My wife and I spent two nights here in mid-April for nature viewing and touring nearby ruins. We didn't rent a car so arranged for BEVL to pick us up from our boat transfer from Turneffe Caye. Spent the next two days touring ruins (Altun Ha, Lamanai) and the adjacent Crooked Tree sanctuary.

Rooms were basic and clean. Our room was US $90 - second floor (extra $) room with A/C ($10 extra)). We really enjoyed the reasonably priced (US $8 and $12 as I recall) breakfasts and dinners at BEVL.

The Lamanai tour was booked through BEVL, but run by another company. It probably would have been excellent but we were put in a group staying at a Caye. As a result the tour was on a very tight and abbreviated schedule. Almost no bird/nature viewing during the boat ride on the river to Lamanai, and a brief stay at Lamanai. Other guests had described their tour, where they enjoyed an extensive nature/birding experience during the boat rides and plenty of time at the Lamanai site. I complained to the BEVL owner and she did refund part of our tour cost, and discounted our return shuttle to Belize City. She also said she made it clear to the tour operator that her guests are not to be put on tours with people from the Cayes (due to their abbreviated schedule requirements). In all, I thought the deal was fair. Still, watch for this if you go on that tour.

Since we didn't have a car BEVL we booked transportation to the sites or (for Lamanai) the tour operation. If you do one tour a day, this would probably pay for a rental car as BEVL charged about US $75 per shuttle (each about an hour's drive one-way).

We spent most of our time with one guide (I forgot his name, a statement of my memory not his performance). He was extremely knowledgeable about wildlife and birds, and very accommodating as we asked to spend some time when returning from tours looking for toucans or revisiting the nesting Jabiru storks for example.

I booked this expecting it would offer a fairly unique experience for viewing birds and nearby ruins. Our expectations were met but I didn't budget nearly enough for all the tours we enjoyed.

This lodge is located on the shores of a lagoon (actually, a sometimes wide spot on the Belize River). Both the lagoon and a small pond behind the ldoge attract lots of birds. Our room was comfortable, the food was very good, the staff was hospitable and the birding guide had a great eye. This place is a winner for birders.

We spend my wife and I 2 nights there and it cost us for the sheapest room plus 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 2 diners and few drinks around 300 bucks. This is too expensive for a room where the restroom wall stop 3 feet before the seilling, You can imagine the intimacy. Plus you don't have the choice there is no other restaurant close to there, they charge you a lot for a very simple meal.
I will not recommand anyone to go there, it's too much expensive for the quality offered.

We just returned from our Belize vacation and while there were many high points we were disappointed in Birds Eye View. Specifically:

- Price. We were quoted by phone $60/night for an air conditioned 2nd floor room. When we arrived we were told by Verna (the owner/manager) that air conditioning was $10 extra. She literally ignored our protest that we had been quoted a rate including a/c -- basically we were told take it or leave it and, having already arrived at the lodge which is in the middle of nowhere, we had to take it. Then upon check-out we were dinged an additional 3 or 3.5% for paying via credit card - we had been told credit cards were accepted but not informed of the additional charge, which seemed a bit disingenuous. The birding tour was good but the $80 for 2 for 3 hours price was steep compared to other guided tours we'd done in the country (cave tubing, snorkeling, sailing, etc). Also, for some reason when you rent a canoe they charge you per person ($10/hour for two), which seemed strange since the same canoe is used whether there are one or two passengers.

- Cleanliness-bugginess. Despite being told by verna that "bugs are not a problem", our room was FULL of them. Big ones, small ones, in between ones. There was a line of ants doing a conga across our bathroom floor. Literally hundreds of bugs. We were bitten a bit, not terribly badly, but this was easily our buggiest room in Belize. There was a gecko in the room which we thought was a bit charming - you might not if you don't like lizards. The room was also definitely not clean - rug had not been shaken out in ages and there was quite a bit of dirt around (we peeked under the bed which was filthy).

- Bed. The beds are not comfortable. At least our was not. It was old and the mattress was very thin - almost felt like we were sleeping on the box spring.

- Lagoon tour. Not being birders, we were more interested in non- bird wildlife than the birds themselves. Our guide was very bird knowledgable and we saw tons of them, including the jabiru stork, which is impressive. We really didn't see much else (1 iguana).

Overall - if you are a birder you may love the experience. If you are not, be aware of what you are getting into.