Chan Chich Lodge

Now this lodge is the true Belizean jungle experience. It sits in the largest reserves, has thousands of acres for their farm, their trails, their coffee farm, the lagoons where you'll never see such a pretty sunset...the wildlife is unparalleled. The staff is so knowledgable and the passion & sense of family amongst them makes the experience that much better. Super cute cabanas. Exquisite food served at their restaurant. All the tours are so different, informative and charming. This is a MUST when you visit Belize.

Chan Chich was an absolutely incredible experience! I have never seen so much wildlife. The entire staff went above and beyond for me. Definitely one of the best experiences of my life! I highly recommend it.

We are Belizeans who love to travel at home. Chan Chich made us feel very welcomed ahead of us getting to the hotel as they ensured we had the right route and advised us to download the map offline. We were all greeted with cold towels and a delicious cold all spiced tea. Our rooms, the amenities, and food were all great! Emil, Maria, Ruben, ana Marcos were all great to us. The many sightings of wildlife made our visit even more fulfilling.

Why I Went: I am a bird photographer and I chose to travel to Chan Chich after finding it on an internet search for birding destinations in Belize. I compared this lodge to other well-known names but ultimately chose Chan Chich for two main reasons − first, they offered a list of potential birds with many endemics I had not seen yet and the essentially guaranteed opportunity to photograph Ocellated Turkeys. Second, the property has jaguars, puma and ocelot which are all high on my list of wildlife to photograph. Overall: There were many good things to say about my stay at Chan Chich. I chose to arrive via charter flight which was expensive but totally worth it. The property is extraordinarily beautiful, the accommodations were very spacious and clean. The pool was super refreshing. I had one of only two villas with A/C. I enjoyed the open-air safari-style vehicles that were used for the majority of outings very much. That said, I was very underwhelmed with the service at Chan Chich. I realize that staffing a remote lodge like this is very tough and therefore you must give grace when it comes to the level of service, but I’ve stayed in many similarly-remote places and have had exceptional service. The food was the other major let down here, more on that below. Accommodations: I was in Cabin #6, the king bed villa with A/C. I did not see other villas, but based on photos I believe this cabin is much more modern than others. I thought it was great. My room was extremely spacious. It had a king bed, a writing desk, two seating areas, a double sink bathroom, large walk-in shower and a separate toilet closet (the bathroom is open to the main room other than the toilet being in a closet, no shower door). The A/C is a mini-split and did the job nicely. I don’t think my travel companion (who was in a garden villa) was as comfortable without the A/C, but we stayed in August so that is just the way it goes. The general manager told me they are getting ready to install A/C in more rooms so I would keep an eye out for that if you are traveling in the hotter months. The only complaints I had with the room were the water pressure and not really having hot water. The water in the sinks is just a trickle that allows you to brush your teeth. The shower was good enough, but it never got anywhere near hot. Not that you need a really hot shower in the jungle, but after a day in the woods I like a bit of hot water to wash away the sweat and bug repellent. I asked if it could be adjusted thinking it might be propane, but they said it was electric and no adjustment could be made. The entryway had a small table with an electric tea kettle, a French press, coffee, tea and sugar plus a dorm fridge that had some beer and soda in it. A small (cheap and uninsulated) water bottle is provided at check in (bring your own), and a very large tank of drinking water is provided in your room. The room had windowed slider doors on 3 sides, a porch deck that wrapped all the way around, an outdoor seating area and a hammock. The sleep quality was excellent, the sheets were nice and the bed was one of the most comfortable I’ve had on a vacation. Note: I had no problems with bugs or other visitors in my room. That said, I had a room that is fully enclosed due to the A/C. My travel companion had minor issues with bugs in the room, nothing scary. Connectivity: I did not have cell service at all on the property (AT&T). Wifi worked great in my room and common areas. While this is not a place I would recommend going if you plan to work remote, the Wifi seemed strong enough if you had to do a Zoom. Food: Full