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Are you looking for Reasons to Book at La Villa de Soledad B&B?

There are many GOOD reasons to book at La Villa de Soledad B&B. Following is a list of some of the best ones…

Exclusivity!

Reasons to book at La Villa de Soledad B&BWe are a small boutique bed and breakfast. With only four rooms, they can fill up fast! This is one of the top reasons to book at La Villa de Soledad B&B when you make up your mind to travel to the Cangrejal River. We can fill up fast! The fact that we are small means that we are exclusive! You will not run into many people during your stay. As a general rule, our boutique eco lodge attracts a refined crowd. You will meet interesting educated people from around the world, and you will enjoy their company.

Location We Are Easy to Get To!

Our location might seem remote, but we are  easy to get to! This means that you won’t spend lots of time trying to get to your hotel room. We are happy to provide meet and greet and transfer service from La Ceiba to La Villa de Soledad. Arriving by bus to La Ceiba? We will meet you at the bus terminal! If you are arriving by ferry from the Bay Islands, we will do the same! Arriving at the La Ceiba Airport? We will be happy to meet you and transfer you from there.

If you are staying three or more nights, we will provide these transfers on a complimentary basis! Otherwise, we charge you a service charge of $20 US each way for your party of one to four persons. Regardless of where we pick you up, you will enjoy the 30 to 40 minute transfer to our beautiful Spanish Hacienda Style Inn.

Many Nearby Activities…

about rafting in Honduras
White Water Rafting in the Cangrejal River

Once at La Villa de Soledad, you will be surprised at the variety of activities that are available here.  Best of all, many are within walking distance from your hotel room! Hiking across the swing bridge into Pico Bonito National Park is just a five minute walk from your room. The put in for World Class white water rafting in the Cangrejal River is a short fifteen minute walk. A zip line canopy tour at Jungle River is also within 15 minutes walking! Best of all, the swimming in the river is awesome! Simply put, there are so many things to do in La Ceiba that you need to plan on spending several nights here!

If you are into bird watching, then this should be one of the reasons to book at La Villa de Soledad! Enjoy great birding from the comfort of our open lounge. Heck you can even do bird watching while you lay in a hammock! Take a hike out on our trails and see how many different birds you spot! The amateur birders will go nuts with the many keeled billed toucans around out lodge! This is one of the top eco lodges in Honduras.

Great Sleeping

reasons to stay at La Villa de Soledad B&BAt night you will be lulled to sleep by the murmur of the Cangrejal River as it races towards the Caribbean Coast of Honduras. Early in the morning, the chatter of birds will me music to your ears! There is nothing like waking up in a comfortable bed in a beautiful natural setting! We are a bed and breakfast, and we strive to serve you a memorable breakfast to help you start your day well! The aroma of fresh brewed gourmet Honduran coffee will help you jump start your day. Fresh tropical fruits, many from our gardens are a main ingredient in all our breakfasts. Eggs and toast are also part of your breakfast. This is certainly one of the best deals in La Ceiba!

Outstanding Food

Although we do not actually have a restaurant, our guests rave about Soledad’s cooking. Soledad, your host (my wife) is a lovely Honduran lady who is always happy. She loves to have guests rave about her cooking. You will be hard pressed to find better home cooked meals elsewhere in Honduras! She only cooks for her guests and family. This is not a service that is available for walk-ins. So you will love to taste her meals! Many say that this is the best food in La Ceiba!

But perhaps you would like to have lunch or dinner elsewhere. There are two different restaurants within walking distance that you will enjoy.

Fantasitic Hosts

Last, but not least, John, your hosts (me) is bilingual and bi cultural. You will find that I can join your conversation on just about any topic. I am knowledgeable about travel through Honduras and Central America. Besides being an Innkeeper at La Villa de Soledad, I am the editor of Hondurastravel.com. This is an online travel guide and blog about Honduras. I can provide great tips about every destination in Honduras. I also have a travel guide and blog about Nicaragua called Nicatips.com.

