Mariposa Jungle Lodge — Hotel in Cayo District

Choosing Mariposa Jungle Lodge for our first trip to Belize was the single best decision we made! We are a family of 6. Our children, at the time of the trip were 16, 14, 13 and 11. It's hard to know where to start this review as any single one of the following points would justify an "excellent" rating. ||The reservation process was easy! We let them know our family size and preferred travel dates and they quickly let us know that they had a cabana available. We were going to be in Belize from June 9th - 16th which is one week after their peak season ends. Our first 5 days would be at the Mariposa Jungle Lodge and the last 3 days would be at Xanadu Resort on San Pedro. They gave us an extensive list of activities to choose from, any of which sounded incredible. We choose cave tubing, a visit to Caracol, and zip lining. We paid a deposit and were on our way! At this point they sent us questionnaire about food preferences and dietary needs. We have a shellfish allergy and gluten sensitivity so this was an important step. Mariposa took care of organizing the second part of our trip to Xanadu as it was part of their Belize Vacation Package deal. This means they scheduled pickups and dropoffs from the airport, all of our daily excursions, and our meals, and the transfer between resorts. It was an incredible relief to have Mariposa Jungle Lodge manage everything, leaving us to focus on flights, passports, and packing.||We landed in Belize City, went thru customs and walked out of the airport. The transfer driver was there waiting for us. The lodge is about 90 minutes from the airport, just outside of the main strip of San Antonio, but you wouldn't know it! Once you make it up the driveway, it feels like you are deep in the jungle. The pictures don't do the resort justice! It is absolutely gorgeous and meticulously maintained. Everywhere you look you see flowers, exotic plants, and hummingbirds. So many birds! The sounds of the jungle were all around us and we even heard howler monkeys at one point! The pool is small but incredibly relaxing with plenty of lounge chairs. We stayed in the Blue Morpho cabana, which was basically a 2 bedroom house. It fit all 6 of us with no problem. I think we could have been perfectly happy just relaxing at the resort all 8 days.||The staff was second to none! Ravi and Leo were the two concierges who took care of us all week and went out of their way to keep us happy and comfortable. One of our favorite moments was courtesy of Ravi. We had mentioned that our young son had always wanted to try raw sugar cane. That evening at dinner, there was a bowl of freshly cut sugar cane! He had stopped by his grandmothers house on his lunch break to get some, just for us. It was such a great moment! Breakfast, lunch, and dinner never failed to impress. The cooks at Mariposa created unique and authentic Belizean dishes that satisfied even our most picky eater. The fruits were the most fresh we had ever tasted. And the cocktails were made with only the best ingredients. It was a sad day that we had to come back to boring American cuisine!||Lastly, I will mention the excursions. Mariposa scheduled them for us, all we had to do was show up on time. The guides were the most fun and knowledgeable we have ever had! Darwin (from CMA Tours) was a family favorite. He made sure that each of us were having fun at all times. ||All in all, it was the most incredible vacation we have ever done (and we do a lot of them)! We have already discussed going back. Do yourself a favor, choose Mariposa...

Mariposa Jungle Lodge is a little gem in the Belizean Jungle. Situated a few hours from Belize city, you take (mostly) paved roads until you get to the base of the mountains, after which you drive 30-40 minutes on an unpaved road to the actual lodge. Our driver asked us if we wanted to take the shortcut (rough road but saves you 10 minutes) or the semi-paved route- do yourself a favor and take the latter. ha!

Location: The lodge complex is pristine, and nested in the heart of the jungle. There is a main building surrounded by individual lodges which accommodate various numbers of guests. The walkways are semi-lit, so after dark you have no trouble finding your way back to your lodge but there is still an air of mystery and romance in the overall design. Adjacent to the lodges you can get onto hiking trails, which have good sign-posts and are quite easy to trek. They are still fun though, and worth doing. There is also a bird-watching tower a small hike away, which I'm disappointed to say yielded no birds for us.

