Amber Sunset Jungle Resort — Hotel in Cayo District

This is a very special property. There is no single categorical, one phrase, or quick summary to describe everything going on with Amber Sunset, so let me share with you what we not only experienced during one week in December 2019, but what we learned about its history. If I stray far from fact, or misstate any facet, I encourage Myra or any of the staff to tune me up.||This is a family dream and business venture that goes back about 10 years. The spark occurred when one of the kids was attending a small local college and realized that there was insufficient housing for students. A family elder with banking background in loans and real estate development took it from there and shared the idea with another family member that just happened to have some small acreage at the edge of Unitedville. The spark began to smolder. When they hiked up the hills into the jungle and arrived at the area where the Amber Sunset restaurant now resides, and the spectacular view over the (Teakettle?) valley was discovered, the smoldering embers burst into the flames of a much higher planning commitment. The dormitory plan quickly morphed into a development that would allow this special property to be shared with others that will appreciate its unique beauty and still provide a family business. Amber Sunset Jungle Resort was born. Another elder with a lot of HGTV viewing history of the DIY home restoration and construction shows (seriously!) had inherent design skills. She got together with a local contractor and sketched out the designs of the treehouses. The contractor was then tasked with bringing her vision to reality on 28 acres of totally undeveloped jungle. The terrain was somewhat extreme, and the only concrete mixer they could locate failed early, so much of the concrete work in the beginning was done by hand....incredible! The extensive poured concrete walkways that lead up, down, left, and right thru the jungle were mostly poured with concrete mixed by hand. They were the first infrastructure installed to allow access to the varying areas within the 28 acre parcel. This then allowed construction of the buildings. There are a total of 5 treehouses (in the US, we would call them really cool cabins). 2 are family treehouses (3 levels with accommodations for 6) and 3 are single bedroom treehouses. I don't know the specific order of construction, but there is also a pool area with cabana bar and bathrooms, a (somewhat small'ish) full service restaurant + another bar, and the main office, a simple smaller structure perched about 25 feet above their (again....smaill'ish) parking area. When I say "small'ish", it is meant to describe a facility suitably sized for a full load of travelers at the resort. This is all based on serving 5 lodging structures. The place is well measured and planned. The staff is very professional, and even wears resort coordinated dress. Let me put it this way: if you were going to build a small, high class resort that catered to its customers in a very personal way, this is the bar you would strive for. Let's talk about the accommodations.||Many reviews talk about the rough ride in. It is, but not like you need a 4-wheel drive. You won't go faster than about 5 mph and dodge a lot of potholes on the first 500 feet or so, but that happens to be government frontage and the resort does their best to keep that maintained. Once you get past that, much of it is actually paved with concrete and moves quicker and smoother....and more uphill. Bottom line; it's no big deal. We rented a Kia Soul (I think it is 5-1/2" clearance) and never scraped, but once again, we took our time thru the rougher parts. When you arrive, you are met at the main office building by a sturdy young staff member that will insist on taking your luggage. LET THEM TAKE IT (and don't forget to tip them for their effort). When you negotiate the concrete steps to your treehouse, you will thank me for NOT insisting on carrying your own luggage. A 5 or even 10# suitcase might be OK for you to carry, but a piece of 40# luggage is well worth a a couple of bucks for the delivery service. Regarding the walkways, make no mistake....you will get a tiny bit winded even if you ARE in great shape. The good news is that ALL the walkways are top quality poured concrete with step built in where needed. I should also add that you are not going to walk back 28 acre's worth; the developed areas are more contained. But....you will walk a hundred or two feet, up and down. The walkways are mostly lit at night, but the areas further back by the treehouses have more intermittent lighting, so they supply guests with a high power flashlight (if needed). The food at the restaurant is very good. They don't offer a big selection from a menu; more like "dish du jour" (dish of the day). They will go to lengths to learn your dietary needs and desires and design the dishes du jour to coordinate. The prices are very fair. ||There is a very nice, but once again "small'ish" pool built into a very nice deck area with tiki bar and boy bathroom and girl bathroom. Super duper clean; everything. ||We stayed in a family treehouse; a 3 story structure. We planned for 2 couples, but one pooped out a month before, so only me and wifey stayed for the week. They are pretty darned big, particularly when you see how tall they stand. Even inside, they are big. This ain't your Daddy's standard hotel room. Clean?...you bet. The beds are very comfortable; firm and just right. The linens are so thick; they must be 4000 thread (kidding on the thread count, but I may be pretty close). The building is basically square; maybe about 20 ft x 20 ft. 3 walls are solid with windows. The 4th wall is all screens and attached to a screened-in porch that runs the full 20 ft width and projects about 8 feet....with some basic patio furniture and a hammock. The beds: king on 1st floor, queen on 2nd, and a pair of twins in the upstairs bonus room under the thatched roof. The 1st floor and the second floor has identical screen rooms. The 3rd floor (twin beds) is encompassed by the thatch roof and serves only as a sleeping area. The first two floors, though each have their own full bath; clean and big. The only downside in the baths, and this is a recommendation to management, is that they need to provide more shelves for personal grooming stuff. It's not bad, but could be better. When you are in bed, the person closest to the screen wall is about 3 feet away from it. Then the patio is beyond covered with another screen. In other words, you are 2 thicknesses of screen away from mother nature. They keep about 15 feet cleared all the way around the building, but past that is jungle. Honestly, sleeping there is probably closest to what Americans might call "glamping". We were a bit hesitant the first night, but still slept like a rock. Yes, you can hear an occasional twig snap, but there are no "holy crap, what the heck was that?" moments. Yeah...it really is cool and provides a major facet of what you will always remember about this special place. The windows on the 3 solid walls are plentiful, but they are only screens with heavy duty native wood louvers. Doesn't seem like they would hold back a driven rain, but this is another jungle engineering facet that we had to be taught. The thatch roof hangs over pretty far, and the trees are close enough to virtually eliminate a driven rain. I guess it works. We got rain a half dozen times during our stay and nothing came in. Bugs? I was really worried about that one. Forget it. In 7 days, I crushed 2 tiny ants and one super tiny spider the size of pencil eraser....all of them on the floor. Nothing else....nothing for 7 days. There is a really big outdoor shower on the family treehouses (not sure about the smaller units). We did not use them, but they are inviting. ||Regarding insects outside, they take great pains to fog when nobody is present. It works. It's really hard to believe that being immersed in this jungle atmosphere yields virtually zero mosquitoes. To be fair, we stayed in early December, but the temps were in the low 80's and still nothing to be counted as flying insects. It is humid....that cannot be controlled...it's the jungle, Dude. There are no air conditioners, but the temps drop pretty quick at night. We wound up using the blankets that are available. Yeah; it cooled off that much. Again, the humidity is present, but you acclimate and it actually provides a cooling effect at night. ||There is no TV or radio. We brought a small speaker that blue tooth's with the music on my phone and it was just about perfect for entertainment. if you need a TV, you may have a problem. There is no refrigerator, either. We used the cooler that Crystal Auto Rental loans for free with the car. It worked out real good to keep some pop cold for the room.||Just a quick moment to describe the materials used to build the treehouses. It is pretty much all locally sourced woods. A lot of teak, mahogany, and rosewood. If you are a wood guy (and I am), you will really love it. The construction is VERY cool and a lot of very cool wood and craftsmanship. ||The place is about a 20 - 25 minute ride from Santa Elena/San Ignacio. This is the best exposure to culture and dining. There is a small grocery store about 1 block from the entrance at the main road; perfect and easy for ice and basic staples if you need/want them.||||How accurate did I get it, Myra? :)...

