Orchid Bay Resort — Hotel in Corozal District

BEWARE!!! TOURIST TRAP!! Upon entry, there is a sign stating that you can not bring outside food or drinks on the property. The place is in the middle of nowhere! It took over 2 1/2 hours to get there! How do you not pick up a drink or snack? THIS WAS NOT LISTED ON THE WEBSITE OR EXPEDIA. The room should have had a queen bed, 2 twins, and a futon. The room had a queen bed, a futon with no blanket, and a dusty alcove where the beds should have been. The ocean view was covered with trees. The site says blackout curtains. Nope! EXPEDIA's site said there would be a dryer. Instead, it was just a closet with mops and brooms.

They have signs up stating that being rude or unruly will not be tolerated. It seems like people have become upset with them before, so I was hesitant to say anything face to face. They also have you write your credit card info on a piece of paper. I've had my info stolen that way before.

A lady showed us the casita, but when I went back to the bar/restaurant/ check-in area to let them know the remote control needed new batteries. The lady said I forgot to tell you the bedroom TV didn't work. Then the other lady chimed in and said there was no cable. None of this was listed on EXPEDIA or their website. There were no concessions made. They just kept nonchalantly cracking open beers, drinking, and eating chips.

The nachos were good but the shrimp was overpriced. It looked like popcorn shrimp from a box with 15 fries.

I felt bullied because what was I going to do? I'd been traveling all day from the US and then from the airport. My daughter and I were in an unknown place, in the middle of butt fudge egypt. It was dark as a Stephen King novel, & we were in the middle of nothing but trees. I just decided to settle because I was so tired.

The futon was the hardest thing I'd ever slept on. I'm sure there are cement slabs that are softer. Then, to add insult to injury, I read another fun sign! In short, it said that Orchid Bay Beach Owners Association, do not assume liability for loss, theft, injury (death) to persons, or their property. It said some more terrifying things, and that killed everything for me. I knew my daughter and I had to go. This felt like a bootleg AIRBNB. I've never read that on any door of any hotel I've ever stayed in. I don't even like AIRBNB's.

There was another sign in the bathroom directing you to use a black towel to wipe off your makeup of ne charged. There was no black towel. One of the rags I used was full of holes. Horrible water pressure. There were stickers in the shower, taped on, and faded showing the hot and cold water. The casita behind mine could watch my kid and I shower and disrobe. This is some 4-star hotel ish, for real!!!

There was a random ice chest sitting in the casita, a pile of dirty paper towels outside my door, and the library!!! Oh, the library was about 5 old books.

There is even another sign (signs are fun!) next to the swimming pool with prices to use the swimming pool. $10 for adults and $5 for kids. The pool is cloudy and nasty.

I would not have chosen this place if it was presented as a personal group renting out rooms. The rooms/cassitas are owned by the Orchid Bay Beach Owners Association, but the pool, dock, and restaurant/bar are not.

Some of the pictures on Expedia are photoshopped. There is no sand. Just rocks and crumbled, dried dirt. This is not a resort. This is a Tourist Trap. Shame on Expedia for listing this trash.

Expedia reached out to the hotel while I was on-site, and they refused to refund my money. I just booked a $215 taxi and went to another hotel 3 hours away.

*UPDATE In working with the BBB, Expedia, and David Berger, I've received a full refund. David did want me to remove my review, but consumers should know what they're purchasing (I've attached his...

We stayed at Orchid Bay for 4 nights in a two-bedroom condo, and unfortunately, the experience was a letdown across the board. From the start, we didn’t receive a welcome email or any kind of information about what the resort had to offer. There was no check-in or follow-up to see how our stay was going, which made the whole experience feel impersonal and disconnected.

The condo had several maintenance and cleanliness issues. There were multiple loose and cracked tiles throughout, which was especially concerning as we were traveling with a baby—a clear safety hazard. One of the ceiling lights didn’t work in one of the bedrooms, and tiles were missing in another room, adding to the sense of neglect. The kitchen counter had ants on arrival, and they remained there throughout the stay despite cleaning efforts.

Housekeeping was also subpar. Not only were the bathroom towels extremely worn out, but not all of them were replaced during cleaning—some were clearly just re-hung while still dirty. For a place advertising itself as a resort, this kind of oversight is unacceptable.

The on-site restaurant was overpriced and mediocre at best, making meals feel like a waste of money.

The most alarming issue was the fire alarm. Halfway through the stay, we realized the batteries had been removed. When we called about it, the agent told us that smoke alarms aren’t required in Belize, and that they usually leave them without batteries to avoid the beeping. I explained that we were traveling with a baby and that it’s completely unacceptable not to have a working smoke or carbon monoxide detector, especially given the recent tragedy where three tourists died from carbon monoxide poisoning at another Belizean resort. Only after I pushed the issue did maintenance show up and install batteries—which worked just fine.

The location itself is beautiful—we were just steps from the bay, which was the one redeeming quality of the entire stay. But even that couldn’t make up for the ongoing frustrations.

Finally, our unit was on the third floor, and when we called for help with luggage during checkout, no one answered the phone. We had to haul everything down ourselves with a baby in tow—again, not what you’d expect from a "resort."

In the end, this property felt more like a poorly managed Airbnb than a functioning resort. It lacked hospitality, maintenance, cleanliness, and most importantly, basic safety standards. I can’t recommend Orchid Bay to anyone—especially...

Our family visited Orchid Bay for 4 nights in July 2025. This was a wonderful place to bring your family for a private and relaxed vacation to Belize! The bay is beautiful and perfect for kayaking and paddle boarding and it was nice to have a pool to jump in! The casita was right on the ocean with a beautiful sunset view! The onsite restaurant had a lot of variety which was great because Orchid Bay is very private so this will be where you have all of your meals! We had some remarkable excursions while at Orchid Bay. Thanks so much to David, Wilfred and Victor for a truly magical full day of snorkeling where we had the gorgeous reef to ourself without another boat to be seen! We had a few options about where to snorkel and I am so glad we chose the more remote location. We made a few different stops and each snorkeling site was unique. I have been snorkeling in Belize before but these locations were perfect. With 3 children ages 14, 11 and 6, I was not sure how they would handle snorkeling in open water, when we took them snorkeling in Costa Rica, the water had been rough and with the reefs at 20+ feet, we did not have an easy trip. David took us to sites with such shallow reefs that my girls were able to really see it all. Victor went spearfishing while we were snorkeling and we were all delighted to eat the lobster that he caught for dinner at Orchid Bay that night! The girls were all so excited to see a sea turtle, a few sharks, a moray eel, beautiful Picasso fish and some rays. The boat ride ended perfectly when a few dolphins joined us so close we could almost touch them. |Another great excursion with David, Wilfred and Victor was a coastal Mayan ruin. Wilfred was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about the Mayans and it was a beautiful site. They let us know beforehand how bad the mosquitos were there so we wore long pants and tops and brought lots of mosquito spray, which was necessary :) We went on a boat tour through mangroves and on to a sunset cruise with delicious drinks and snacks. We all jumped out for a swim where we anchored and made some memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. Thank you David and all of the wonderful staff...