Portofino Beach Resort-An Authentic Island Escape!

I very much enjoyed my stay at Portofino. The resort is very relaxed, and the people are great. I will definitely be returning.

The Portifino is an exceptional value, the service and staff are 5 star caliber. They also feature a fabulous menu that offers a wide range of dining options. Highly recommended for a trip to Ambergris Caye. It is located close enough to get into San Pedro and far enough to offer quiet and solitude.

Portofino Resort Review We had a great vacation in Mexico and Belize this past winter. In Belize we stayed on the island of Ambergris Caye in two different resorts. We had been here several times before always staying at Sapphire Beach Resort so we thought we would try a different place for several days and then go to Sapphire the last week. Portofino Beach Resort is a beautiful little boutique resort with a fabulous restaurant and gorgeous pool overlooking the sea. The staff are all amazing and the grounds are a lush tropical paradise. Unfortunately the room we rented, “Lower Mansion, was a disappointment. It was a great size with a kitchen, dining area, living room, large bathroom, nice size bedroom and a large covered deck (the separate rental “Upper Mansion” is above). When you first walk into our unit you see this large great space but it’s very dark with poor lighting in every room (Some light bulbs were burned out). The bedroom had a king size bed but good gosh it was by far the worst bed I have ever slept on in my life. I’m sure the mattress was 50 years old or more. It looked inviting but when you lie down on it the springs are completely broken and worn and the bed is a lumpy bumpy blob. It was impossible to get comfortable because you either roll into a groove or to the edge of the bed. I was so sore at the end of our stay I was ready to try sleeping on the floor. And sweat….i never sweat in bed when I sleep but I sure did here. I have no idea what they tried covering the mattress with but it was not breathable. This was by far our biggest complaint and honestly we’ve travelled extensively and not one other bed we have slept on comes close to how bad this one was. The kitchen was a plus and we try to always rent a place that has one. Mostly just for breakfast as we like to relax in the mornings, enjoy a coffee on the porch and then grab a little breakfast. We therefore need some kind of a fridge. I had called before booking to confirm there was a full size fridge with freezer and fully stocked kitchen. They said yes it is completely stocked but there isn’t a stove or oven only a hot plate with two burners to cook on. That’s fine as we would probably only use it for eggs, oatmeal and to boil water. Once again we were disappointed as there were little or no dishes or utensils. We made Several trips to the bar and restaurant asking for items only to have the cleaning crew remove them every morning. We finally got smart and hid items in the bedroom dresser drawer. Also the fridge ended up only being a mini bar fridge which was also fine but barely worked. We had staff in several times to look at it but we couldn’t use the freezer and the fridge barely kept anything cold. We limited our items to stuff that wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t too cold. They told us that it may need freon but they didnt add any during our stay. I didn’t think freon was used in fridges anymore…. Washing dishes was another creative challenge as there wasn’t a p