Our Story
Building a tropical sanctuary, for us, our team, and our guests.
We’re the Janssen family, Ryan, Jessica, Fay and Rex. We left the Lower East Side of Manhattan to build a home that represents a simpler way to live—not just for us, but for anyone who needs to get away from their busy lives. Beaches and Dreams is that home!
We didn’t just want a place where people could lie on the beach and eat mediocre resort food either. We wanted a place where the beach was combined with world-class dining and fantastic adventures during the day. We searched the world over, but it wasn’t until we stumbled upon a little Garifuna village in Belize, called Hopkins, that we found what we were looking for.
Hopkins runs along a beautiful 6 mile long beach on the Caribbean Ocean. Crammed into this tiny village are 4 distinct cultures (Garifuna, Maya, Creole, and Mestizo), several fantastic resorts, and dozens of quality restaurants. Together, we’ve created a real community, not a tourist destination. Not only that, because it’s perfectly positioned between the Maya mountains and the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, we’re able to offer dozens of incredible marine, jungle, and cultural adventures right from the resort.
Beaches and Dreams, itself, perfectly combines the three elements of beach, food and adventure we believe makes for a great vacation. Every one of our 11 rooms is within 100 feet of the ocean, 8 are ocean-front, and our Sea Bar is the best party on the beach. Our fine-dining restaurant, The Barracuda, has a long culinary history, stemming from the original owner of the resort, chef, Tony Marsico. Finally, our guests can depart for any adventure, from diving and snorkeling to visiting the Maya ruins of Xunanatunich right from our adventure office Amped Coffee and Tours or our busy pier, both located at the resort.
Most importantly, Beaches and Dreams is about community. We’ve built our team entirely from locals and given them a real sense of ownership, so when you’re at Beaches and Dreams, you’re a guest in our collective home. Coming from NYC to Belize has been quite an adventure, but we believe we’ve become part of something special here, and we welcome you to join us!
We had the best week at Beaches and Dreams. We actually stayed at the sister hotel Parrot Cove Lodge but were part of the inclusive package at Beaches and Dreams. All of our check in, tours, and included meals were at Beaches and Dreams and we had full use of their amenities. It has been said many times in these reviews, but I first need to mention the wonderful staff at Beaches and Dreams. From the moment we arrived we felt like we were part of the family. Thanks to everyone that made my family and I feel so welcome. From the first emails with Darnell and Laren I knew this was the place for us. The front office staff, Ben at the bar, Amanda in the restaurant, Oz/Victor/Keith on the driving and land tours, and Kimike/Floyd/Anthony on the marine tours were all so knowledgeable and kind to our family. We had an action packed week which is just what we wanted, but did enjoy 2 days of free time. On our free days we relaxed on the beach, enjoyed the small but clean pools, played beach volleyball, and rode the free bikes into the town. The town of Hopkins has much to offer and we enjoyed our time visiting shops and restaurants ( Nice Cream, and J&J cool spot), and even playing mini golf. For adventures we did a waterfall hike, ziplining, barrier reef snorkel, barrier reef fishing, Mayan ruins tour, and cave tubing. We loved being able to experience Belize and to learn about the history of the country and the people. The area and hotel are very chill and we enjoyed walking the beach and the dock after dinner each night. My family can not wait to come back. Thanks again Beaches and Dreams.
