Tiny Belize gets ready for its first luxury resort

SAN PEDRO — Belize’s first luxury resort from a global brand, built from the ground up on Ambergris Caye, is set to open this winter.

Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club, Curio – A Collection By Hilton, will open its doors in December 2017. The island resort is set on 60 acres and geared to guests looking for “relaxed adventure”. In all Mahogany Bay will have 205 cottages and villa-style accommodations with colonial-style detailing, heirloom-quality furnishings and sustainably-harvested local Belizean hardwoods.

The resort’s General Manager, Niklaus Leuenberger, says Mahogany Bay “will be a one-of-a-kind, authentic, Belizean resort.” He adds: “Building a new property on an island as striking as Ambergris Caye has been a real labour of love. Every detail of the resort has been meticulously thought out – from the interior design to the selection of amenities, from the guestrooms to the public spaces. Local flavour has been infused throughout the entire resort, and we have worked hard to provide guests with what will be an exceptional product. I know I speak for the entire team, when I say we are eager for guests to experience Mahogany Bay when we officially open our doors at the end of this year.”

Mahogany Bay Resort, Belize

Leuenberger has served as General Manager for The Peninsula Hotels in Philippines, Hong Kong, and New York over the course of 19 years. He was also Managing Director of The New York Palace Hotel and most recently held the position as Senior Vice President of Resort Operations of Baha Mar Casino & Hotel in Nassau.

Mahogany Bay amenities include the Bay Club with pool and bar and the private, white sand Beach Club, a short boat ride from the on-site marina. The property’s focal point is a 22,000-square foot Great House featuring a signature restaurant and bar, 8,000-square-feet of event space, the largest in Belize, plus a wrap-around covered veranda.

The resort’s Director of Sales & Marketing, Edward Donaldson, has 30 years of global leisure and luxury sales experience including a stint as Director of Sales & Marketing for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts’ Tucker’s Point in Bermuda. “We are already receiving exciting feedback about Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club within the marketplace, and from my many years of experience, I am confident that the resort will be very well received when we officially open our doors this winter,” said Donaldson.

Nightly rates start at US$369 for garden cottage accommodations. See mahoganybayvillage.com.