BY ROSANNA STEVENS
HauteHOTEL
A luxury cabaña with private plunge pool overlooks the forest at Blancaneaux Lodge
A CHARMING JUNGLE IDYLL Find reality again at Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize WITH THE PAST 12 MONTHS OFTEN FEELING AS THOUGH THE world has been cast in a disaster movie, we find legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s luxurious Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize is the place to get back to life’s simple pleasures. In a strange echo of our current reality, Blancaneaux Lodge was discovered by Coppola in 1981 when searching for a remote work destination. For almost 20 years, it served as a personal family hideaway and quiet place to write before opening to the public in 1993. Now, it operates as an exquisite retreat for anyone hoping to escape reality, or perhaps find it again. Nestled in lush gardens on the banks of the Privassion Creek, Blancaneaux Lodge offers eco-luxury and impeccable hospitality within 58
the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve in the Cayo district of the Central American country Belize. The 20 individual cabañas and villas, three restaurants, pool, and main lodge blend seamlessly into the stunning scenery along with a horse stable, a 3½-acre organic garden, and the hydroelectric plant that powers much of the property. Impressively, before ecotourism became prevalent in the late nineties, Coppola led the way by harnessing hydroelectric energy from the creek and creating an organic garden to grow fruit and vegetables for the restaurants. He and his wife, Eleanor, developed Blancaneaux from an abandoned hunting lodge into what it is now and viewed their roles mainly as conservators, always exploring new technologies to help preserve this remote corner of the world.
