Villa Margarita at Jaguar Reef

We recently rented a room in the Villa Margarita at Jaguar Reef. We do not recommend staying there. The villa is in a great spot, with a pool, and directly on the beach. It should have been an amazing stay, but the building has significant deferred maintenance issues and a very lax cleaning crew.

When we arrived, the villa was dirty and poorly maintained. They didn’t have a key to the front door, the only key was to the rear sliding patio door, and it was broken. Maintenance had to be called to fix the door for us because it wouldn’t lock or shut properly.

The villa was very dirty when we arrived. The floor was gritty, the sheets had stains, and the kitchen area was very dirty. Coffee and grease on the back splash and the counters were sticky, and the refrigerator had a wad of someone’s hair on one of the shelves, yuck. The kitchen was poorly equipped and didn’t even have a spatula. We had to go into the village to buy a broom and basic cleaning supplies on our first day.

The first night when I was hanging my towel on the towel hook outside the shower, the towel hook and tile fell off the wall. I texted the front desk to let them know so we wouldn’t be charged for damaging the villa. They sent their maintenance man; he finished removing the broken tile and said that he would be back the following morning to complete the repair. He never returned, and the broken tile and towel hook was still sitting under the sink where he left it 5 days later when we checked out.

The most frustrating part of the stay was that Jaguar Reef misled about their promotions. Their website offered a “Summer Escape” promotion that promised a discount for stays over 4 nights and a US$100 resort credit. When we were told that the $100 resort credit wasn’t in our account, the local staff said there was nothing that they could do, we’d have to work that out with the reservation team. We emailed them, only to be told that they never combine offers and that we misunderstood the promotion. We pointed out the promotion was still on their website and clearly stated that we would receive BOTH the discount and resort credit. They refused until I asked them to escalate the matter to their supervisor, and included screenshots from their own website that showed the promotion included both the discount and resort credit.

It was not a good experience, and we do not recommend staying here.

Coverall great stay with Jaguar Reef properties. Construction is going on next door but wonderful stay.

Our visit to Hopkins and Villa Margarita at Jaguar Reef was picture perfect! The grounds and the accommodations were gorgeous! But beyond that, the staff are exceptional at every level! They are incredibly helpful and attentive and friendly. They go out of their way to make sure every detail is taken care of! A few shout outs: Jianne, who checked us in and walked us to our room was delightful! She is a pro at her job! I had an issue with the key for my room - Edgar from Guest Services (also a phenomenal bartender!) and Roberto from Maintenance were on top of it immediately. They resolved the issue very quickly :) Another Roberto who cleaned our pool was wonderful! We had a great time chatting about Belize and life here in the Hopkins area. Daniel who has a MASSIVE job of raking the beach with his triple rake, was so joyful and friendly. Those are just a few of the incredible staff that work so hard to make this place an oasis for their guests!

Nice but maintenance is lacking.

The staff for this Hotel were so friendly and very hard working always there to help. Jerry, Lukas, Greg, Malcolm, Captain Larry, Captain Alex and cousin Anthony thank you for all of your help, kindness and laughs. I apologize for the ones I may have forgotten to mention. The beach was beautiful and clean everyday due to staff making sure. Our room was beautiful, clean and huge, with a pool and ocean view.
Thank you for everything :)

good locatiom

This is so beautiful property . It was very relaxing and very private. The location is very convenient. The staff is very nice and helpful. It happened that we didn’t have good internet connection but management was very apologetic and issues credit for the stay. I will still return to this place . This is good quality place. I have to mention that there is a little construction next to the villa but the noise was there for a very short time. I still love the place.

My stay was beautiful, especially loved the pool and quiet. My friend Salam made my stay special. Helping me and made me a coconut. Very kind person. The food was wonderful as well, service fantastic. And I had a fabulous room with a wonderful view of pool and ocean. Will be back for sure. One of my favourite things was making new friends and having a fire on the beach but you don’t seem too often, under a full moon beside a fire on the beach delightful.

The stay was fantastic, room is spacious, and the customer service from the general manager, Tessie Duran Tonaco, was professional & unmatched. When you visit, please ask for Tessie to handle your concerns. She'll go above and beyond to make sure it is a pleasant experience with the most genuine smile and personality. I'm looking forward to returning bringing others with me.

Staff is very friendly. Property is clean and close to beach and dining.

Such a nice place for families, or singles. Captain Larry is a gem and is always smiling and if you are wanting to find something he will find someone who can help you. Will helped us with our excursions and he was great. I always wanted to try a sprouted coconut and Ambrocio was able to find me 2 of them! Leo our driver was great. and answered questions for us on our drive to the resort.

