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!
Just returned from our Beaches and Dreams vacation. It exceeded our expectations. Even with Hurricane Lisa interrupting the middle of our trip. We only got to complete 3 out of 4 excursions because of the storm, but each one was special. The Garifuna Immersion was so informative. I enjoyed learning about their culture and cooking a traditional meal. Xunantunich and cave tubing was an exhausting but wonderful day. Oz is a very knowledgeable tour guide. Lunch was offsite in one of the towns. Cave tubing was perfect accompanied tour to cool off. The Hurricane put a pause on our trip, but the staff took great care of us with room service and extra supplies. We enjoyed renting a golf cart to go into Hopkins village after the stay in place was lifted. Last day was the southern ruins and spice farm. Perfect ending excursion for the trip. Restaurant, Barracuda, was exceptional for our meals and drinks. Dinners were light and fresh, expertly prepared. Love the staff, especially Amanda, Cesar, and miss P. Ben makes great drinks! Our favorite appetizers were the ones we ordered that day. They keep changing as we ordered something different each night to try. Shrimp nachos and family meals are must try at lunch time. Too bad fry jacks weren't offered every breakfast, only because they were so good i wanted more!
We are looking to coming back for another visit. Thank you for an amazing trip.
