The Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club has opened in Ambergris Caye as Hilton’s first property in Belize. The hotel, a member of the company's , Curio Collection soft brand, has 205 cottage- and villa-style rooms across a 60-acre waterfront site with 10 dining outlets, bay and beach clubs, and meeting and event spaces.
Eric Moser of the studioSky Technique and Steve Mouzon of the studioSky Physique were involved in the design and architecture of the property. Julia Sanford of the studioSky Mystique helped in the interior design and architecture; while Amanda Lindroth of Lindroth Design similarly helped in the interior design.
Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club has 205 cottages and villa-style rooms. The overarching design concept of the individual cottages is that of a framed tent. The cottages have open-cavity walls and tin-lined indoor/outdoor showers with Hansgrohe double showerheads. Each of the buildings has indigenous Caribbean details. The resort also incorporates local materials into the structure of the cottages and furniture selection, including five different types of wood: Bullet Tree, Cabbage Bark, Caribbean Pine, Santa Maria and Mahogany. Accommodations range from garden cottage, garden cottage with loft, lower and upper keeping suites and family cottages.
For the interior design of the property, real estate entrepreneur Beth Clifford worked with Julia Sanford of studioSky and Amanda Lindroth of Lindroth Design. Sanford oversaw the interior design of the cottage accommodations, while Lindroth spearheaded the furnishings for The Great House. Splashes of color were used to complement the aesthetic of the village’s all-white exteriors, with the rooms using fabrics and touches that evoke the local setting, such as Belgian linen and decorative hand-blocked fabrics. For artwork, the team commissioned photographer Thomas Hager to capture images of Belize and his prints, in blue and green hues, adorn the white walls of the guestrooms.
In the furniture selection, Sanford designed a custom “primitive modern” collection using the natural woods of Belize. Each piece was purposely and specifically designed for the spot they occupy in guestrooms and public areas. The collection of chairs, tables, dressers, nightstands and beds is available in the U.S. from Sublime Original.
In The Great House, Lindroth’s design aesthetic was inspired by the turn-of-the-century aesthetics. There are influences from the British colonial roots in the lobby, which is lined with mahogany bookshelves and features bamboo furniture, ceiling fans and natural accents of leather and rattan. The 22,000-square-foot Great House has a restaurant and bar, event space and a wrap-around veranda.
For dining, the property has The Verandah, Hive, JYOTO, Taco Shack and Rum+Bean. Additionally, the property has a bar, Stirred, in the lobby of the Great House; Shaken, an outdoor bar overlooking the Bay Club; Gadfly’s, a social club; and Dirty Martini, a tapas bar scheduled to open in 2018.
Amenities at the Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club include the Bay Club, which has a pool, bar and poolside spa, and private white sand Beach Club near the on-site marina.
Golf carts and electric and pedal bikes are available for guests to discover the property.
The hotel is less than two miles from San Pedro, the only town on the island, and 10 minutes from San Pedro Airport.