We were surprised with a room that had a kitchen and living room as well as a good size bedroom and bathroom. We were in a second floor room, the deck has a nice view of the ocean framed by palm trees. That is semi-private, as there is a wood screen between you and the other room's deck. Our room had large wood carved walls in the living room, beautiful large eat-in fully equipped kitchen, and lovely tile everywhere. The staff was helpful and polite. The building is literally on the beach and you have a staircase from the room that goes down to the pool and the beach.

We stayed at Villa Margarita for 5 days and aside from one rainy afternoon it was paradise. Our friends were staying at the Almond Beach, a mere 2 minute walk down the beach from us. We would often gather at the amazing Dock Bar or chill poolside at either the almond beach swim up bar or Villa Margaritas private pool. Both were lovely and well maintained. Larry and Bruno were both wonderful in providing fresh coconuts and delicious drinks respectively as well as adding to the friendly vibe of our trip here.
Emery was also a very comforting presence as the security advisor.
The one drawback was the new implementation of golf carts, there are still issues with several of the carts and I would say come prepared to ride a bike if you want to see the city in daytime.
Provided kayaks and Paddleboards were a blast. And be sure to check out the blue lights on the dock bar at night.

We loved our stay with Villa Margarita. We booked the entire second floor and had a great view of the pool and ocean. We have 2 little ones and Jaguar Reef accommodated our rooms with 2 cribs for them. Even though there is no phone and the Villa is a little secluded from the resort - Raquel from the Conceierge services was amazing and helped us with everything we needed via WhatsApp. Even after we left, we found out that we forgot 2 valuables in the room and she called the lodge we were staying with and organized with them how to get them back to us. We truly appreciate that and the service we received. We did get locked out of our rooms once due to not having the right key but they tried to fix that and also compensated us with a complimentary breakfast. Overall I really recommend staying here! It was amazing.

We loved our stay in our huge room with amazing views of the sea. The staff were all so friendly, helpful and professional. Dinner wasnt so great. We made a 7.30 dinner reservation for Saturday night. There was garifuna drummers and dancers playing so loudly in the restaurant that we couldn't eat. The vibration and noise was so loud that it went through your body, caused headaches, and certainly wasn't a dining atmosphere. There were few choices on the menu for vegetarian dining. We left and found another place to dine. Our room doesn't have a phone to contact the front desk ...our door lock broke and we couldn't open the balcony door to the beach. We called over our balcony to the security for help but nobody came. Later that day a maintenance man came and replaced the door knob with new key after we told another employee. Our air conditioner wasn't working and management generously gave us a complementary snorkling trip...very generous of them. As well they compliminated us with breakfast. The only tv is in the bedroom so when our company came to chill and watch some shows at the end of the day our only choice was to invite everyone into our bedroom! Of course we decided to pass on that idea! Lol Our friends had no tv or phone in their beach villa either. Even though we encountered a few glitches, the overall environment is beautiful.

Beautiful beach and views

Ocean side location

The view from the 3rd floor is gorgeous . The rooms were more space than my family of 5 needed and it was sparkling clean. From the moment we got left the airport and met our driver/guide (Jonathan), we felt super welcomed. Shanelle was at the front desk when we checked in. She gave us the lay of the land and was very helpful, professional and friendly during our stay. Captain Larry graciously opened coconuts for us to drink on the beach and also made us feel very welcome. Chris and Shakira went above and beyond to help us plan our adventures during our stay. We did snorkeling, ziplining, river tubing and ATV to waterfall. Jamar, along with Captain Mike took us snorkeling. Jamar pointed out all the different corals and he educated us on all the different marine life we saw.

We ate breakfast at Jaguar Reef and the food was delicious. Charles, our server, was fantastic. My family loved the stuffed Jacks. Chef Rob’s was great for dinner as well. Definitely make a reservation though. We also ventured into Hopkins for awesome lunch at Ella’s. We borrowed bikes from the resort and stopped at the grocery store and gift shops along the way. The Dock Bar was a total blast too. Bartenders were great and we enjoyed swinging into the ocean from the rope swing. The day beds were pretty sweet too. We never saw a manatee but I heard from other guests that they spotted them. Belize is a beautiful place for vacation adventures and the people we met along the way just made it even better.

The staff, especially the guest services staff were exceptional. We will not hesitate to return next year to this property for a little R&R.