We stayed at the Ibagari Boutique Hotel in Roatan, Honduras, for seven nights in early February 2025 for our annual anniversary trip. Since we are trying to visit each country in Central America, Roatan was the easy choice for visiting Honduras. Relatively safe and easily accessible from the United States, I chose Ibagari due to its size (less than 20 rooms!), very cool design elements, and distance from the more popular tourist spots on the island frequented by the cruise ship people that take over the island on a daily basis. Ibagari definitely did not disappoint in each of those aspects, although there were a few notes that would make this resort a truly special place.

The Location

Ibagari is located technically in the West Bay area of Roatan, however is farther away from the main beach that is crowded with tourists. Their beach is small, and not super turquoise blue like some of the photos of West Bay beach itself, but it was calm, and a lovely spot to while away our days.

You can drive across the entire island in about 1.5 hours, so you’re really never far from anything you might want to do here, and driving through some of the more crowded beach spots on the island definitely solidified my suspicion that we wanted to stay far away from those areas. The only folks we saw at Ibagari that weren’t staying there were people who came to the exquisite Luna Muna restaurant in the evenings for dinner. We loved the location for its privacy and chill atmosphere.

The Amenities

Ibagari has a decent concierge-type service that will assist you with booking rides wherever you want to go, either by land or sea, or restaurant reservations, however we thought that they could’ve been more transparent about costs. We also thought that one of the desk managers was rude, basically making fun of Brian for not feeling comfortable using his Spanish. The resort has a free water taxi that will take you to either West Bay Beach or West End Beach, you just need to let them know in advance when you plan to go.

There is an on-site shop for basic sundry items and souvenirs, and you can chat with the general manager or assistant managers there for whatever you need. There is a spa on site as well, which is slightly strange. There seems to be only one treatment room, which is basically a repurposed suite, however there is no view and nothing very interesting about it. They make a big deal about their “Art of Wellness” program on their website, and we did take advantage of signing up for the loyalty club and received two-for-one massages. I’m really glad, though, that my massage was essentially free, because it was probably one of the worst massages I’ve ever received. They spent at least ten minutes, essentially, pinching my toes, and not in a deep snappy way that feels good – more like a light, wimpy way that almost made me want to turn around and ask what the heck they were doing? There were lots of knuckles and thumbs, and it was overall quite terrible.

The restaurant, Luna Muna, is beyond compare, and is consistently rated one of the top restaurants on the entire island. Next week, I’ll be publishing a full article about everything we ate there, and I’ll link it here once it’s published. We ate extremely well on our trip, and each dish was special in its own way, from breakfast to dinner, craft cocktails and desserts, Luna Muna is one of the main reasons you want to stay at Ibagari. Even if you want to eat in your room, there is no upcharge for room service!

Finally, there are some really interesting pools and hot tubs around the property that literally blend into the scenery, as well as the previously mentioned small beach. We primarily hung out on the beach in as much shade as possible, and were treated to supremely excellent beachside service. Sarah, our primary server was always around making sure we had enough food and drink, continuously refilled our water (complimentary!), brought us ice cold towels and popsicles in the heat of the day, and generally made sure we were well taken care of. This was some of the best beachside or pool service we have experienced in all of Central America and the Caribbean!

The Room

The rooms at Ibagari are meant to evoke calm, with a very modern sensibility. They all have very clean lines with a ton of natural wood and materials to augment the minimalistic design. We stayed in a Deluxe Suite, located in the newer building on the property called Uruwa, which was completed only a few years ago. It was essentially one large room, with a desk in the back with closet space and a mini fridge, the large, comfortable bed was in the middle, and in the front of the space was a cute sitting area. There was a spacious veranda in the front with a table and day bed, although, unfortunately this was essentially unusable in the evenings as it cooked under the afternoon sun.

The bathroom was very spacious, and featured a large soaking tub in the middle of the shower room. Oddly, this kind of impeded the otherwise awesomely large shower space, with a nice rain shower. The tub should have been placed closer to the front of the space instead of right in the middle. A strange design choice, or maybe something that was overlooked.

There are blackout shades that are amazing, and the room is super dark at night, which I loved. I didn’t even need to cover any irritating lights with electric tape, something I bring with me on every trip these days. The space is quiet, except when Luna Muna is super busy, although they close at 10pm, and it really quiets down quickly after that. We were gifted a welcome bottle of prosecco and fruit in the room, since it was our anniversary!

