This was our first trip to Belize and we loved it. Kate and Ian were great hosts and were very helpful in everything from the booking of the plane from Belize City to Punta Gorda to trips we did everyday while there. Kate is an excellent cook! Ian has such dry sense of humor and I enjoyed the interaction between him and my husband. Ian always sent us off on our daily excursions with a smile on our face as well as a full belly from our meal. (Tell Darrell and the others hello!) They are knowledgeable about the town and readily answer questions. On the other hand, if you do NOT like to be without air conditioning, TV, internet, telephone, night-time activities (other than jungle hiking), restaurants 24/7, or have frizzy hair...this area not your place to stay. IF you like adventure, the unknown, friendly atmosphere, local education, hiking, bike riding, jungle trekking, scuba diving, snorkeling, great food then this is the place you should go. I knew in advance what type of place Punta Gorda would be....jungle, tropical rain forest, lots of mosquitos and high humidity. There is no a/c in the cottage, just the wonderful breeze blowing in through the levered windows along with a ceiling fan and an oscillating fan. The lights you have is the night light in the bathroom and the light filtering in from the solar powered lights along the walk way. At night you can go to sleep along with the jungle life and the rain that come in the night just like clock work every night (this is the rainy season). You awake in the morning to the jungle waking up as the sun is coming up. The birds are calling to each other as well as the howler monkeys. We actually did not get to see them but we heard them. The flowers and vegetation is beautiful at the cottage. We biked into town, stopped at a local area for beer and karaoke, went to a cacao farm, hiked in Blue Creek, went snorkeling, fishing, ate at local restaurants, went to Fallen Stone Butterfly Farm, had a dip in the plunge pool, took many pictures and all around had a wonderful experience to share with our friends and family here at home. **Tips: bring plenty of bug spray that has deet in it, light weight (such as gauze material) long sleeve shirts and pants are good or you can spray your clothes with the bug spray along with any body parts that are showing. We used Off Deep Woods and Cactus Juice spray and Cactus Juice SPF lotion that has bug repellent in it. Bring hats and shoes you can jungle trek in. I bought a pair of Keen athletic sandals and my husband brought a pair of Teva athletic sandals which were great. We also had a back pack each which we packed full of clothes and other items and only had one stored luggage which was a big duffle bag for the liquid items we couldn’t bring on board as well as other clothing and items.** As I said at the beginning this was our first trip to Belize but it will not be our last! Hats off to Kate and Ian!

My daughter & I stayed at Hickatee Cottages for 4 nights. The cottages are in a beautiful natural setting, yet within an easy cycle ride or walk of PG. The tropical garden is natural & serene, and flows imperceptibly into the surrounding jungle. The cottages provide all the comforts any sane traveller would need, and, in addition your own verandah, an ensuite bath, and a ceiling fan. Thankfully one may sleep without the intrusion of airconditioning (totally unnecessary with ceiling fans anyway) so night-times are especially rewarding with noises as the prolific forest life will come around the cottages. Whilst the proprietors are always accesible and attentive, they keep themselves very much in the background. Food is as fresh as you could ever find, and home prepared natural ingredients are used wherever possible.
Hickatee achieves a combination of comfort & harmony that I have never found in establishments that set themselves up as 4 or 5 star.
I will be returning.

My husband and I emailed Kate and Ian (from their website) a few days before we flew into Belize City. Ian picked us up at the Punta Gorda airport and took us out to Hickatee. This was our first trip to Southern Belize and to Hickatee and we would definitely recommend it.

Accomodation: Clean, charming, spacious, comfy bed
Coffee: Local grown and roasted beans, best coffee we had in all of Belize (served every morning on our veranda)
Food: WONDERFUL (they can cook for us anytime). The fresh bread was so delicious! Mashed potatoes were so rich and creamy, veggies and seafood cooked to perfection, and everything served hot.
Property: huge variety of plants, tons of birds, trails to trek on, small pool to soak in, chairs to repose in and a great atmosphere to relax and wind down
Other stuff: awoke to the sound of howler monkeys and birds each morning; lots of books to read; the tour of the Butterfly Farm was really interesting.

Highly recommend this for couples who are looking for a charming, reasonably priced place to stay that has great food and atmosphere. Kate and Ian are very friendly, knowledgeable and also very supportive of the community they live in. They shared lots of information including their love of the local music and culture. It was a fantastic way for us to start our vacation in Belize.

The stand-alone cottage is one of 3 available rooms, pretty, airy, very clean, surrounded by jungle gardens. Owners Ian and Kate are friendly and helpful, they bring you coffee on your porch in the morning and breakfast on the veranda -a great way to start the day. Located just outside of Punta Gorda, better to have a car or be prepared for $7 taxi or a hot bike ride into town. Cool drinks at the bar and a tiny dipping pool were very much appreciated. Ian was going to his "other job" at the Butterfly Farm, he met us at Lubaantum and took us there - a great experience to be in a cage literally covered with butterflies!