Safety

There are many reasons to book at La Villa de Soledad B&B.  They are all good, and they will help you have a memorable experience while in Honduras. Oh, and if you are wondering about whether it is safe or not at the Cangrejal River Valley, we sleep with our doors unlocked! We have lived here for 7 years and never had a problem. Neither have our neighbors. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and  book your rooms with us!

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Chatting with one of our guests this week he described La Villa de Soledad as a Jewel in the Jungle! I of course could not resist to write about this, so here I go…

The truth is that we are in the jungle and we do have a special place.

Getting to our Personal Jewel in the Jungle.

As is customary, I picked up our guests, Keith and Dana at the ferry dock. They arrived from Roatan on the Galaxy Wave ferry at 3:30 p.m. It took them a while to collect all their bags. The Ferry operation is outstanding; but they do need to work on the baggage collection. After meeting with them, we headed towards the Cangrejal River Valley. In total, we travel a distance of about 8 miles from the ferry to La Villa de Soledad.

Although a short drive, most of it is on a dirt road, which delays the arrival a few extra minutes. En route, it is normal for guests to reach a state of awe with the lush jungles and lovely river. About ten minutes after boarding the car, we are in a jungle road which follows the Cangrejal River. There is a dense forest coverage on both sides of the river. To the right is Pico Bonito National Park, to the left is Nombre de Dios National Park. It is easy to wonder where the heck it is you are headed for!

Keith shared with me that he did at one point ask himself if he had selected the right property to stay in. It seemed like we are on our way to a remote location, and the dense jungle made him think he would need to rough it out. He was looking for a nice place in the jungle, but was not particularly excited about rustic lodging!

First Impressions are Always Important!

A jewel in the jungle
Nestled in the tropical jungles of Nombre de Dios and Pico Bonito National Parks.

After about 20 minutes up the Cangrejal River Road we arrived at our destination. A steep drive up the hill usually gets our guests wondering if the car will make it up. The truth is you do need a four wheel drive vehicle to make it up. Half way up the hill you finally are aware of the place you chose to stay in. Our lovely Hacienda style home sits on a small bluff overlooking the Cangrejal River.  It also faces the lush green mountains of Pico Bonito National Park.

I love it when guests finally walk into what we call our living room and acts as the lobby for our Bed and Breakfast.  High cathedral ceilings and open porches blend into the natural surroundings. They always draw some awe inspired sighs! “Wow”, and “Oh My God” are common expressions when our guests walk in.

a jewel in the jungle
Our living room / lobby features a stately fireplace and extra high cathedral ceilings that blend into the natural surroundings.

We are proud of the photos that we have in our website, but the general consensus is that we need better photos. What we have does not do justice to our property! The truth is that we are proud of our jewel in the jungle. We love seeing the impression on our guests faces when they first arrive! It does make for great first impression! Of course, we work hard to keep that good impression throughout their stay.

So now you know… if you are looking for a special place in the tropical rain forests of Central America. Consider staying at La Villa de SoledadBed and Breakfast  in Honduras. You will find that it is a true jewel in the jungle.  Go ahead and book now, to make sure that you can enjoy this lovely paradise that we call home!

Inn Keeping a Wonderful Way of Meeting Interesting People!

I recently had a friend ask if I could write a post for a page he manages. After I sent it to him he thanked me and asked how I wanted the credit, proposing that It should have my name and refer to my ex job, editor at Honduras tips. Although my activity at Honduras tips was a lot of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I felt that the credit should refer to my current activity, which is innkeeper at La Villa de Soledad B&B.

He objected, “an innkeeper is like the guy in charge of the hostel” he said… You should refer to something more important… he suggested. He kind of felt that presenting myself as the innkeeper was not up to my standards. Well, I actually love my activity as innkeeper. I get to play host and meet many different people. Each one falls upon us for different reasons. Some want to get away from it all. Others want to be as close to nature as possible. Some come from as near as La Ceiba, others from as far as New Zealand and Australia! I actually really enjoy the pleasures of inn keeping, why shouldn’t I be proud of it?