Service: The service here was top-notch, and I don't say that lightly. The staff numbers are quite light (it's a small place) so you get to know them, and conversely, they you. We really enjoyed the personal touch and the people working there genuinely seem to enjoy being there. The owner was spectacular, she changed around our plans so that we could go to the ATM cave at the last minute, was ever-accommodating and was very helpful.

Amenities: The lodges are extremely clean, air-conditioned and have a nice setup. Our lodge came with a sunroom with a hammock where we could read and cool off at night. The showers had excellent pressure and the provided toiletries were decent. Towels, lines etc were what you would expect. Morning tea or coffee was delivered to the lodge if you wished, and we availed of that once. The pool is small-medium, but is cool, has good depth, and has a nice waterfall at the end. It's really quite nice. There are large hammocks a short ways away where you an lounge outside the sun if you wish. The whole lodge has access to Wi-Fi which has decent speed and a reliable connection. We had no problems. Potable water was provided in every room. NB: There is a library in the main lodge where you can borrow books, as well as a small gift-shop with some interesting items.

Dining: Meals are provided with the lodge because there is literally nowhere to buy food (or make food) within any reasonable distance. We were given a set of ingredients before we arrived, to choose our preferences and point out allergies. The food was freshly prepared at every meal, piping hot and really quite tasty. There was a soup, starter and main course as well as desert at lunch and dinner. Breakfast was usually quite good. My one gripe: portions are the same no matter how small (or big) you are. I have healthy appetite, and sometimes was left a bit peckish, but occasionally when I was super hungry they provided seconds with no problem.

Overall: This is one of the best experiences I've had in terms of relaxation and 'getting away'. It is incredibly peaceful, relaxing and meditative. Do yourself a favor and leave your electronics in your bag, as I should have done. You will not...

I arranged a birthday trip for my girlfriend which included a four day dive vacation for two women at Xanadu on Ambergris Caye (including the birthday girl) and a five day jungle holiday (which added two more women to the trip later on in the week) at Mariposa Jungle Lodge.

The impeccable service started during the planning process. Vanessa, part of Mariposa's Team, was more than helpful arranging all aspects of the trip from flights to Ambergris Caye, to private transportation between airports/hotels, right down to what foods/drink we preferred for our meals at Mariposa. She spared no details.

The ride to Mariposa was an easy hour, made even better by our driver, Osasio, and his comfy, well air conditioned SUV. Mariposa is beautiful.

We were welcomed not only by lush jungle, buzzing with the sounds of hummingbirds wizzing passed, parrots flying overhead, and howler monkeys in the distance, but by multiple staff members ready to make our stay unforgettable. Forget about touching our luggage- it would be taken care of. We were whisked off to the restaurant where Signature Mariposa Punches were waiting for us- made by the talented Robi.

We lounged around, exploring the beautifully manicured grounds, sipping on more of Robi's handcrafted masterpieces, and floating in the pool until dinner where we were surprised to see custom menus with our names at the top welcoming us. Dinner was delicious and came with a custom menu based on our individual food preferences that Vanessa provided the resort.

The Cabana we stayed in, The Macaw Cabana, was perfect for the four of us women. It consisted of two twin beds and a bun bed with a queen bed on the bottom and a two on the top. So we each had our own place to sleep. The bathroom was huge- definitely large enough for FOUR WOMEN. The back patio was small, but cute. It was a nice, quiet place to lay in the hammock and listen to the sounds of the jungle, while being screened in and protected from the mosquitos!

There is a lot to see on the property if you don't book one of the many, many (VERY WELL WORTH IT) excursions available. The hike around Mariposa is not an easy one- plan accordingly. The bird watch tower is very cool and worth the short trek. The sauna is lovely and has a huge window. The pool is refreshing and surrounded by wildlife. I could spend hours there. Or maybe at the bar talking to the super friendly, funny Leo, sipping on one of his mojitos waiting for boa to slither by in the background at the restaurant? So many choices...

Honestly, I could go on and on. I loved Mariposa and plan to...