Itzana Resort & Residences

As a central american travel agent I am quite picky about the hotels I visit, stay in and actually enjoy. I visited 4 hotels while in Placencia and Itz'ana takes the cake. The food, the service, the attention, and the tours that this hotel planned for me and my group were absolutely amazing. By far the best we had in the area. I can understand how some get upset about the sargassum that sometimes washes up on the shore, but there's nothing that the hotel can do about this as it's a natural phenomenon that happens during the hotter months. To be honest that didn't bother us a tiny bit. We had dinner out on the beach which is an experience I highly recommend and the rooms were HUGE. We stayed in the two bedroom beach front loft and the view of the master bedroom with the plunge pool is the most "beachfront" you can get in many parts of central america. It was stunning. The welcome cards, the daily greetings by staff, the curated hotel tours and so much more made this trip handsdown our best in the area. Thank you to all Itz'ana staff for hosting us, we will be back and wehope to send lots of our travelers, too!

The room was very clean and the bed was like sleeping on clouds. The staff are friendly and easy to engage. The atmosphere is very relaxing and peaceful.

We were so disappointed with this hotel. We stayed at a beachfront loft, which was spacious and had a full kitchen and washer / dryer. But the room is full of windows with zero covering, so the sun would pour in at 5am and wake the kids up. Super fun. The service was average to poor. Definitely not luxury service (this hotel has an SLH certification). So many shortcomings, listed below. They also tried to charge us $50 PER NIGHT for a tiny crib and it’s not stated anywhere on their site. The beach was terrible when we visited. Very rough and with miles of sargassum. We were heartbroken we couldn’t swim in the ocean. Also just be aware the private pools are in the shade in the afternoon. Our kids didn’t care but I wouldn’t have used it without kids Issues: 1- before the trip I tried to coordinate a snorkel trip with the concierge via WhatsApp and several times / days she’d just stop responding despite me prodding over and over. I finally gave up 2- I let them know in advance we’d be arriving early and they still made us wait for a room even though the property was mostly empty 3- when I asked for a bottle opener from my room, that told me to go to the restaurant to get it opened instead of bringing me one -.- 4- they do not setup the beach chairs or have anyone come to check on you if post up on the beach 5- we asked housekeeping to come in the morning while we were out and instead they came in the evening while we were trying to put the kids to sleep 6- we were incorrectly told we could check out before our 7am flight 7- they charge 2x more for golf carts than if you just walk down the street Prices in general were crazy, eg $8 for two sausages

This is a beautiful boutique hotel in Placencia, the outdoor restaurant and pool area is stunning. The rooms are of a high standard (even if the shower takes a good 5 mins to get hot). There is an in room water filter which is a great idea. A great place to relax. The village is around a 90 minute walk, but there are restaurants and bars close by and the hotel offers a shuttle which is $5 per person per way plus tax. The staff at the front desk are very attentive, and they use what’s app so it’s easy to get in touch. We booked most of our trips with other operators as the hotel prices are very high. We are diamond members and I’m not sure if the hotel staff are up to date on the benefits. We didn’t receive a welcome as a diamond member and when I asked about a room upgrade it took a while to find that it was a benefit for us. We stayed here for 4 nights and were able to receive an upgrade for our last two nights. Only a Continental breakfast is included which is fruit, toast, pastries and juice but there are so many other great things on the menu it would be better if you could pay extra to to upgrade your breakfast instead of ordering two and wasting a lot of food (which we did most mornings).

We spent a fabulous 8 days at the Ita'zana Resort, and we wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone for a fabulous time. The staff were amazingly friendly and efficient, and we would return in a heartbeat. We look forward to returning and spending another fabulous time there.