transparency - I am a foodie and mostly a plant-based eater. I have high hopes, but I will eat pretty much anything and give much latitude when in a remote area like this. That said, the food at Chan Chich was a major disappointment. The lodge advertises itself as farm-to-table, and this was a contributing factor to my decision to stay here. Food quality matters to me when I travel. I am seriously doubtful that the food at Chan Chich is really sourced at the farm. The meals were bland, unimaginative and very meat centric (other than the duck, the meat I ate was not tasty). Serious lack of variety. Very meat-and-potatoes menus, nothing that spoke to Belizean cuisine in my opinion. Vegetarians will struggle for protein. Vegans will starve. The meatless options rotated between fried rice (tofu showed up on the 3rd night but it was deep fried) or pasta (not vegan). I was shocked that beans and rice were never on the menu as that is something I can usually rely on in Central America. The same basic overcooked greens and gluey starch were served with most dinner entrees. Breakfast was unimpressive. I am very doubtful they are serving farm eggs because they were pale and bland. Fruit was non existent. They offered bacon, ham or sausage for breakfast but ran out of both bacon and sausage by my 3rd day and they never came back. Salad was mostly non-existent, and when it was offered as a starter, the portion was tiny. I ordered a watermelon salad one night, no watermelon. Another night the "salad" was a small plate of candied pecans and bleu cheese - not exactly what you want when it's 90 degrees in the jungle (and there were exactly two pieces of greens on the plate). The chocolate chip pancakes were the best thing I ate at any meal all week but were only available twice during my stay. My travel companion is a more meat-and-potatoes kind of guy and even he was underwhelmed at the food which is saying something as he usually doesn't comment. The fish, no matter what preparation we tried, was inedible. Shrimp was the safest bet when it was an option. The homemade coconut ice cream was also excellent, but only available on some nights. Activities: I chose the All-In Explorer Package at Chan Chich Lodge which includes 2 wildlife drives and one walk daily. I let them know in advance that bird watching was my main priority. I go in slow season because lodges typically can give more customized tours when they are not full. I checked the website a few days before I left for the trip and could clearly see that they were nowhere near full. Still, they would not commit to private guides even if I offered to pay more. Ultimately, they did a good job accommodating me. I ended up getting essentially private tours due to low occupancy, but be aware that they if they have more guests, they are not necessarily doing dedicated bird tours every day. It is really more about general wildlife viewing for the average tourist, not geared toward serious birdwatchers. Night Tours – I did one night drive. We didn’t see much. The drive involved a guide using a huge spotlight when we did see something and I wasn’t crazy about how that might affect the animals. We spotted a puma on the road ahead of us and instead of stopping the vehicle and shutting off the loud engine, they sped toward it and, of course, it ran off. One drive was enough for me. I spoke to guests who did the drive on other nights and they didn’t see anything either. The safari vehicle is way too loud to sneak up on anything. Service: Besides the food, the service at Chan Chich was the biggest disappointment. I have been spoiled by other jungle lodges where the family-owned spirit really delivers. I don’t know that Chan Chich is “family owned” but it is privately owned and not run by a hotel management group so I expected a more authentic service experience. My experience with the staff and overall service at Chan Chic was sub-par from beginning to end. Pre Trip Communication: Just okay. I exchanged about a dozen emails prior to my stay to get clarification, request private guides (not available) and to arrange the charter flight. I found the communication to be less info than needed and in some cases, a bit rude. Arrival: We were greeted at the airstrip by Malcolm, the general manager. He was a lovely person and I spoke with him several times during my stay. Once we reached the lodge, things went downhill. I sensed that the staff were not looking forward to my stay – based on the number of emails we exchanged, it seems I had been branded as “difficult” before I even arrived. That air of hesitancy and tentativeness of communication prevailed throughout my stay. Every time a staff member approached me, I felt like they were expecting a fight and that was totally unwarranted. I'm not that type of guest. I