Due to the fact it took us much longer to get through Belizean customs then we would have liked, and the fact that we had to do some creative last-minute rerouting (that took us to the Radisson Fort George Hotel and Marina) in Belize City, we had to scramble to find a place to stay on Caye Caulker for one night.
As we were booking “day-of”, we found ourselves in the “beggars can’t be choosers” position – meaning we had to take what we could get.
Luckily, we found a small hotel that still had one room available called Dream Cabanas.
Was it a good place to stay?
Review: Dream Cabanas (Caye Caulker, Belize)
About Dream Cabanas
Dream Cabanas website describes itself a “Caribbean Boutique Hotel” featuring “European style and Italian welcome”, comfort and security, and convenient access to the center of Caye Caulker.
Location & Parking
Indeed, the hotel is only about it 10 minute walk from the water taxi to the doorstep of the hotel (even faster if you take a golf cart taxi).
Parking? LOL. There is no parking, this is Caye Caulker we’re talking about.
FHOP Tip: If you’re walking, you should know Caye Caulker is an island with unpaved roads that can quickly get muddy with a passing shower.
Hotel Booking
Even though we booked the hotel at the very last minute and got the very last room, we only had to pay a rate of $69 per night.
Front Desk & Check-In
After walking for about 10 minutes, we finally made it to the doorstep of Dream Cabanas (whose entrance is located on a small side street).
This hotel was protected by a metal security door and fence that required a key to get in or for you to buzz the hotel office for somebody to let you in.
In total, I believe there were only 8 units in the hotel and the front desk/office was in unit 7 (about halfway into the property on the left-hand side).
We were warmly greeted by the hotel manager who quickly checked us in and told us a little bit about our room, the bike rentals, and some dinner and activity vendors that she recommended.
The office/front desk is located here – where unit #7 should be
Room Key
We were handed a hard room key before walking across the central pathway to our room (unit 3).
Room Entrance
As we walked up the stairs, we noticed there were two wooden lounge chairs outside on the patio, which, from the looks of it, seemed to double as swimsuit drying stands for most of the hotel guests.
Bedroom
As we open the door, we found a very basic room that somehow walked the fine line between a hostel and a boutique hotel.
The room was quaint and austere, but seem to have all the basic necessities, including our own bathroom, air conditioner, room fan, refrigerator/dining table, random books and magazines, and a carafe filled with cold filtered water.
Overall, the room was clean, and the bed seemed to be in relatively good shape although the springs were a little soft.
Dining Table/Fridge Combo
The water carafe is included (the wine and OJ are not)
Informational Binder
The Room Door
Closet
Bathroom
The bathroom was clean as well, and there were a couple bars of soap as well as a hand-pump bottle of shampoo. Like I said, “all the basic necessities”.
Bike Rentals
There was a bike rack outside our unit with several beach cruiser bicycles for rent with prices ranging from $5 for two hours or $10 for the whole day.
FHOP Tip: Caye Caulker is a very small island, and because of that, renting a bike is the way to go. You can easily cruise to the Lazy Lizard at “the Split” in about 10 minutes. But just because it’s a small island, doesn’t mean there isn’t any crime. Make sure to always lock your bike up whenever it’s unattended.
Dinner
After several hours of bar hopping and pounding beers at the Lazy Lizard, we were really looking forward to finding some awesomely cheap street food seafood.
What we didn’t realize is that the good stuff sells out fast. Just as we had given up on our own personal “Lobsterfest” and were making our way back to the hotel [totally defeated] we ran across a very small restaurant on the corner with a guy cooking up some lobsters on a barbecue.
Turns out, serendipity brought us to “Steve’s Grill” where Steve – the man himself – personally grills up the lobsters. We walked away with two large lobsters and four sides to-go for only around $30 bucks USD. It was an amazing deal that was easily the best food we had during our entire stay in Belize.
Best. Belizean. Dinner. Ever.
FHOP Tip: Dinner: Don’t miss “Steve’s Grill”!
The Bottom-Line Review: Dream Cabanas (Caye Caulker, Belize)
Overall, we really had a fun little stay at Dream Cabanas. It was a great place to stay that really was a basic boutique hotel priced as a high-end hostel.
For whatever reason, most of the guests seemed to be from Europe, although there were some Americans sprinkled in as well.
While I wouldn’t recommend hanging out at the hotel the entire day (it’s too small for that), it is a great convenient and safe place to stay that has everything you need (but all you really need is just to drop off your luggage, rent a bike, and head out to grab some beers and explore the island).
The only negative I could think of about the hotel room was that the walls were paper thin – and I mean paper thin.
Although I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to baby boomers, business travelers, or families – I would easily recommend this hotel to budget travelers, partiers, couples, and people in need of a last minute safe and comfortable place to stay (like us). We’d easily stay there again.
Final rating: 7.5 out of 10
