Roatan: Paya Bay Resort - February, 2011
We recently returned from a
week at
The week we went was a
designated Naturist Week and most of the guests were there specifically
because it was a nude week…all the rooms were booked. The hotel is tiny …
only 12 rooms…so being *full* didn’t impact any of us. The property is large
(about 25 acres), with a good assortment of walking trails to various
lookouts and pocket beaches. The
paths are marked with signs and have funky names, like The Zen Path, Secret
Cove and
There are 3 beaches. The main
beach, which was rather windy with lots of seaweed during our visit and we
didn’t spend any time there other than a walk one day (it is the designated
textile beach), Bliss Beach (which is normally topless, but during a
Naturist week is c/o, as are all the beaches and walking paths) and
Buccaneer Landing (always clothing optional). We spent all of our time on
Buccaneer as it was the least windy. They have wonderful shade structures at
Buccaneer… you can move the shades up or down depending on where the sun is.
It was peaceful and lovely and we almost always had the place to
ourselves…though there were a few other intrepid couples who enjoyed the hot
sun and peaceful quiet of the Landing. Chris did a lot of snorkeling right
off the property and I fed the fish with bread every day. There were lots of
fish, starfish and our last day a ray came into the cove. There is a little
shower to cool off and also some stairs into a sandy bottom area where you
can easily get in/out of the water. It was truly heaven on earth at
Buccaneer Landing!! They also did nude yoga there every afternoon at 4:30;
we were usually taking a nap by then!
Bliss Beach is the most
popular beach and also where they held parties… a welcome cocktail party
with an open bar, the local dancers and a BBQ dinner one night, and massages
were held there as well...pretty sweet getting a massage right on the beach
$60 for an hour…they offer manis/pedis on the beach as well.
The property is well taken
care of, with various enhancements and upkeep always in progress. Rooms
ranged from small and scenic to large and airy - all very nice.
The larger rooms are down near the
beach – adjacent to the parking area.
The smaller rooms are adjacent to the restaurant/bar up on the small
cliffs overlooking the sea. We had a beach side room…it was a large room
with 2 queen beds, a couch and chair, TV & DVD player (we never turned it
on). All the rooms have little fridges which are stocked with water daily.
The view of the water from our room was lovely and we had the windows open
all day and night. The room also had AC which we never used. There was a
good sized closet which was adequate for storing our stuff.
The cliff side rooms are tiny
but have a spectacular view. We would likely request one when we go
again…just to see the difference. Housekeeping kept us in clean towels (they
provide beach towels as well) and clean linens daily. We never once saw the
housekeeper…she seemed to know our schedule pretty well.
There are 3 resort dogs …
Lucky, Foxy & Happy. Lucky & Foxy spent a lot of time with us down at
Buccaneer Landing or sleeping outside of our room. They’re good dogs, and
great watch dogs. We also saw plenty of iguanas on our nature walks. Chris
saw a big ass snake on his hike. There are also bugs when it isn’t windy. We
got bit the first night there….we think while at Bliss Beach at the cocktail
party, but it didn’t itch or bother us at all..but we had plenty of bites.
Another guest had more of a reaction to the bites and the staff went out of
their way to find the rest mix of meds to make it better for her. We never
had a problem with bugs while at Buccaneer Landing and it wasn’t windy there
at all. We had bug spray with us but never seemed to need it.
We came at the tail end of the windy season…so we enjoyed warm
breezes day and night…it was heavenly.
The food was very good.
Service was exceptional….really quite outstanding. The staff really
set this place apart IMHO. The answer to any request was 'yes'. You want to
go to a particular snorkeling spot?.... 'Sure, no problem!'. You want a
couple of extra glasses con hielo y limon?.... "Si!". Could we have
something off menu tomorrow?.... "Sure!". Everyone was above-and-beyond
nice, from the owners, to the kitchen staff, grounds keepers, and
housekeeping. Very, very impressive. They even had a birthday celebration
for 3 of us having our birthdays there that week, complete with our own
personalized cakes!
