While many of the resorts I stayed at in the Cayo District of Belize are miles away from anything, San Ignacio Resort Hotel is right in the town of San Ignacio. The resort has been around since 1976 and is prestigious enough to have hosted Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
You can use San Ignacio Resort Hotel as a starting point for day trips to ancient Maya ruins, such as Actun Tunichil Muknal, the final resting place of human sacrifices. The Maya believed the caves to be Xibalba, their Underworld. (The hotel is able to book these excursions for you.)
On the grounds of the hotel, you can get upand close with iguanas at their Iguana Tour (you can see me with the adults in this video and the babies in this video). The project has been handled by the resort for 8 years now and thousands of students and visitors have come by to learn about the Green Iguana. You can also arrange for guides to talk you on a Medicinal Jungle Trail Walk.
From the owners to the waitstaff at the Running W Steakhouse to the front desk to my tour guide at the Iguana Project (who had me eat termites in this video) to my masseuse at the on-site spa, I had nothing but positive experiences with everyone that worked at the hotel. My one regret is that I didn’t have the opportunity to spend more time in the Master Suite. With a grand staircase leading up to it, the view of the Macal River valley from the balcony and beautiful hardwood and art.
For those who might find some of the jungle resorts to be too remote for their tastes, San Ignacio Resort Hotel offers a more centralized location, with service and history to spare.