Recently a young couple drove up our road in their fully equipped 4X4 SUV. They had California plates, and were looking for a place to camp. After raving about the grounds and location at La Villa de Soledad, they asked if we would allow them to camp there. Usually, I would have said no, but they looked so friendly, and raved about our property. So we quickly agreed to the terms.

An Interesting and Talented Young Couple Visits Us!

inn keepingAs we talked, I learned that their names where Ashwin and Olivia. They were following a dream to travel from California all the way to the Argentine Patagonia! Of course, they still have a lot of road to carry. Ash, as Olivia called him, is a great photographer, and we quickly came to terms of a barter deal. They could spend a couple of nights at our place. In return we would get a video produced about our bed and breakfast. Certainly a win – win deal for both parties.  You can see the video he produced for us here: I’m sure you’ll love it!

One of the pleasures of inn keeping is that from time to time, you will meet someone who shares his dreams with you. Sometimes they are dreams that you can relate to, others they are far from your dreams. One way or another, it is always educating when a person is willing to share his dreams with you. Ashwin and Olivia did just that! I put it my five cents to try to make their dream perfect, suggesting a couple of places that I thought they would love to visit, both in Honduras and Nicaragua.

Being a Travel Writer is a Perfect Match with Inn Keeping

You see, in addition to being an inn keeper together with my wife Soledad at La Villa de Soledad, I am also a travel writer and blogger. I have a travel blog about Honduras that I started recently. I am having a lot of fun putting it together and hope that it will be useful to many different travelers to Honduras. You can visit my Honduras travel blog at www.hondurastravel.com. I also have a travel Nicaragua travel information page that I am in process of turning into a blog. You can visit that one at www.nicatips.com.

Living in Central America has been a great experience. I absolutely love it! If you come out way towards the city of La Ceiba, please consider visiting our bed and breakfast located on the Cangrejal River Valley in La Ceiba. Soledad and I would love to share our little piece of paradise with you, and we would be honored if you are willing to spend some time in our lovely inn: La Villa de Soledad.

Hope to see you soon! Feel free to send us an email and contact us for information regarding our “neck of the woods”!

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Update to Jeannette Kawas National Park After the Fire

This past weekend, a group of persons set fire to the heart of Jeannette Kawas National Park. The raging fire burned over 400 hectares, equivalent to about 1000 acres, of pristine tropical forests. It took the effort of the Honduran Air Force, the Honduras Army, the Tela Firemen and most of the population of Tela to extinguish the fire. The success was made possible thanks to the support and direct actions by the United States Bravo Task Force based at the Soto Cano Air Force base near Comayagua, who pitched in with a total of 4 helicopters, and a large contingent of persons who worked day and night for over 5 days.

Although the result is tragic, and we hope the culprits are found, put before a trial and sentenced, the good news is that no human lives were lost. It will take years to quantify the damages caused to the eco system.

On the bright side, we can categorically state that the most visited natural attraction in Tela is completely unaffected and open to the public. I refer to the Punta Sal Peninsula, which is part of the Jeannette Kawas National Park. The damage to the park is deep inside, and there are no visible signs of it from the coast line, which you follow on the boat trip from the beaches in Tela to Punta Sal. In addition, for those looking to visit the Garifuna Village of Miami, access is normal and there is no damage to be seen neither from the access road nor from the Los Micos Lagoon, which is also one of the main tourist attractions for the Jeannette Kawas National Park.

From a visitor’s point of view, Tela, and the Punta Sal National Park continue to be a very attractive part of Destination Atlantida and can be enjoyed to the fullest.

I hope you find this update to Jeannette Kawas National Park useful and that can proceed to continue your plans of visiting Tela and Jeannette Kawas National Park. As a matter of fact, if you are interested in helping restore the damaged area of the park; one good way to do so is by visiting Tela and buying a tour to the park. When you do so with one of the official tour operators, you are paying an entrance fee that goes to the park administration, and the funds will be extremely handy in the wake of efforts to restore the damage and keep invaders out of the park.

