Itz’ana Resort & Residences video tour by Rosie Bell

1) The backstory

Placencia stretches out as a slender beach peninsula backed by calm lagoons and tangled mangroves on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. Among the peninsula’s most polished addresses is Itz’ana Resort & Residences, a boutique beachfront retreat developed by Proven Partners, the hospitality group also behind Ka’ana Resort & Spa in the Cayo District of Belize. Itz’ana Resort & Residences is part of Small Luxury Hotels and takes its name from Itzamna, the Maya god of day and night. With jungle-print wallpapers that climb walls beneath soaring ceilings, it offers guests proximity to quiet, to nature, and to islands you’ve never heard of but won’t soon forget.

2) The rooms

Such is the variety of accommodations available at Itz’ana that you can make a multi-room villa your home away from home or book an entire private island.

Starting with the Deluxe Rooms, these are 360-square-foot sanctuaries with king beds dressed in 300-thread-count linens, intimate sitting areas with 140-square-foot private terraces, and cushioned daybeds made for lingering between swims.

The Beachfront Suites offer 765 square feet of air-conditioned interior space and generous living and dining areas alongside a 775-square-foot wraparound terrace perched directly on the sand.

The Pool View Two Bedroom Penthouse is full fantasy-home territory with two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a chef-designed kitchen, and a private plunge pool.

The Seaview Three Bedroom Penthouse, also with a private plunge, is a top-floor 3,385-square-foot sprawl with elegantly designed interior living space tailored for families, groups, or couples traveling together in style.

There are one, two, and three-bedroom Beach Villas, and in late 2025, Itz’ana Resort & Residences expanded its accommodation portfolio with the debut of the new Marina Villas, introducing private docks, direct marina access, and a more residential style of waterfront living. The largest of the bunch is the 4,000-square-foot Four Bedroom Marina Villa with 3.5 bathrooms.

Completing the portfolio, in 2025, Itz’ana introduced Coral Caye Island Reserve, a private island that’s a 25-minute boat ride away from the main resort. Surrounded by coral reefs and impossibly turquoise water, the secluded retreat accommodates up to 10 overnight guests across two rustic-luxe cottages and a Great House, with private chef and butler service, barefoot beach dinners, hammocks strung between palms, zero crowds, and reef exploration right offshore.

Coral Caye Island Reserve image courtesy of Itz’ana Resort & Residences

3) Food & drink

Dining at Itz’ana leans fully into the beautiful collision of cultures that defines the country itself: Garifuna, Creole, Caribbean, Mestizo. At Limilia, the resort’s all-day restaurant, line-caught fish hauled in by local fishermen lands on plates alongside herbs and vegetables pulled from the resort’s organic garden. You’ll pick between indoor and outdoor seating and make selections from a seafood-leaning menu. There’s also Biblio Bar, a dimly lit reading room lined with books and worn leather chairs. This is an easy place to disappear for an afternoon or a laid-back evening. The Pool Bar, meanwhile, caters to the simpler but equally noble pursuit of drinking something tropical while horizontal.

4) Services & amenities

There’s enough happening around Itz’ana Resort & Residences to keep both restless travelers and committed loungers equally occupied. The centerpiece is a palm-fringed infinity pool that’s sizeable enough to swim laps.

Days naturally drift between the pool, the beach, and the hammocks affixed to trees on the beach. There’s a spa with 30 to 90-minute treatments on the menu, but wellness also extends to sunrise yoga on a beachfront deck, guided breathwork and meditation sessions by the water, sound healing, and scenic peninsula runs.

A calendar of events that ranges from artisan markets and beach cinema nights to sunset cruises, wine tastings, martini evenings, pool parties, and Belizean culinary experiences gives the resort the feeling of a small Caribbean social club where there’s always something happening just beyond your beach chair.

5) Style, decor & character

Itz’ana Resort & Residences quietly weaves Belizean lunar folklore into its design philosophy. In local Maya tradition, natural materials are often harvested according to the moon’s cycles, which are believed to influence everything from water absorption to durability. The resort embraces this practice by using bejuco wood harvested during a full moon for its privacy screens and lagoon-home siding.

Nearly everywhere you stand, there’s a reminder that you’re in Belize, with sea breeze drifting through the high-ceilinged grand hall, jungle motifs climbing the walls, and palm fronds framing nearly every sightline.

Sustainability is also baked directly into the resort’s design, with locally sourced wood, rainwater collection systems, wastewater management, and energy-efficient lighting integrated into the property.

6) Location & nearby sights

To reach Itz’ana Resort, travelers can fly into Placencia Airport (PLJ) or arrive via Belize City’s Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE) before embarking on a scenic three- to four-hour drive south. The hotel is located a 10-minute drive from the village of Placencia.

During your time in Belize, you can move from snorkeling coral reefs to spotting howler monkeys in the jungle, all without needing to mentally recalibrate to a new language along the way. The former British Honduras is the only country in Central America with English as its official language.

While it would be easy to spend days cocooned inside Itz’ana Resort & Residences, the hotel can be a sublime launchpad into the wilder side of southern Belize. You can head out for anything from waterfall rappelling and ziplining through dense rainforest canopy to personalized manatee and whale shark spotting excursions and diving trips along the Belize Barrier Reef, the second-largest barrier reef system in the world. The Itz’ana concierge team can help you put all this together.

On the whale shark front, due to the aforementioned belief in the moon’s influence, a local doctrine is that lunar cycles affect marine life profoundly, and as such, whale shark sightings are typically best within the three days before and after a full moon during the season between March and June.

During my stay at Itz’ana, I went snorkeling at Laughing Bird Caye National Park to see the wonderful coral restoration work being carried out by Fragments of Hope, a community-based organization located on the Placencia peninsula. The underwater world was so mesmerizing and vibrant around this 1.8-acre island, which is named after the boisterous laughing gulls that used to nest there. Topside, the swaying palms and soft sands were also a visual treat.

Laughing Bird Caye is a protected national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Placencia in Belize.

Laughing Bird Caye

7) Who it’s right for & what to pack

Itz’ana Resort & Residences feels tailor-made for those who are torn between jungle and beach holidays and don’t want to choose, groups or families wanting villa-style space with hotel amenities, and people who fancy living directly on the sand.

Essentials to pack include breathable clothing for the humidity, reef-safe sunscreen, a hat for long boat days, reef shoes for snorkeling excursions and island hopping, a dry bag or waterproof phone pouch for marine excursions, and something slightly elevated for dinner and cocktails, though the resort leans more relaxed than dressy.