The large, king sized bed is extremely well appointed with lots of soft linens, blankets, and multiple kinds of pillows to choose from. It was very comfortable, and we slept very well here. There are also brand new a/c units, and so keeping things cool while we were sleeping was not a problem. We had no technical issues with the room at all, which is possible a first for us in Central America.

Activities and Excursions

There are a range of activities to do at the resort, as well as off property. They do offer yoga most mornings, and there is a cocktail class, a private sunset cruise, and other wellness-related activities. They will pretty much set up anything you want to do at Ibagari, and they do pride themselves on service and making whatever you want to do, happen.

They offered a day trip with a private driver which was a bit of a strange experience, however. First, we were basically told we could go wherever we wanted, although we weren’t provided too much guidance as to what else there was to do on the island. A mangrove tour was suggested as something nice to do, but when we got there, we were told it would be $100 cash only, which we felt like was a complete scam. We felt really icky and gross after this experience, and I would not recommend it at all.

Then, we headed to a restaurant that was apparently pre-chosen by the resort, but when we were paying the bill, we were made to pay for our driver’s food as well. Insane. We were then taken to Roatan Brewing Company which was actually the coolest part of the day. The beers that we tried were incredible, and this was a bustling and fun place to hang out. They serve food as well, and there was a local artisan market going on when we were there. Honestly, they could’ve driven us here for lunch and to spend a few hours hanging out, and it would’ve been much better than driving around getting scammed all day.

On our way back to the hotel, our driver was pulled over by police carrying AR-15s, who had a road block and check point set up. He was made to get out of the car and when he finally came back about 10 minutes later, advised that he was shaken down for a bribe, because they knew who he was and he was driving a much nicer car than usual. All in all, our driver was not super professional (he was talking on the phone in Spanish during lunch and swearing so much we thought we were watching an episode of ‘Narcos’), nor did he provide any history or information about the island, and the whole experience seemed like a bizarre con or scam of some kind. Luckily, when we returned to the resort, we told the desk manager about everything that happened, including our disappointment that they didn’t tell us that we would need to bring tons of cash for this tour, and they significantly discounted the charge.

Finally, there is a very well regarded dive shop on the property – Duna Divers. We intended to participate in an all day excursion out to Cayos Cochinos, which is fully private, however due to the weather on the other side of the island, Dive Master Axel advised it was probably better to not go and have to turn around. We felt that Axel was one of the most honest folks we talked to on the island – and not out to scam us or make a buck. So we ended not going on a snorkeling trip during our stay. That said, based on how concerned about fun AND safety Axel was, I wouldn’t hesitate to book with Duna Divers for any of your water activity based needs while on Roatan.

The Vibe

Ibagari has an island chill, luxe vibe. Apart from dinners at Luna Muna, there are very few folks around, and the breezes coming in off the water, coupled with the whole main building being open air, as well as all of the water features surrounding the property, give the hotel an easy, relaxed feeling. There is cool, modern art everywhere, not to mention lots of natural wood, and even trees growing in the middle of the restaurant. The vibe gets more lively in the evening around sunset, when people come out of the woodwork, so to speak, to watch the stunning, nightly show of the sun going down on the horizon.

You definitely feel like you are at a place where a lot of time, care, and attention went into the design of the common areas and suites. This is easily one of the most beautifully designed places we have stayed in Central America, and the design definitely lends itself to relaxation. My only note here is that they really need to switch up the music playlist daily. We literally listened to the same songs in the same order every single day, for seven days, not only during the day, but in the evening during dinner as well. I love Bob Marley, and it’s not like the music was bad, but it’s not that hard to eat least shuffle your playlist, or change it up regularly.

The Recommendation

While I overall would not recommend coming to Roatan in general (there are other, just as accessible places in Central America with more vibrant culture, food, and less scammy), if you are going to come to this island, I would highly recommend staying at Ibagari. The really cool design of the common areas and the rooms, excellent beachside service, and the best restaurant on the island make it an easy recommendation. Stick with hanging out on the beach and water activities, and you will have a great, relaxing time here! We definitely left feeling refreshed and de-stressed!