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Honduras Travel, the New Honduras Travel  Blog!

La Villa de Soledad B&B is happy to be associated to the new Honduras Travel Blog. This new site, which is the result of over 23 years of traveling around Honduras and being part of the tourism private sector in the country is yet one more effort to change the image of Honduras abroad and educate the potential traveler so that they can feel more secure and at ease when planning a trip and visiting Honduras!

Honduras travel

This blog is meant to have a full, regularly updated section about the different destinations in the country, highlighting the different things to do, the unique National Parks to visit, as well as tips about where to stay, where to eat and how to be a better traveler within Honduras and Central America.

Honduras travel will also have regular travel posts, which will make up the blog, and share the experiences of someone who has traveled extensively throughout Central America. If you love Honduras, and feel that potential travelers are not getting a fair image of the country, pitch in, Honduras and the different tourism service entrepreneurs need all the help they can get!

Initially, Honduras Travel is offering information on the three most important and popular destinations in Honduras: Atlantida, with its hubs in the Cangrejal River, La Ceiba and Tela; The Bay Islands, including Guanaja, Roatan and Utila, and Copan, which includes Copan Ruinas and Santa Rosa de Copan. They will be expanding this initial limited information progressively, and are confident that they will soon become “The Travel Blog for Honduras”, with updated travel info on all of Honduras .

We are happy to share this breaking news with you, and invite you to visit the Honduras Travel web page and send Honduras Travel your comments and suggestions, as well as sharing the tips with your friends. They now have a facebook page as well as a twitter (@hondurastravel) account which you can follow.  Surely Honduras Travel will become an important tool to market Honduras!

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Tips to plan your Semana Santa 2016 Honduras Holiday!

Easter week, or “Semana Santa” as we name it in Spanish is the busiest week of the year. In Central America in general, and Honduras in particular, citizens flock to the beaches, because this coincides with the hottest, sunniest days of the year. There are so many people traveling throughout Honduras that I thought it would be useful to put together a few tips for those of you who will be enjoying the upcoming Semana Santa 2016 Honduras holidays. This year, Easter Week, or Semana Santa will be between Saturday 19th of March and Sunday March 27th 2016.

Tip# 1. Make sure you make reservations in advance! Being the busiest week in the year, the hotels, hostels and even your friends and family beach homes will fill up, so call ahead and make a reservation. Better, yet, prepay your room in advance if at all possible. This is the best way to insure that the room will be waiting for you when you arrive!

Tip # 2. The absolutely busiest days of the year on the highways and roads in Honduras will be between Thursday 24th and Sunday 27th   of March. If you need to be on the road during these days, make sure you are prepared for a lot of traffic. If at all possible, try to travel before and after these days!

Tip # 3. Despite being the busiest week of the year, most of the transportation companies, including buses, airlines and ferry operators do not operate on Good Friday, which will be Friday 25th of March. Do not count on transportation services on this particular day. It may be possible that one or two companies do provide services, but most will not!

Tip # 4. If you are going to the beach, to the river, or wherever, get there early! This will insure you find a good spot before the crowds roll in!

Tips # 5. If you are still in the planning stage of your holidays, consider vacationing in Atlantida, and visit the magical Cangrejal River Valley, where you will find many different and unique activities to enjoy!

Hotels in Pico Bonito National Park

I hope these tips are helpful and can make your Semana Santa 2016 Honduras holidays more enjoyable!  Happy Easter!

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A asked our guests: Why Honduras?

I picked our guests from Victoria, British Colombia yesterday to bring them to La Villa de Soledad. After our brief, auto introduction to each other, I blurted out: Why Honduras? (Poor Honduras has such a bad, unfair reputation, that most travelers go out of their way not to visit us, so it is always interesting and learning to listen to the reasons they decided upon visiting Honduras.)

