BelMar was clean, the staff was friendly, but that was about it. Although on Bonaire I am not sure that the other choices are any better. The biggest problem is that there is no air conditioning in the main living area, which would be okay if you could open the sliding doors. However, there are NO SCREENS and tons of mosquitoes. My entire family got eaten alive and we were burning up in that room.

As far as Bonaire goes, first of all beware of the travel agent(s) that are constantly online giving advice. They may be friendly and helpful at first but I would think twice. Second, I would NEVER return to Bonaire unless I was a scuba diver. It would have been nice if the agent told me that. It is no place for families.

Clearly the island is a diving island and that is who they cater to. There is really no attempt to make anything look nice or to make good food or anything like that. Quite the contrary. I have travelled all over and would never ever recommend Bonaire.

What a great stay at Bel-Mar!!!! Perfect setup for divers. Super nice staff and clean , island-esque accomodations, excellent setup for drying gear on the balcony - balcony had a lovely ceiling fan, great view, we spent lots of time there just hanging out vs. inside. The ONLY drawbacks are that the tile floors can get a bit slick and the dishes in the kitchen were a bit sparse. Otherwise the A/c in the BR was fine and cool and this was a super place to shore dive or hang at the pool. We arrived at 6 am on the red eye and were checked in immediately by the lovely office staff. Hakuna Matata at BelMar and we'll be back!!!!!! almost forgot - we don't have kids but it looked like a great place for family vacation, plenty of space, private pool, & the decor is built to withstand a bit of sand and water from divers/kids - no carpet. And great rate!

My husband and I have been to Bonaire twice before and stayed at the Plaza resort. This summer was the first time we were bringing our boys (ages 7 and 10), so on our last visit we went to several properties (5 or 6) to check out which one would best suit our family. Once we saw Belmar, we knew it would be the perfect fit and it was! One priority for us was a pool. Our kids like to play in the pool in the afternoons and Belmar has a nice one. We also like to have ocean view and each room at the Belmar has a beautiful view and very close to the ocean. There is not a sandy beach here - but most hotels in Bonaire do not have that. We just took a few afternoon trips to Plaza and Bonaire Windsurf Place when we wanted to spend time at the beach with the kids.

They picked us up and dropped us off at the airport. The rental truck that came with our package was waiting for us at Belmar. We were lucky and able to get into our room as soon as we arrived (6am in the morning). We had a 2 bedroom apartment. It was perfect for us. It has a huge patio with table and chairs and plenty of room to hang your dive gear. Belmar has lots of BCD hangers for you to use and nice sturdy poles to hang your gear from. They also have a drying rack for swimsuits, etc. Lots of people left their gear out on the patio at night, but we weren’t that brave, we put it in the hotel or locked closet. The boys’ room had two twin beds and their own bathroom. Plenty of room in dresser and closet. Our room had a very nice bathroom, with double sinks. The bedrooms are air conditioned but it only stays on if the door is closed and you are in the room. We had a little trouble getting the boys air to work, but Belmar was awesome at taking care of things. When we were at the hotel, we kept the back door and the sliding glass doors facing the ocean open and it kept a nice breeze going through the place. We are pretty “wimpy” as far as always “needing” air-conditioning and we were slightly nervous about the fact that only the bedrooms were air conditioned but to be honest it was fine. Our room was nice and cold for sleeping and the rest of the place was fine for hanging out – not too hot. The fridge had an ice and water dispenser right in the door so that was nice. Our truck was included with the hotel package and it was nice not to have one more thing to check in and do on our own. One of the reasons we picked this hotel is because it has a pool – a must have for our kids. They spent a lot of time in the afternoon playing in the pool. We will definitely return to the Belmar. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The accommodations were perfect for our family. My husband and I were used to all the “long walks” at the Plaza, so it was nice to have everything so close. We did see dophins swim in from of Belmar from our dock and that was cool.

Belmar Hotel and apartments is a fantastic oceanfront condominium type hotel. The apartment we stayed in was a three bedroom with a master bedroom/bath, kitchen, living room and large terrace below two bedrooms and a bath on the upper level. There are also one and two bedroom units. Clean, well furnished and comfortable, with an on-site dive center affiliated with Buddy's Dive. The staff was friendly and helpful. The dive site out front is near shore and enjoyable. The Belmar is the closest complex with a pool we could find to the windsurfing at Lac Bay. The cost was very reasonable. I recommend it highly. It is close to town (less than 10 minutes) south of the airport, (less than 5 minutes).