considered, but it is harder and more expensive to get to. We took a charter flight from Ambergris Caye and then another from the lodge back to Belize City. This adds significantly to the cost, but it was neat for our son to be able to sit in the copilot seat in the small 4-seater plane. We also flew over Laminai on the way to Chan Chich and could see the ruins from above. Arriving in Gallon Jug was very peaceful and idyllic compared to the comparatively busier Caye. Most of the land is used for cattle grazing at this time but it is a beautiful setting. We toured the farm during our stay and visited the small coffee and hot sauce factories, which was enjoyable. We also did a night walk at Chan Chich, during which we spotted an ocelot that apparently comes onto the property for food waste deposited near the worker housing. Highlights also included a scorpion and tarantula, as well as leaf cutter and army ants. The night drive was less eventful; we saw an owl. Not really worth the $90 for the 3 of us. We participated in a morning archaeological tour with Levy, which we recommend. A significant allure for this site is that it is located atop Mayan ruins. There was a group of about a dozen archaeologists from U.S .colleges participating in a dig while we were there, and we were able to visit the dig site and listen in on one of the archaeological talks that they held one night, which was a treat. We also participated in a couple early morning bird walks and an afternoon boat ride on Laguna Seca. The drive to the lagoon is very beautiful and peaceful. We saw a number of birds and crocodile on the lagoon. On two occasions during the week we saw puma- once near Gallon Jug on the way back from Laguna Seca, and once on the road close to Chan Chich. We also saw spider and howler monkeys on multiple occasions, and an anteater. Hummingbirds flitter about the outdoor dining area. Lots of pretty flowers and landscaping around the grounds. With the exception of the night drive we enjoyed the excursions, though they do add to the overall cost since they are per person and per hour, plus tip. It would have been nice if some walks were included, like the basic guided walks around the lodge. We arranged for a day trip to Xunantunich, which was about 90 min drive to and from the lodge. We were glad that Levy was our driver, as he is very sociable and informative. The tour was enjoyable but I think the lodge overcharges at $175 per person. It would be preferable if they had a set price for the travel to/fro and then just added the additional cost per person for the site tickets/guide/lunch. Lunch at Xunantunich was very basic. Chan Chich ended up giving us a discount on this tour, which we appreciated. During our visit, we were surprised that for 3 of our 5 nights we were the only guests that were not part of the archaeological group. They said it was off season, but I wonder if the difficulty of accessing the site has an impact on their tourism. Also, most of their cabins are relatively basic without AC, and I think overpriced for what you get, particularly without any tours or meals included (we paid extra for the meals package). We visited during a warmer time of year. They upgraded us to the 2 bedroom villa with AC, which was incredibly nice. That said, the air conditioning was only working in 1/2 the villa. Some wall paper in one of the bathrooms was peeling and some tile and caulk in need of repair. We tried adjusting the stopper in one of the sinks and the entire faucet handle came loose from the sink. The villa also has a nice screen porch with a hot tub but the screen/door to the porch had some gaps in it and the hot tub appears not to have been in use for some time. If we had paid full price, I would have been disappointed. The lodge pool is also nice but there are some gaps in the screen in places. We learned that Chan Chich has recently had some turnover in management and it seems that some maintenance is needed. The food was a main highlight for us at Chan Chich. We loved everything we had, and the wait staff and bartenders were a pleasure to interact with. The new manager seemed a bit overwhelmed. Maria, the assistant, is sweet but also new and this is her first job. Hopefully they will get the hang of things and be able to make some improvements to maintain this site's status as a top notch jungle destination in Belize.

Staff and customer service exceptional. Food is amazing - truly farm to table- fresh and delicious- of course the coffee was the best. The cottage is spacious and comfortable- no AC but air flow with the fans made it quite comfortable. Elejio, Reuben, Louis and Sean awesome and made our stay enjoyable. The wildlife- spider monkeys, deers, wild turkeys, ocelot, birds owls.