As it turns out, Lauren has been to pretty much the rest of Central America, however for her husband Tristan this is the first time to Central America. It turns out that Tristan wanted to visit the Caribbean, and Lauren wanted to visit Central America. This basically left two options: Belize and Honduras.

For the adventure traveler, there is just so much more to see and do in Honduras than in Belize that they quickly decided on visiting Honduras. With only a week to enjoy vacations in Honduras, they decided that La Ceiba and Roatan seemed like the ideal destinations. This is of course  absolutely true. You can enjoy the best of tropical Central America around La Ceiba, especially along the Cangrejal River Valley, where hiking, zip line canopy tours, white water rafting and swimming in one of the most beautiful rivers in Central America are all possible and within walking distance of several different lodges and accommodations, including La Villa de Soledad B&B.

Cangrejal River: how do I get there?

With only a 30 minute drive from the Cangrejal River to the port facility in La Ceiba, you can catch one of two daily departures from La Ceiba to both, Roatan and Utila, and be in an authentic, Caribbean setting within one hour if headed to Utila and 1½ hours if headed to Roatan! Diving in the Bay Islands is absolutely spectacular: you see the Bay Islands of Honduras are actually on the southernmost end of the Meso American Barrier Reef, the most biodiverse barrier coral reef in the World! It also offers the best preserved conditions in all of the Caribbean, allowing you to dive in near pristine conditions. Add the fact that Utila is world famous for its affordable prices to get scuba certified and to spot the majestic whale shark year round, and Roatan is famous for its spectacular West Bay beach and you find the perfect match! The above seems sum up the answer to my why Honduras question!

About Pico Bonito National Park

Best of all, Honduras is not overrun by tourists, you will enjoy hiking in trails in peace and quiet, snorkeling and diving with small groups, and most importantly, you will discover that Hondurans  are friendly, charming people that will go out of their way to keep you safe and make memorable vacations out of your time in Honduras! Now you know why Honduras. No more reasons needed, hurry and book your Honduras trip before everyone discovers the truth about why Honduras is the best travel destination in Central America and the Caribbean!

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Artwork by Jorge Restrepo

At La Villa de Soledad B&B we are proud to promote local artists who have distinguished themselves as leading painters in Honduras. We have slowly gotten together a collection of unique artwork that we are proud of. Not only does it help give a special sense of place to our inn, it also complements what we consider it good taste in our décor throughout our Bed and Breakfast.

 

 

Jorge Restrepo was actually born in Colombia, but worked for many years as a scholar at the Escuela Panamericana de Agricultura, also known as Zamorano. The greens and blues in Honduras inspired his work, which we proudly display in the hallway around our interior courtyard. The painting that we have is titled “Honduras” and truly represents the different shades of green and blue you will find throughout this beautiful country we call Honduras.

Jorge Restrepo

Jorge Restrepo studied drawing and painting at the academy of art, Jesuit School in Medellin, Colombia, Jorge had six individual exhibits in Honduras, Dominican Republic and El Salvador, as well as nine collective exhibits in France, the United Kingdom, the United State, Honduras, Colombia and Brazil. His paintings are collected in different countries. Jorge Restrepo left Honduras a few years ago to return to his native Colombia, but left an important legacy of art in Honduras. You can see more of Jorge Restrepo’s unique artwork at his webpage: http://jorgerestrepo.com/Gallery.html

La Villa de Soledad B&B is one of the few hotels outside of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa to feature original art in our public areas as well as our rooms. If you appreciate original artwork, come and stay with us at La Villa de Soledad B&B and become familiar with our art collection.

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As of early March, there will be changes in the La Ceiba-Utila ferry schedules 2016.

You see the new Utila Dream Ferry, which has been operating at identical departure times as the Utila Princess will be expanding its itinerary to include runs from Utila to Roatan as well as from Utila to Puerto Cortes. Due to these new routes, there will be changes in the La Ceiba – Utila ferry schedule as follow:

Daily Departures:

Utila – La Ceiba:  Departure from Utila at 6:30 a.m. Arrival in La Ceiba at 7:15 a.m.