The dining room, bar,
reception area and main deck are gorgeous. They have a hummingbird feeder
outside of one of the many windows and the birds flock to it all day long.
It is mesmerizing watching all the hummingbirds. At night the fruit bats
come to the feeder….lots of them…and while not so mesmerizing, it is
intriguing! There was also a feeder outside our room and we loved watching
the birds…the bats..me, not so much! They have a water cooler in the dining
room to fill your bottles with (very handy!) and since they don’t recycle we
didn’t want to use too many plastic bottles (we brought them all back here
to recycle). You have a little fridge in your room that they stock with
water daily. We stopped at the store on the way and got some snacks (didn’t
really need them as you can get food all day)..but was nice to have a few
snacks on the beach and some of our own drink making supplies. Their wine
was acceptable and they’ll keep bottles for you in their cooler with your
name on it. It’s $20 a bottle (too much for most of the wine, though there
was one type that was great…I drank them out of it pretty quick!). You could
get a ½ gallon cooler of drinks mixed up (margaritas, pina colada, sex on
the beach, etc) to take to the beach with you and we did this a few times.
They stayed cold and icy all day and were a bargain at $12!
Breakfasts were wonderful
(served from 7-10 each morning). We actually ended up getting up around 6:30
or so every day because it was such gorgeous sunshine coming into our room
and a warm breeze thru the open windows. We also went to bed at 9 or 10
every night as there wasn’t anything to do other than socialize at the bar
and on the deck. Fine with us…it was very relaxing! They tried putting
together a clothing optional reggae party the last night, but no one did the
c/o thing and barely anyone danced (the welcome cocktail party on the beach
was also c/o). I think if you had a group of friends you could liven it up
pretty well. We did end up meeting and eating meals with all of the guests
as there are lots of tables for 4 or 6 or 8 or you just put them together…it
was a lot of fun meeting people and we’re going to keep in touch to see
about visiting again together.
Back to the food…breakfasts
were a standout. Served buffet style…lots of fresh fruit, eggs, fabulous
refried beans, banana pancakes one day (superb!!!), bacon, the usual fare.
We loved the breakfasts and the lunches. Lunch was served starting at noon
and was order off the menu. They had some good fare…pork tacos were a
standout. And the caprese salad (fresh tomato, mozzarella and basil) was
divine…I had that every day.
They have their own herb gardens so they had fresh basil for the salad…yum!
And mint for mojitos! We generally stuffed ourselves at lunch. Pasta dishes
were good. Quesadillas were yummy. Shrimp cocktail great! There were plenty
of lunch time choices.
Dinner was off the menu the
first couple of nights (lobster!!) and then buffet style the rest of the
week. They had seafood paella one night, served family style at the tables.
Oxtail and conch night. Tamale night on the beach dinner party night. I
wasn’t overly impressed with the set menu, but you could order off the menu
if you wanted, so they are flexible. We were never hungry, that’s for sure.
They also have a 4pm happy hour and snack time… I don’t recall that we have
made it for that. Their desserts
were good, especially the key lime pie.
Lots of the guests were off
the property on the optional excursions all day. Chris went on the local
hike and enjoyed it (great views, very sweaty!). He also went out on the
twice daily snorkel boat trips and said it was some of the best snorkeling
he’d ever done. He didn’t dive, but you can hook up with the dive operators
nearby … the diving is supposed to be some of the best in the world as the
island is surrounded by the 2nd largest reef in the world. It did
not disappoint for Chris!! The
snorkel trips are included in your price.
It was a very relaxing and
wonderful vacation. We can’t stress enough how incredibly welcoming and
wonderful the staff is. They truly want you to have a blissful experience
and will do whatever they can to help make it so. The walking trails and
little touches everywhere were perfect for us. And we liked the quiet
atmosphere. If we had been traveling with friends I’m sure it’d have been
livelier!
We would gladly return and
highly recommend it for folks who want a relaxed, comfortable vacation in a
smaller, slightly rustic hotel with a variety of services.
Feel free to email us with any
questions chrisandlizvt@yahoo.com
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