We know its been a few years but we may go back...hence we're writing a review now. Chaa is small, quaint and somewhat isolated. Very relaxing with extremely cozy and well-kept treehouses/cabins. The staff was friendly, but what made the trip 'out-of-this-world' was the private tours we booked to Tikal and caving. You can sign up for the group tours, but I would recommend dropping the extra few hundred dollars for the private options.

Tikal far exceeded other ancient ruins we've seen all over the world. This includes the middle east, europe and other mayan ruins such as those in Tulum. In fact, on a scale of 1-100, the Tulum ruins were a "1" and "Tikal" was a "110"...our private guide whisked us across the Guatamalen border without problem. We were stopped by a heavily-armed army patrol on the way to Tikal - which made us - somewhat nervous, but no issues, they let us through without incident.

We also went a private caving tour, which ended up being right out of Indiana Jones....and 1000x bettter than the group tour which we also went on...different caves, different sights....but wow - this caving adventure was perhaps one of the most memorable events of both my and my wife's life.

Food was ok, nothing spectacular but good. We didn't get any spa treatments, but the facilities looked very nice. Lots of bugs outside at night so keep the doors closed!

Can't go wrong with this place and would return.

My new husband and I spent the first four nights of our honeymoon at Chaa Creek and loved every minute of it. When we arrived at the resort it was almost dark so we had no idea what the place looked like unil the next morning when we got to walk around.

We stayed in the honeymoon sky room for 3 night and the macal cottage for the last night and wish we could have had the macal cottage the whole time. It was beautiful!! We loved the double shower. The sky room was nice and very private but we enjoyed the updates and the jacuzzi tub of the macal cottage.

Our first day we chose not to do any of our excursions, but ended up canoing down the river. It was a good time but i was over it by the end. We also had massages that day and they were quite nice. The only down fall to it was that we couldnt have a couples massage which we really wanted. i had my massage outside and it was such a great atmosphere up there, but beware it's a hike to get up to the spa. Well worth it though. The second day we upgraded to doing a zipline as well as cave tubing at jaguar paw. Save the money they charge you to upgrade to be able to do the zipline. They don't tell you but you can stop at the entrance to Tikal and do one there. There's 3 more lines and seems like it would be much more fun. Tikal was very cool! We got to see monkies and toucan's and had a long but great day. The only down fall was the drive there. They were by far the worst roads the whole way there. I caught at least a foot of air a couple times when hitting bumps.

Contrary to what everyone is saying about the food being OK. We loved it!! We are very picky eaters and decided that we were going to try everything they offered and we were far from disappointed. We are still talking about the food. The chef seems to really think about what he's going to make and the execution was always wonderful. The servers were always so nice and friendly.

We loved the mountain part of our trip because everyone was so nice and extremely knowledgeable. We could ask the drivers anything and they knew the answer.

Our Chaa Creek experience was great and i'm sure i missed some details but i'd go back in a heart beat. Especially if they had the peanut butter soup!! YUM!!

We have just come back from a week in Belize of which 4 nights were spent at Chaa Creek. My family (husband and 2 daughters age 10 and 14) and I loved it. We stayed in the orchid Jacuzzi suite (2 bedrooms, 2 baths interconnecting door... hamocks, loads of characer and brand new bathrooms) We did everything we could on site (riding... appropriate for all levels... you could do the advanced levels or just plod as we did), canoing, (word of warning they say 2 hours to St Ignatio and it is nearer 3... very scenic but it did go on and on, and on...)bird watching (declared very dull by my daughters) and mountain biking.

We also did a couple of trips. I dragged the relunctant family to Tikal (sounded a bit like culture to them) but it was well worth the 2 hour drive.We almost had the place to ourselves, we saw loads of wild life, and you were allowed to scramble around the beautiful, unspoilt ruins to your hearts contents. Even the children enjoyed it! We also went cave tubing at Jaguar's Paw.. a definate highlight and a must. It is however about an hour's drive from Chaa Creek. If you are hiring a car, rather than using the hotel guide, it would be a great trip to do either to or from the airport as it is only about 40 mins from the airport. Bear in mind that it is very popular with cruise ships (very offputting i know) but they all go in the morning. When we went (about 2 pm) there was hardly anybody)

Well back to Chaa Creek itself. It a group of cottages set in a perfect tropical garden. Not that big. The service is very helpfull and highly knowledgeable, the food is OK. They seem to have listened to other reviews and you can just have one course (for about $20) instead of the whole meal (for $32) It was always edible with a fish, meat and vegi choice but a little lacklustre and often quite slow. OUr rooms (we also stayed in the tree top suite for one night) did not have windows, just bug nets which we loved. They were beautifully furnished with belizian furniture and tasteful local artifacts. The bathrooms were great... totaly open plan though... doors but walls that did not go up to the roof.

We loved swimming in the river (a bit of a schlep... about 10 mins walk) but we hear they plan to bow to popular opinion and build a swimming pool this autumn in time for next season) I am sure they will do it very nicely.

By the end of our stay we had seen monkeys (in Tikal) seen Toucans, held a snake( in Chaa Creek, brought in by a guide) held a baby monkey (at Jaguar Paw) and of course seen loads of Iguanas and other birds.

Overall it was an excellent stay, a view shared by my husband (likes a place with character) my 14 year old (likes hairdryers) and my 10 year old, (likes adventures)

One more thing... no bugs... we were not bitten once here and even stopped bothering with repellent.

I took my Mom on a trip to Belize for her birthday and stayed at Chaa Creek for 5 days, after which we headed for the cays. Resort grounds are nicely maintained. Cottages are separated far enough away from each other to give a cozy, private vibe - almost like a home away from home feel. After having read other reviews, the first thing I did once we got to our room was check the bedding and sure enough, I found bed bugs under the pillow (after all, you are in the middle of the rain forest). I went straight to the front desk and without any discord, they moved us to another cottage. The rooms and bathrooms were clean and comfortable; the thatch roofed huts made for some chilly nights so bring sweaters! As there are no TVs, clocks, or telephones, morning wake up calls are raps on the door and a delivery of local coffee. The resort is perfectly situated to venture out to the Mayan archaeological sites (which provide breath-taking views) and lush rain forest. For me Chaa Creek was all about getting back to the basics while still having all the amenities of a luxury resort. My time there was a wonderful rejuvenation. simplicity simplicity simplicity