We had a 3+bedroom condo ON the ocean. From our balcony, we could throw a coconut into the water! It is laid out well (the upstairs is HUGE) and very spacious. The staff was great.

Our only problem was that the tours we booked through the hotel (Discovery Tours) were not well organized and didn't give us what we were told. The trip to Lamanai, where we were supposed to have our own guide (for 8 people) had 18 people, and gave short shrift to the site. The snorkeling trip, which was supposed to be for 3 hours, arrived an hour late and had us back in under 2 hours.

So....stay in the Villas, but find your adventures elsewhere.

We stayed in a pool front villa for 1 week in January. We anticipated a villa facing the car park but were pleasantly surprised by actual beach/water glimpses from our front porch as well as garden and pool views.

The villas are large enough for travellers and the grounds and pool area are immaculate.

Staff are helpful, not just recommending their restaurant Rico's, and happy to book dinners for you.

We did book a cart externally as it was cheaper.

Loved Banyan Resort. No high rise building. Very layed back. Staff was wonderful. Mode of transportation are golf carts. We hitched a ride twice into town within a minute of sticking out our thumbs. Anyone looking for a true relaxing vacation, this is it. If you're looking to shop or party all night long....look elsewhere. Accommodations were actually very nice considering that this island is very poor. Our unit was beach front. We stayed here 1st week of December and it literally was empty. We did 2 excursions (arranged by Brian from Capt Morgan kiosk in town) 1 st was a visit to Belice Zoo then cave tubbing on mainland. Here too, our guide was Captain Sanchez, ( our private tour guide) he usually has a group of 6 but it was just us. Same with cave tubbing just us 2 instead of 8. 2nd was an all day sailboat cruise in which we snorkeled with sharks and string rays. Boat was large enough for 12 but there were only 5 of us. Both excursions were great.

The grounds were immaculate, and the pool area beautiful (could use a few more beach lounges). The villa was nice, but we had no washer/dryer. Everything was clean, but worn. Loved the front porch area! Easy access to town and to park the golf cart (which we rented somewhere else.)