The hotel was so much better than it looked on the internet. We had so much fun. The staff was incredibly friendly and we were picked up by our dive groups (Amigos and Ecologic) right behind the hotel on the dive pier each day. There is beach for miles in both directions, the ones that didn't like the area behind the hotel, could move anytime. We booked the diving online and got a much better deal than we would have had we waited and booked at the hotel. We walked into town most days (to wear off all the food we ate at the hotel and get more in town). Everything in our room worked wonderfully and the balcony was perfect for hanging out all our dive gear to dry (warning - pick the gear up before you go to bed, it rains most nights).

Banana Beach represents good value for your stay on Ambergris.

Good:
Nice grounds / Pool
Free Breakfast
Walking distance to town (20 min.)
Relatively inexpensive
Friendly staff
Good sized room

Cons:
Furnishing in room is somewhat dated
Poor water pressure
Narrow beach with sea grass (although to be fair few of the other beaches at other hotels we saw seemed much better)
Not much room separating neighboring hotels
Room was not cleaned one day.

We were going down for scuba diving and wanted a nice affordable place to stay. Banana Beach met these expectations, however, I am not sure that I would have gone if not for scuba diving (which was fantastic) as the beach is not what I have seen at other Caribbean locations.

Just got back from 3 perfect days at Banana Beach before heading off to the Cayo district. We read the great reviews and hoped for the same- and got it! The little "extras" like free breakfast (and its really good, too!), free transfers when we arrived, the extra friendly staff, great help in planning excursions, and a big, lovely room (we had a courtyard suite) made Banana Beach perfect. Great location, just far enough from town to feel secluded but a short 20 minute walk gets you into cute little San Pedro. We wished we could have stayed longer! Only negative was not enough hot water in the showers...go snorkeling with Alfonse from Lil Alfonse- Banana Beach can arrange it for you- he was AWESOME, one of our very best snorkling experiences ever as he guided us and named each fish...and we ate great meals at Mambo, Caliente (the best Mexican food we've had in a long time), Wild Mango and Palmilla.

Great location, about a 15 minute walk from town. Very friendly and service oriented staff. Nice size, comfortable rooms. We stayed in the ocean view suite- the views were incredible and the hotel photos were very accurate (www.bananabeach.com). The thing is, that there was very little water pressure and the water never got very hot. Also, bring all your own bathroom amenities, since they only provide a bar of soap!! But the breakfast in the morning was a very nice touch- make sure to allow about 45 min for breakfast because it's not buffet, and they make everything from scratch. Lastly, if you're thinking of using the pull out couch, know that it's VERY uncomfortable.