La Ceiba – Utila: Departure from La Ceiba at 8:30 a.m. Arrival in Utila at 9:15 a.m.

Utila – La Ceiba: Departure from Utila at 3:30 p.m. Arrival in La Ceiba at 4:15 p.m.

La Ceiba – Utila: Departure from La Ceiba at 5:00 p.m. Arrival in Utila at 5:45 p.m.

In addition, the Utila Dream will be operating a Roatan run on Thursdays and Saturdays as follows:

Utila – Roatan: Departure from Utila at 9:30 a.m. Arrival at West End, Roatan at 10:10 a.m.

Roatan – Utila: Departure from West End at 2:00 p.m. Arrival in Utila at 2:40 p.m.

Also, on Friday and Sunday, the Utila Dream will be operating between Utila and Puerto Cortes as follows:

Utila – Puerto Cortes: Departure from Utila at : 9:30 a.m. Arrival .in Puerto Cortes at 12:00 noon

Puerto Cortes – Utila: Departure from Puerto Cortes at 12:30 p.m. Arrival in Utila at 3:00 p.m.

This new schedule means that people can enjoy some extra time in Utila on their departure day. It also means that it gives passengers traveling overland from faraway places a bit extra time to make it to the port facility in La Ceiba in order to catch the outbound ferry to Utila.

The new La Ceiba – Utila ferry schedules 2016 promise to make getting to Utila easier than ever, by allowing travel directly between Roatan and Puerto Cortes to Utila! Congratulations Utila Dream for innovating and providing new routes and new schedules!

As for the Utila Princess ferry, the La Ceiba – Utila ferry schedules 2016 remain as they have been up to now, with no changes for the time being.

Hope that this update to the La Ceiba – Utila ferry schedules 2016 is helpful to arrange your vacation in Utila!

 

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Traveling between Utila and Roatan just got easy!

Despite being sister islands, traveling between Utila and Roatan has always been complicated. With no scheduled service between both islands, it has always been a travelers nightmare traveling between them. Until now, the easiest, and practically only way of travelling between Utila and Roatan has been to take the ferry from Utila to La Ceiba, and then board the ferry from La Ceiba to Roatan. While the schedules worked in both directions, not only where you paying more, you were actually traveling twice the distance and spending more than twice the time you really needed.

The good news is that the Utila Dream, the new ferry that has come to service Utila will now be operating twice a week a Utila to Roatan route, which will be running on Thursday and Saturday making traveling between Utila and Roatan a piece of cake. Departures from Utila will be at 9:30 a.m. from the Municipal dock in Utila, and return from Roatan will depart at 2:00 p.m.  from the Coconut Tree Dock at West End. By using this arrival and departure location, passengers will actually be arriving or departing directly from the heart of the most popular location in Roatan: West End.  The trip will be a short 40 minute ride between both islands!

Island Air, a small airline based in Utila is also offering round trip service between Utila and Roatan on Saturdays, which of course is even more convenient if you are traveling to Roatan to catch an international flight, since you arrive at the Roatan International Airport (RTB).

For those tourists coming in from Belize and Rio Dulce in Guatemala, we have even more good news! The Utila Dream will be traveling between Utila and Puerto Cortes twice a week on Friday and Sunday! Departures from Utila will be at 9:30 a.m.  from the municipal dock and the passage will be only 2 ½ hours, arriving at Puerto Cortes at noontime. Departures from Puerto Cortes will be at 12:30, arriving in Utila by 3:00 p.m.  The cost of the service will be only Lps 700 each way, which is approximately $31 US. Not only will you be saving time, you will also be saving money!

This new routes will be in effect starting the first week in March, 2016, and will certainly make traveling between Utila and Roatan, and between Rio Dulce and Utila much, much easier!

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