El Gran Mestizo Resort

We stayed at El Gran Mestizo from Feb 14th - 16th, primarily as a base for our rivertour to the Mayan ruins of Lamanai (booked through the resort). The resort is on the river so the boat picks you up right there. Perfect. The tour itself with Gilberto as captain/guide was very nice, beautiful and interesting. If you're lucky on the way (back) you might encounter some wildlife along the riverbanks, such as crocs, iguanas, monkeys, birds etc. The nature itself is already worth the trip. Lamanai was also very interesting and Gilberto knows everything there is to know and gladly shares it with you. He will also arrange a scrumptious lunch. El Gran Mestizo itself is a non expensive very nice resort, with good rooms, quietly located along the river away from Orange Walk, with a nice pool and relax area. And there is also a very very good restaurant called Maracas with delicious food at very reasonable (compared to other places in Belize cheap) prices. The rates at El Gran Mestizo include breakfast but not at Maracas. For breakfast you have to go to their sister hotel De La Fuente on Mainstreet in Orange Walk, a 5-10 minute drive. If you don't have a vehicle EGM provides a shuttle service. The breakfast is more than fine in a clean dining area but not comparable to Maracas. I would have liked breakfast there but this was fine and the food was good.

We stayed in orange walk to do the trip to Lamanai, but the hotel itself was also an amazing experience. Having stayed at Sleeping Giant Lodge to see wildlife, we actually ended up seeing more wildlife and birds at El Gran Mestizo. I spent hours just sitting in the gardens, watching the river, and seeing all the kingfishers, herons, and fish come and go - amazing! The staff were so lovely and made sure our stay was perfect. The rooms are a little compact, but they are great for the price and service :) we had breakfast every day at the partner hotel in town (free shuttle provided), which was lovely. Overall we had an amazing stay, and we can’t wait to come back!! - Alice, London, UK

We had a wonderful stay at the Gran Mestizo resort. We were most impressed by the beautiful riverside setting, watching the numerous birds, iguanas, and the occasional crocodile swim by. All of the staff were really friendly and helpful and made us feel right at home. Our room was nice, a unit within a 2-storey quadraplex. It was bright and airy and very clean. The TV had a great range of programming and the Wifi signal was good and strong. We loved having a fridge in the room to keep our water and drinks cold. On the down side, there was little bit of lack of privacy with people walking right in front of our window and able to look right in. While the onsite restaurant (Maracas) was very tasty and highly recommended, the service we received was awful. Our waitress was not all that friendly, uncommunicative, and did some very strange things. For example, she took my wife’s order and then just quickly walked off without saying a word. We assumed she was going to check something? But she never came back. Eventually she did come back – with my wife’s meal! Then she finally took my order, so I watched my wife eat her entire meal before mine came out. Equally annoying was the breakfast service. They don’t serve breakfast at the Gran Mestizo – you actually have to go across town to their sister hotel. There, you sit inside a claustrophobic, crowded little cafeteria while you have to wait more than 1 hour for a simple breakfast. And they offer nothing to drink other than coffee/tea. Not worth it! Why don’t they just serve breakfast at the Gran Mestizo in the beautiful outdoor riverside café setting?? The other thing we didn’t like was that they didn’t provide any drinking water (except for a small token 350ml bottle for 2 people – what a joke). It’s the only place we stayed in Belize that didn’t provide filtered/drinking water for guests. Bring your own water! Anyway, other than the water problem and the dire problems with both the restaurant’s service, and in particular the ridiculous breakfast setup, the Gran Mestizo is a great place and we would definitely recommend it to travelers in Orange Walk.

A very nice hotel right on the river and a good place to stay if you are planning on visiting the Lamanai Mayan ruins. The rooms/beds we clean and comfortable. The pool and grounds were well kept and an excellent place to relax after a busy day. Wifi worked well enough. We also ate dinner at their restaurant and it was good. The only criticism is that while breakfast is included, you must drive to another hotel a few miles away in town to get it; the hotel does provided a free shuttle for those without a car. The breakfast was just OK.

Cabana 13 is small, but comfortable for a solo traveller. The setting is very pleasant, and grounds are well maintained. Also good for birdwatching. Kayaks are free. Breakfast shuttle to their in town hotel, with a good choice. On site lunch & dinner restaurant just at the river

Suprised to find such a well organized hotel in such a small City as Orange Walk Town. The Staff was so helpfull to arrange a Trip to Lamanai on very short notice. Some of the little huts were equiped with a fully furnished kitchen. The river nearby was very romantic. Unfortunatelly the restaurana was closed on the first evening, but we had dinner there on the 2nd evening. The Steak was fantastic!!!