|We spent 5 nights at the family treehouse, which is unlike any accommodations in which which we have ever stayed. You are literally situated in the middle of the jungle. I can’t even express how cool and unique the accommodations are - very spacious too. ||The property is small and intimate with and you will enjoy incredible, personal service. The GM, Myra, helped me to plan my stay from the States over email. She was always quick to provide me with a response to my many questions and she provided invaluable guidance on which activities which be best for my family. ||She did not steer us wrong and matched us up with Marcel, who has to be the best tour guide in all of Belize. Our family of 5 had him all to ourselves for 3 days and he showed us a side of Belize that we never would have seen had we driven to the tour sites on our own. On Myra’s suggestion, we did zip lining/cave tubing, the jungle pontoon tour and Xunantanich/ Barton Creek. Each day was better than the last. All were different and amazing. ||Myra also hooked us up with Luis, the best ATM tour guide. We felt very safe in his capable hands. ||The location is an ideal one for experiencing all that the jungle has to offer. The closest a town, San Ignacio, has a bunch of very good restaurants, but we found it hard to drag ourselves away from the restaurant at Amber Sunset. The breakfasts were filling, fresh and delicious and every night a different 3 course meal is served. The food is extraordinary and the best that you will find in the area. ||There is no AC, which isn’t generally a problem, but we had a few nights where the heat made it a bit uncomfortable to sleep. The treehouse was meticulously clean, but with no AC, there is a constant musty odor that you need to get used to. Also, you are in the middle of the jungle, so you can’t completely escape from the bugs. However, don’t let these minor issues deter you from the experience of a lifetime at...

Our stay at Amber sunset lodge was fantastic. We arrived late after check in due to a long drive and some detours on the way from Placencia. Despite this, Myra and two gentlemen were there waiting for us even though we weren't able to call ahead because of phone issues. They helped us to our rooms with our bags and got us settled.

Our stay felt very authentic, something I highly value. You really do feel like you're in the rain forest here and we regularly woke up to the calls of a bunch of green parrots in the trees outside our cabin. The night breeze and jungle air really do lull you to sleep if youre anything like me.

The food was also fantastic. The different culture themed meals were fun and delicious and I was excited try some authentic Mayan and creole cuisine. Myra is a fantastic hostess, going out of her way to make customers have a great stay. She arranged 2 tours for us, cave tubing and the Xuantunich Mayan ruins with Pedro, who was both very knowledgeable and fun. She even set up a last minute massage for my mom and myself on look out point!

Here is my disclosure: if you are someone who has to have aircondtioning or someone who cant stand the sight of bugs and bats, or you are unable to walk up and down hill for roughly 3 to 5 mins, this might not be the place for you. This place is a true nature lodge and you are going to see bugs and bats. You are in the jungle and bugs will want to come in. That said, I was astonished by how clean our lodge was kept. Just remember staying up late will attract more critters if you leave your lights on!

Overall, I had a fantastic time. I hope to come back in the future and I truly loved this place. Thank you Myra for all your hard work and coming to greet us anytime we left or returned from an excursion. You were very...