My dive-buddy and I stayed for 3 nights in a Garden Cottage. Although we are divers we enjoy experiencing the other highlights and the culture of countries we visit. Unfortunately starting with an initial complaint (because it was the first thing that happened) we were not met at the airport when we arrived as per the arrangements. Our plane was due to land at 10:45 am, in the event we landed about 10 mins early, we were the only plane arriving at the time and we collected our baggage and went through customs quickly. We were actually outside by the 10:45 landing time. For some reason our driver, Elias, had been given an 11:45 pick-up time, he then allowed 15 mins for us to collect baggage and get through customs, so we were waiting at 10:45 am and our driver arrived at 12:00 am. When Elias turned up we saw his paperwork and knew it was not his fault. Elias asked whether we wanted to stop on the way for lunch and we pulled into a local restaurant along our route where we had a good meal. For much of the journey Elias provided us with information and spotted birds for us. We were staying in a Garden Cottage, which was everything the web site portrays. There was wire netting over all the windows as well as mosquito nets over the beds, someone sets these up every afternoon/evening and then moves them to the head of the bed (out of the way) in the morning. There were ample power points in the room for us to charge our devices. There was no air conditioning but we found the ceiling fan adequate and slept quite well. I do not think either of us got a mosquito bite during our stay; insect repellent was used. The food was excellent, there were menus, which changed by the day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The lodge is part of the Gallon Jug Farm and that is where most of the food came from, some fish was also on the menu. One cut of beef that I had was exceptional. There seemed to be a bit of confusion around the trips (the trips themselves were excellent). When we arrived around mid-afternoon we were told that someone would speak to us about possible trips during the evening meal. In the event no one did, we made our own enquiries with the dining staff and discovered there was an evening walk, we got on this but I had to rush my dinner and nip back to our cottage to change into socks and boots (no sensible person would walk in the rain forest in open sandals). We saw Tarantulas and other spiders as well as scorpions, a fawn and a few birds. On our last day we were approached at dinner regarding trips but other than this it seemed safer to check on what might be planned at the reception. The trips seem to be somewhat set each day with little consultation with guests although we did at one point suggest things that we would like to do the following day (all of which were accommodated). The trips that we did included an evening walk, a morning walk, an evening drive, a morning drive, drive to the Upper Escarpment, lake kayaking, a lake cruise and we did a couple of local hikes of our own. On all of the organised trips whether walks or drives the guides were essential, they know the right places to look and what to look for and they know what they have seen when they find it (that may sound silly but identification of different birds is not always easy). When visiting Chan Chich expect to see birds, deer, monkeys (both spider and howler). I am guessing that everyone wants to see a Jaguar but while they are definitely in the area long with Pumas (check the Trail Camera footage, usually available on Facebook) the odds of spotting them are very slim. The true owners of the area seem to be the Ocellated Turkeys, they are everywhere, every few hundred yards along every road and many wandering around the lodge. I believe that our delayed pick-up was a one-off admin error, the issue around deciding and communicating what trips are on when and whether people want to go on them could definitely have been better organised. So a couple of minor moans but I wouldn't want those to obscure that we had a fantastic stay and we very much enjoyed everything at Chan Chich, the people were great, the trips were interesting and the food was marvellous.

This is a difficult one to assess… The lodge is beautiful, located in the most wonderful place and overall we had a very enjoyable time there, with knowledgable guides, excellent housekeeping staff and good food. We had booked Chan Chich as our last stop in Belize, hoping to end on a high at the self proclaimed “best lodge in Belize” There was a large group of birders at the lodge throughout our stay, and we felt that our experience, whilst very good, may have been adversely affected by this, as the resources of the hotel seemed to be stretched and the group dominated the lodge. Elsewhere in Belize we had enjoyed the warmth of the staff everywhere we had stayed, and had always been greeted by name. Here it was a little different, (with the notable exception of Shaun) and we felt undervalued as clients, compared to the larger group. We mentioned specifics to management at the time, and received an apology from a member of staff, who had been very curt, He said he had been “very busy”. We also felt that the menu of guided tours we were offered was very short, and were told that night walks, which we would have loved, were no longer offered. This might, or might not have been affected by the presence of the group. We have no way of knowing, although another reviewer refers to an excellent night walk they did in March, the same month of our stay. On our return, we emailed the lodge, on the only email address given on their website, in order to give what we thought was well meaning, polite, useful feedback on how we thought the large group could have been better accommodated together with “outlying” guests. We have received no reply at all. Not even an acknowledgement. We then copied in the manager at the Gallon Jug Estate, who has overall responsibility for the Lodge, and again, have had neither a reply nor acknowledgement This is very poor customer service, and similar to the previous reviewer, we have been left with a bad taste in the mouth. An excellent lodge should provide more than just the on the ground experience, and in order to move forward with a product should be open to suggestions from guests from whom they have taken the not inconsiderable payment for staying there, who are willing to share their ideas. Come on Chan Chich….you can do better!