In Central America there are so many luxuries awaiting your discovery. Here we’ve selected 10 of the best remote luxury escapes to be found across the region, from a boutique hotel in Costa Rica – possibly all too often overlooked by luxury travelers as a budget destination – to a world class resort in Belize, and a lot more. We are sure you will find something to entice you!
Coral Vista Villas, Roatan, Honduras
No visit to Central America is complete without sampling the relatively unknown and unspoiled Caribbean island of Roatan, Honduras. Located just 30 miles north of the mainland, literally on top of the world’s second largest barrier reef, Roatan is a unique location with a distinct culture, fascinating history and visitor-friendly conditions: English and Spanish are both considered main languages and the local economy transacts in both U.S. Dollars or Honduran Lempiras.
If visiting Roatan, take a look at Coral Vista Villas. These five luxury properties are located right on the water in West End Village, Roatan’s eclectic and exciting centre for diving, dining and nightlife. Complete with private pools, multiple balconies, gourmet kitchens and a range of concierge services including private chefs. Each four bedroom/four bathroom villa is tastefully furnished and features free, high-speed wifi and the latest in high-end audio/video technology. Explore one of the last unspoiled islands in the Caribbean from this oasis of luxury.
Kura Design Villas, Costa Rica
The exclusive and luxurious Kura Design Villas rest on an impressive mountain ridge where the lush tropical forest tumbles into the Pacific Ocean. This small- scale boutique hotel, in the South Pacific Region, seamlessly melds contemporary architecture with the natural environment to produce a supremely romantic getaway.
Mukul Resort & Spa, Nicaragua
For as long as you’re able to stay, consider Mukul home. Consider Playa Manzanillo’s immaculate white sands your personal playground. Consider the entire Emerald Coast of Nicaragua your kingdom and certainly consider your accommodations your own private estate.
Each of the 37 guest accommodations offers space and privacy in a style that fully embodies and compliments the natural surroundings. Views of the ocean come standard. Craft furnishings and decorations come straight from Nicaraguan artisans – carved native teak tables, sugarcane twig headboards and rum barrel staves. In Bohios, Beach Villas or in the crown jewel, Casona Don Carlos, make yourself at home…
Read more at aluxurytravelblog.com.
I've been to Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. The two houses we rented in Nicaragua each came with a 24-hour-shift of private armed guards.
Cherri: It's good you had that. One might ask why one would vacation in a place requiring private armed guards 24/7 and, in an environment requiring such precautions, how trustworthy the guards can be assumed to be, but it is for everyone to determine their own level of risk aversion. There's an interesting thread on the Roatan Crime Watch group initiated by someone staying at a resort on the "relatively safe" West End of the island who woke to find her room had been burgled while she slept (fortunately, she was physically unharmed). Several of the locals commenting on her post were surprised the place she was staying in did not have bars on the windows or security staff. Some of the more interesting comments allude to security teams (as well as taxi drivers and police) being "in cahoots" with the bad guys. This is the kind of stuff you won't find in the "travel media", which is why I strongly recommend that prospective travelers dig deep when researching their destination. Most of the stuff I've learned about Costa Rica, for example, has been reported on only thinly, if at all, in the media. CR likes to crow about its "declining" crime reports — but look deeper (eg., talk to people living there) and you'll see that folks are just so fed up with corrupt and ineffectual police and judges that they don't report crimes anymore. They see it as not worth the time or even potentially making them a target. So, the crime stats are nearly worthless — for this reason, stats based on "reported crimes" should always be assumed to be an undercount.
Jeff Dunn Do not listen to fear. Your chances of having an incident on Roatan are close to -0-.