Family trip to Belize

My wonderful Dad came to me with the idea of taking 16 of our family members on a trip together, wondering where we should go.  We are quite a diverse group with lots of different interests and therefore many needs would have to be met.  We wanted to go during the winter months to someplace warm and beachy.  The age ranges of our group were from 6 years old to 80!  Some people wanted spa services, some wanted to workout everyday and required a gym, some wanted excursions and some wanted to lay on a chaise all day.  Ease of travel was appreciated too given the ages of the little ones in our group.  Victoria House in San Pedro, Belize fit the bill on all accounts. 

Many in our group started near Washington D.C. and had a very easy flight route to Belize.  Once landed in Belize City, hopping onto our Tropic Air flight couldn’t have been easier.  Tropic Air operates in a very relaxed and easy way..bumping your scheduled “flight time” if possible so that you can get your vacation started asap.  They bumped us up to an earlier departure and contacted Victoria House so that they could adjust the pickup time for our arrival to San Pedro.  The Tropic Air flight was beautiful!  For 15 minutes we flew over shallow blue waters and it was a lovely introduction to Belize.  Once we landed in San Pedro, we were met by a fella from Victoria House who grabbed our luggage, threw it in the golf cart and whisked us away to the pristine property of Victoria House.  

During our stay we learned that the property closes for a month each year for renovations and fixing things up and it shows!  The entire property of Victoria House is perfect.  Their campus comprises of individual rooms (like a hotel room), casitas and villas and everything is very well maintained.  Given the size of our group, we booked the largest villa (sleeps 10), Casa Azul, plus a few individual rooms.  Casa Azul turned out to be the perfect place for our family vacation.  It has its own private pool, kitchen, living rooms and decks and our family took up residence with ease and comfort for the entire week.  The wonderful gym at Victoria House gave those that wanted a workout a satisfying sweat.  Several in our group also enjoyed regular massages from the spa’s talented massage therapists.  We spent our days hanging out at the pool of Casa Azul with the staff of Victoria House regularly checking in on us to see what on their menu interested us at any given moment.  Appetizers, drinks, and even full meals were delivered whenever requested.  They made relaxing way too easy.  

During our week we also had a few excursions.  Parasailing for the more adventurous to take in beautiful aerial views, snorkeling at the Hol Chan Marine Reserve which provided a great opportunity to see some cool aquatic wildlife, swimming with nurse sharks at Shark Ray Alley, and a gorgeous sunset cruise to Secret Beach on the other side of the island.  Other excursions were available through Victoria House but they are also happy to help with whatever excursions you would like to arrange, even if it’s not on their “menu”.   The hotel also has kayaks and stand up paddleboards for guests to use.  Victoria House, like so many places in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, is affected by Sargassum seaweed so entering the water from the beach is not done.  There is a sea wall to keep the seaweed from washing up on the sand and the seaweed is cleaned up everyday.  They work hard at Victoria House to keep everything looking beautiful and they succeed!

The hotel has a bar/cafe and also a restaurant.  The food was delicious!  Loads of fresh seafood was offered everyday along with wonderful fruits and vegetables that were delivered by boat each morning.  They will even happily set up a private dining table on the beach should you want a more private dinner.  We also ventured out into town and tried out a few of San Pedro's restaurants.  There were lots of options and we enjoyed them all, especially the Argentine restaurant across the street from the hotel…their empanadas were excellent!

Victoria House, in San Pedro, Belize turned out to be the best choice for this family vacation.  It was private, secluded, beautiful, with wonderful staff and services and close enough to town to go explore.  While we were there we also witnesses (from a distance) a vow renewal ceremony, a wedding and many couples enjoying the sun, the water and the quiet.