Caribbean Shores b&b cozy and affordable!

I waited a week to let my feelings settle over the disappointment that my family and I felt about our stay at Caribbean Shores. We booked this property with no reviews and knew that we were taking a chance. The property manager, Christina, was responsive and the other staff were wonderful. Georgia, the housekeeper and cook, was attentive and joyful. Breakfast was AMAZING! Tyler, the security guard made us feel secure overnight and was helpful learning the Hopkins highlights. The location is phenomenal and in a very safe, quiet part of Hopkins. It is right next to Jaguar Reef and Belizean Dreams, two upscale resorts, and you can access their pristine beaches easily. Huge bonus! The property itself lacked some maintenance and the pictures are a little bit deceiving. In it's youth this property was spectacular. The living room TV, microwave, and coffee maker didn't work. It seemed the kitchen wasn't set up for a VRBO property but a B&B which it is as well. Some of the rooms have the smell of septic. Toilet paper can't be flushed which is understandable. A few of the showers in the rooms only had lukewarm water. On a plus side, the rooms had a good layout, the decks were large, and the third and highest deck had beautiful sunrise views - Reading there in the morning was relaxing. Though all of these would be acceptable issues in many situations, we had higher expectations due to the cost Most disappointing was that we had been under the impression that we were renting the entire property. Once there we learned there was an apartment that was not included and that the pool was communally shared with an adjacent property. In the week that we were there TWO pool parties were held that went past midnight with loud conversations into the night. The pool is directly next to the nicer rooms. It was a good thing that the A/C was running to drown out some of the noise. The parties seemed to not be additional guests at the other properties, but locals that were friends of staff. The family of 3 staying in the apartment ended up becoming a party of more than 15 at the pool. There were also people coming onto the property daily, which made our family feel unsafe and not comfortable leaving our teenagers alone. For the cost and comparable properties in Belize, we expected more. Belize is an amazing and beautiful country. Hopkins is a wonderful cultural community. Had it not been for all of these highlights we would have left this trip disappointed.