A Barefoot, Botanical Retreat at the Coppola Hideaways in Belize
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Aaron Colussi
At the vertiginous edge of a rock face, I find a wooden chair and sit down. Below, a creek snakes its way downstream. Ahead, an impenetrable tangle of pine forest that's home to all manner of bird and beast. It's not hard to understand what drew director Francis Ford Coppola to this cinematic corner of western Belize, where in 1981 he bought a derelict hunting lodge. It soon became a family retreat and later, Blancaneaux Lodge, a 20-room hideaway loved by in-the-know adventure seekers.
For Coppola's own children, Blancaneaux Lodge was a paradisiacal coming-of-age setting. “I'd hop around on rocks and swim in the river with my brothers,” recalls his daughter, the director Sofia Coppola. “I feel so lucky to have had these jungle adventures.” It was this deep connection with Blancaneaux—and Belize—that she wanted to channel in a collaboration with Monastery, a San Francisco–based botanical skin-care company with a devoted international following.
Athena Hewett, the esthetician and founder behind Monastery, shares the younger filmmaker's fondness for forests. “I used to suffer from severe acne, and as a skin specialist, that caused me great anxiety,” says Hewett when we meet at Blancaneaux, where she is training the spa staff on her facial techniques. “So I took myself on an Eat, Pray, Love trip to Indonesia and spent a lot of time in its rainforests—and my skin cleared up.” Returning to San Francisco, she turned to botanicals to formulate her first product: a cleansing oil with anti-inflammatory ingredients.
A longtime admirer of Coppola, Hewett sent her a bottle of the oil as a gift—and earlier this year, Coppola visited Monastery's spa for a treatment. “Sofia loved that we were plant-based and small-batch,” says Hewett. Just weeks later the two began collaborating on a face mist, made with rosewood from Central America, rose, and orchid oil. It was designed to be used during treatments at the Blancaneaux spa—and to be a perfect souvenir from Belize. “It's fun to discover new things when you're on holiday and find the time to slow down and pamper yourself,” says Coppola.
There's plenty to discover in the areas around Blancaneaux too. One day I set out with Hewett and a few others in kayaks and enter a cave system where we squeeze past columns of stalactites as a primordial darkness envelops us. Another day we ride horses to a waterfall and go for a swim. Access routes in and out of Blancaneaux have vastly improved since the Coppola family first arrived, but not much has changed at the lodge, with its breeze-cooled cottages; wood-paneled Jaguar Bar, where photos of old archaeological digs hang; and warm, familial service. “I love that Blancaneaux has felt the same over the years—rustic but comfortable,” says Coppola.
The next day Hewett and I drive to Turtle Inn via the Hummingbird Highway, which leads to Belmopan, the capital. We pass citrus orchards and rivers and Mennonite farmers selling melons from buggies. Like Blancaneaux, this elegant retreat bears the imprint of the family. It's a restful spot, with hibiscus-lined paths leading to thatched cabanas with wood-carved doors and Japanese soaking tubs. Turtle Inn's proximity to the Belize Barrier Reef system means that marine adventures abound, but it's also the kind of place that encourages doing nothing more than sipping a poolside Chardonnay and tucking your toes in the sand while eating a whole lobster.
If you were a Coppola, though, you might tackle a screenplay. Sofia wrote Priscilla in the modernist bungalow where she often stays with her husband, Thomas Mars of the band Phoenix, and their daughters. It's a stylish, if simply decorated, home—an aesthetic departure from the Bali-tinged vision that typifies the rest of Turtle Inn.
I come here one evening for a facial. It has been an eventful day, with sightings of swamp crocodiles and howler monkeys, and I'm grateful to lie under a waxing moon and listen to the sloshing of nearby waves. I surrender to Hewitt's practiced strokes as a humid breeze spreads the scent of rose and jasmine. In just a few weeks, she tells me, she will be formulating new spa and bath products to be used across all of the Coppola retreats.
Afterward, we gather for pizza in the organic garden where Coppola's mother, Eleanor, planted arugula and Francis oversaw every last detail. Chip and Salsa, the resident dogs, lie cooling off in a corner. Martin Krediet, the longstanding general manager, works the bar. Everyone has a Francis story. It takes visiting to appreciate how much the family itself makes Coppola Hideaways unique. “They've poured so much into these properties,” says Hewett. “Sofia would say to me, ‘I love that you've kept your business so authentic, that you make everything yourself.’ What she didn't say at the moment was, ‘That is how my family runs things.’ But I see it now.”
This article appeared in the December 2024 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler
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