The Placencia

The Placencia Review

Transplant an upscale Florida or Texas condo community to Belize, and you might end up with something like The Placencia, formerly called Zeboz. The resort offers such amenities as tennis courts; an upscale restaurant with a 9,000-bottle wine cellar; the nation's largest swimming pool; and a sandy, 1,000-foot beach with a dock that goes out some 200 feet. A Trent Jones golf course and a marina are planned, though the completion dates are unknown. There are even plans for a gun club, with skeet and trap shooting facilities, and outdoor pistol and rifle ranges. The Placencia suites and villas have whirlpool baths and tile floors. The Capriccio restaurant serves Italian and some Belizean dishes, and there are two other small open-air restaurants. A full meal plan with tax and service is BZ$238 per person per day, more than many local Belizeans make in a week. It's all very nice, but in multiple visits and stays over the years, we've rarely seen more than a few guests here. However, if you like it and don't want to leave, you can buy a condo here, starting at about US$350,000. The developers are changing the face of the northern peninsula, building additional condos here and at the nearby super-deluxe Copal Beach high-rise development, where condos will go for millions, as well as huge, McMansion-style houses in a gated community on the lagoon side.