Blancaneaux Lodge, Belize
A LUXURY JUNGLE HIDEAWAY
Blancaneaux Lodge is a luxury hideaway where waterfalls tumble into turquoise pools above the jungle canopy. Its remote mountain setting allows guests to explore the ancient civilization of the Maya and to return to their own thatched roof dwelling.
A jungle hideaway, in the heart of Belize’s rainforest
In the early 1980s Francis Ford Coppola visited Belize, immediately fell in love with the location and purchased the abandoned Blancaneaux Lodge. For more than a decade the hideaway was used as a family retreat before Francis opened his tropical paradise to the public in 1993.
Blancaneaux Lodge is a 20-room luxury hideaway rich with Guatemalan décor and nestled in the foliage of the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve. Room types range from Garden View Cabanas which are nestled into the beautifully tended gardens, to the Enchanted Cottage, a wonderfully luxurious hill top retreat.
The Waterfall Spa is set on the banks of Privassion Creek and offers a variety of treatments, wraps, and massages, as well as access to the rejuvenating hot pool overlooking cascading waterfalls.
There is a selection of activities available to enable you to explore the surrounding jungle and its unique, and often shy, inhabitants. These include orchid trials, moonlit jaguar quests, horse riding to Mayan ruins via jungle pools and waterfalls.
High in the jungle, overlooking waterfalls and simmering pools
Belize is bordered by Mexico to the north, Guatemala to the south and west, and the Caribbean sea to the east. With 8,867 square miles (22,960 km²) of territory and just over 400,000 people, the population density is the lowest in Central America and one of the lowest in the world.
Blancaneaux Lodge is in the northwest corner of the 107,000-acre Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve in western Belize’s Cayo District. The lodge itself is nestled on the banks of Privassion Creek and is set among tropical pines, oaks, palmetto, craboo, and ancient melastome shrubs. Within a few miles of this boutique hotel you will find the steep limestone hills and valleys of the 13,000-acre Noj Kaax Meen Elijio Panti National Park. The dense jungle, steep ravines, spectacular waterfalls, and fast flowing rivers are home to many rare or endangered species of flora and fauna.
Beyond the Mountain Pine Ridge lies the vast uninhabited network of 14 protected areas that comprise the 1.2 million acre Maya Mountain Massif. Less than an hour drive along dirt roads to Guacamallo Bridge, the granite bedrock and red soils of the Mountain Pine Ridge meet the limestone and moist tropical broadleaf forests of the 264,000-acre Chiquibul National Park and the Caracol Archaeological Reserve.