Looking for travel partner/recommendations!!

I am glad you find Trip Advisor hotel reviews to your satisfaction and sincerely wish you continued good luck with TA. I find, however, that they can fall short in the budget hotel category, as they don't even list the place I am interested in staying at on my next trip. Often with places that see few international or upscale clients, they either don't list them or have perhaps one opinion. Which may or may not be from the manager. May or may not reflect the current situation. May of may not be from someone bothered by something I would find a deal breaker. So I try get an idea from reviews and still like to see the hotel myself.

Anyway, glad we can agree that having a reservation during Christmas time makes sense.

When a place doesn't have a 'spot' on TA it's either new or no one has taken the time to jump through the hoops needed for a successful request. Budget travelers don't tend to take the time so you're correct that mostly what you'll find will be mid range and up costwise. I've developed an ear for the whiners or phony posts which helps me weed through. It's not perfect but has been a surprisingly great resource for my budget to midrange type of travel with the occasional splash out. Happy Halloween!

Thank you both for the help! I am going with cheaper hotels in San Ignacio and Caye Caulker. Then going to splurge a little in Ambergris caye. Anyone have any idea about the Casa Blanca Guest House Hotel in San Ignacio? And Da Real Macaw in Caye Caulker? Both are cheap but look decent enough (clean, own bathroom, AC, safe). I wont be spending much time in my room, only to sleep.

Check out Belize Explorer, the downloads on the Belize First website, and reviews on Trip Advisor - I think you'll find both those places are popular.

A few years or so ago, the Belize Tourism Board awarded Casa Blanca as the best hotel (or small hotel). You could probably google for the details. And you probably won't be using a/c in December.

I stayed at De Real Macaw for 4 nights in October, and highly recommend it. It's not the cheapest budget option, but they do have a few cheaper rooms. The location is perfect - everything is within a 5 minute walk, and it has a beach front view (the beach right there really isn't one to swim from, but looks really pretty). There is a bar next door, which can get loud, but the room itself was pretty quiet. I'd book ahead - there aren't many rooms there and it's a popular place. The owners are great and very friendly & helpful.

We were in Belize for three weeks a little before that time last year, leaving December 24. We did make reservations, and by about December 22 everything was filling up. We also made the ATM booking with PACZ ahead of time because it's so busy then.

I agree you should choose between Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye with only 4 days in that area.. We stayed in CC and took the water taxi to Ambergris Caye for the day.

We used to make no reservations, but like hopefulist, I get interested in a place and then want to stay there. If you have a car or are in a city, looking for a place after you get there is practical, but if you have long walks or bus trips to find a place, you can spend half a day doing this and missing out on what you are there to do. But as we get older, we are less likely to stay in the lowest budget places; those are the ones that can look horrible in person--or great. In recent years we have only walked out of a place after booking once--in Egypt. Otherwise pretty good luck, like hopefulist reading between the lines in TripAdvisor.

The other reason we make reservations now and didn't in the 1970s-1990s is because it's now so easy. In 1968 you sent a letter with a special return postage chit and waited for a response. International calls were nearly unheard of and prohibitively expensive if they worked.

Things I've enjoyed in Belize:
Camping in the Jaguar Preserve
Visiting the Monkey (they're actually baboons) Sanctuary near Burrel Boom
The Belize Zoo (made up entirely of rescued animals)
The Punta Gorda area.
JB

Great to see there are some other solo travellers headed to Belize in December. I visited on my own years ago, then once again with family/friends, and can't wait to go again - of all the places I've been, so far Belize is still my favorite!

I'll be there Dec. 8th - Dec. 22nd. First a couple of nights on Caye Caulker at Mara's Place, then on to Black Rock Lodge in Cayo for a few days for some jungle time and to do ATM cave, check out Maya ruins etc. Then to Tipple Tree Beya in Hopkins for at least 2 nights. From there on, I'll have another week with no definite plans except to eventually end up back on Caye Caulker on the 20th for my last couple of days.

Hope to see you there everybody!

Jeff