Celebrating Inspiration and Points for Pineapples

This past week “The Great House” at Mahogany Bay was on the menu as I was invited to attend two separate events there. As you can see from the image above, it is a large historical looking building. It has deep roots that go back to Regent Street in Belize City and further back to the mahogany and pine forest brought to life by the craftsmen of our country. While The Great House is a relatively new building, it already carries that old world charm and with each event hosted there its history grows. See more pictures of the building in the write up World Class Rock Concert on Ambergris. That was a great day watching Abracadabra Rock band play live after attending the pre-show meet and greet.

Major Announcement

First off, was a press event and special announcement about a new partnership that will have  a positive impact on Belize tourism and economy. Attendees included Minister of Tourism Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., BTB Director of Tourism Karen Bevans, San Pedro Mayor Daniel Guerrero, among others.

Many travelers will be excited at the news that they will soon be able to trade in their Hilton Honors Reward Points for “pineapples and cool breezes.” June 15th brought the announcement of the First Hilton worldwide property in Belize under the Hilton Curio collection.

Hilton Hotels and Mahogany Bay Village are partnering to bring the Hilton Curio brand to Belize. Curio is a collection of unique global hotels offered by the Hilton chain. Robert Helms, Sales and Marketing Manager of Mahogany Bay Village, spoke about hosting the luxury hotel, highlighting how beneficial it will be that travelers can start using Hilton points to visit Belize.

“For Belize Tourism this will have a big impact as Hilton Hotel Honors program has over fifty-two million members and the goal is to get some of these loyal members excited to visit the Hilton Hotel in Belize,” said Juan Corvinos, representative of Hilton. He is the Managing Director of Development for Mexico, Central America, and Hispanic Caribbean Regions. Hilton Honors members always get the lowest and the best price guarantee along with Hilton Honors points, digital check-in with no booking fees when they book directly through The Hilton Honors Program.

A bit of the back story

Robert and Beth started coming to Belize over 13 years ago and collectively over 250 passport stamps coming in and out of the country of Belize.

It was very intentional about how they ended up here. They share a history of over 17 years of development within the United States and Mexico and they had set out to go find the “Next Next” in tourism. The pair spent over 2 years looking for a property and a place they wanted to put their life work and energy into. Their journey took them on an extensive search throughout Central America and all of the Caribbean. When Beth and Robert finally landed in the country of Belize, they knew they were home. This was where they decided they would spend their time, their treasure, where they would bring their resources and friends to build something special.

Mahogany Bay Village started with a simple question – What would Hospitality done differently look like?

• Authentic with a touch of modern.
• It would celebrate all that is great within the country of Belize and put it on display for all the world to behold.
• It would create an ethos, a culture of creativity of inspiring innovation and with it, a part that fosters growth; personal, corporate, community and spiritual.
• In the end, this new form of hospitality would always lean towards the future and break new paradigms.

In her speech, Beth Clifford, the president of Mahogany Bay Management Ltd., stated the project has taken 35 months and 80 million Belize dollars, the life’s work from 5 world-renowned designers, 412 Belizean vendors, and a team of over 210 passionate and gifted team members is now on display for the world to see. The 205 cottages, villas and the other buildings and a soon to be built sexy Miami pool with a 1/2 mile sunset beach.

Onsite Amenities

• Rum & Bean
• Taco Shack
• Ambergreens Organic Vegetables
• General store
• Craft and farmers market
• Scuba and fishing operators
• Concierge and tour coordinator
• Hair & nail salon

If you’re not familiar with Mahogany Bay, you can already go in to Rum & Bean and the Taco Shack, It is located approximately 2 miles south of San Pedro town center, just before Consolidated Water (and currently just before the cobblestone on the road ends).

From The Curio Press Release

When open in 2017, the resort at Mahogany Bay Village will be the first Hilton Curio Collection Worldwide property in Belize. Mahogany Bay’s hospitality and eco-friendly practices will focus on supporting the local community. With these additional accommodations, more travelers can discover the natural beauty and the true local flavor of Ambergris Caye. The resort will be upscale preserving natural resources by using local materials that minimize overall waste. The Belizean style villas are made from local sustainable harvested hardwoods featuring artfully designed quality furniture and loft ceilings.

Inspiration Celebration

The second event was the “Inspiration Celebration 2016” which took place Saturday night, June 18th and raised a substantial amount of money for First Lady Kim Simplis Barrow’s charity that helps disabled Belizean children receive physical therapy.

The First Lady and Prime Minister Dean Barrow were on hand, as were about 300 people in support of the cause. The evening was filled with good company, great food, drinks and dancing with all the proceeds going to the charity. Raffle prizes included a Louis Vuitton bag, Tropic Air tickets to the mainland and Cancun, a stay at Ka’ana Resort, tour gift certificates and a round-trip flight and hotel at Martha’s Vineyard.

The event’s food and beverage came from twelve different delicious Belizean restaurants, including Elvi’s Kitchen, Victoria House, Bel Campo, Farmhouse Deli, and Rojo Beach Bar. We started on the front veranda with The Farmhouse Deli then Rojo who were stationed near our table. Afterwards, we were all invited upstairs for the main meal options served by all the other restaurants.

Supporters of the event through contributions or prizes in alphabetical order: Ambergreens, Belcampo Belize, Belize Maine and Sand Blue Bonefish, Bowen and Bowen, Casa Checking Out, Curio, Dakota Equity Management (Luke and Loni Trapp and Robert and Karta Helms), El Fogon, Dixie Bowen, Elvi’s Kitchen, Harbour View Hotel, Ian Andersons Cave’s Branch, Ka’Ana Resort, Las Terrazas Resort and Residences, Lino’s Meats, Mukul and Kelly Kanabar, Karl H. Menzies, David Mitchell, Mahogany Bay, Pineapples Restaurant, Ramon’s Village Resort, Road to Cayo, Rojo Lounge, Rum + Bean, Scout Hotel and Resort Management, SunBreeze Hotel, Scuba School of Belize, Taco Shack, The Farmhouse Deli, Travelers, Tropic Air, Tuff E Nuff Tours, Victoria House.

Here are a few pictures of the event. As you can see the great House lends itself perfectly to the ambiance of a white party and everyone looked fabulous.