am a very experienced traveler and can't remember a time I've really experienced any issues with service. Yes, I have high expectations for food, but I roll with the punches for everything else. I felt unfairly persecuted by the guest service staff. I had a small disagreement with one member who told me it would up to me to search out the manager the next day to resolve something, and when I told him that was not acceptable since I was the guest, he stopped talking to me and only addressed my travel companion for the rest of our stay. If I didn't have to present my credit card at checkout to pay for an excursion, I don't think anyone would have even said goodbye (except Malcolm who was waiting at the airstrip to send us off). Restaurant Service: Way below par. You are never offered anything to drink but water (which is served in tiny glasses so you are constantly looking for the server to refill). You have to ask if you want anything. Figured out on day 4 that they had a wine list. Figured out they had more than one kind of beer on Day 5. Butter was never served with bread, pancakes or toast and I kept forgetting to ask for it when I ordered. Had to get up and go find a server every time so that I could get butter before the food got cold. Had to ask for a proper knife when I got the duck. Once the food was served, there was no check back. If you didn’t flag someone down for water, your glass would be empty during your meal. This area needs SERIOUS work. They never asked about food allergies which I thought was odd as that is the norm literally everywhere these days so be sure you speak up loudly if you have one. We never stayed past the 8pm "end of dinner" time but more than once my table cloth was removed before I got up to leave. Guides: The two wildlife guides that I had during my trip were the exception to the service issues. Marcos was the best by a mile. He was personable, he was engaged and he was enthusiastic. Luis is a very good guide but barely says a word. But he knows his birds! Serious Bird Watchers/Photographers: I would recommend staying here no more than 3 nights. That gives you a chance to see the spectacular Ocellated Turkey (a guaranteed sighting) and to hunt for the other local endemics (tropical royal flycatcher, rose throated tanager, gray throated chat to name a few). It was hard birding as the lodge does not provide feeders (other than two hummingbird feeders in the shade). Guides had to use Merlin to call birds in on most of my trips, which I don’t particularly approve of but it was past nesting season so I kept my mouth shut. Without that, my count would have been far less. My count for 4 days of birding was 71 birds, lower than I expected but 20 were lifers. Photographers will be thrilled at the opportunities to photograph the ocellated turkeys, but there are no other places to set up a tripod for stationary work. All birding is done on safari drives or forest walks in dark, dense jungle. If you are not a birder, I would probably not recommend this lodge due to how hard it is to get there and the low quality of food and service. The excursions off property to the Maya ruins are at least 2 hours away. The selection of non-wildlife drive activities was below par. You can get your jungle experience at any number of other lodges that are easier to reach. The chance of seeing jaguar, puma or ocelot is very low. Based on the cost of this trip, I would say Chan Chich Lodge did not meet my expectations. I got what I came for which was the opportunity to photograph the Ocellated Turkey and to see other endemics. I was ready to leave after 3 days and I worked really hard for just about every bird I got. It is so unusual for me to leave a place like this and not feel like I've made new friends or that I'm sad to go. But Chan Chich didn't move me in that way. When it comes to travel, it isn't just the places. It's the people who make the experience special. I can't say I got that from Chan Chich. If you are a serious birder, you may consider a short trip here just for the ease of seeing the Ocellated Turkeys and pick up a few more lifers as a bonus. That said, if I were asked where I would recommend for birding in Belize, I would have a hard time recommending Chan Chich and would likely suggest trying one of the other reputable lodges in Belize. You can look up my Ultimate Travel Review of Chan Chich Lodge for more detailed info. All of my concerns about service were expressed to the general manager prior to writing this review and I feel that my feedback was well received.

Absolutely amazing! I felt relaxed and immersed in nature. We got to see spider monkeys, toucans, humming birds, deers and wild turkeys roaming freely. The farm tour was exceptional! All meals had over the course of the 3 days were fantastic too!