We had a great time at the Roatan Yacht Club hotel; however, when we booked this hotel, we were under the impression that it also had a scuba dive shop attached. According to their website, and everything we had read about this hotel, it's name was "Roatan Dive and Yacht Club". Unfortunately, this was no longer true, since the owner had asked the owner of the dive shop to close up and move elsewhere in January. So we had to find a dive shop, which fortunately for us was the same shop that had been attached to this hotel. We found out during the week, that the owner of the hotel did not want the dive shop to even use his docks to pick us up or drop us off, which caused some problems. I met with the hotel owner to remind him and show him that his website still shows there is a dive shop, so he agreed to let them continue to pick us up. Subway Watersports dive shop was great and we had a great time diving with them all week. They would pick us up on the hotel dock in the morning after breakfast, take us for 2 dives, drop us back at the hotel for lunch and pick us back up afterwards for another dive. Then drop us back in the afternoon in time for happy hour (4-6pm), take our gear back to their shop to clean and store it for the night. Repeat!
Our hotel room at the Yacht Club was spacious and very clean and air conditioned. We had a room with 2 double beds, table and chairs, and a nice-sized closet with shelves as well as hanging space for our clothing. The bathroom had a shower with lots of hot water and a soap/shampoo dispenser and a hair dryer. There is a water pitcher in the room that you can have filled with ice water every day. The balcony also had chairs to sit out in the evenings, as well as places to hang our dive and swimming suits to dry. They have a safety deposit box available in the office to keep your passports and airline tickets safe during your visit. You are given a key and also have to have the office key to use it - so I felt very safe leaving our valuables there and you could come and go from it anytime. There was a night security guard on duty on the hotel grounds, so we felt very safe. There is also laundry service, just leave your clothes on the bed in a bag and the maids will do your laundry - cost is about $10 a load. There was one computer with internet connection as well as 2 hookups for those traveling with a laptop to check email. Price was $5 for 30 minutes and $8 for 60 minutes. Happy hour is from 4-6pm everyday, 2 for 1 local beers and rum drinks served from the outdoor bar. The restaurant was excellent. We usually sat out on the patio overlooking French Harbour and watched the boats come and go as we ate. Jurgen, the German chef made excellent meals, including great German food (schnitzels, rump steak, cordon bleu), as well as many other things. The menu had quite a variety and prices were reasonable. Friday night is an all-you-can-eat buffet which included pork roast and all the trimmings for $8.50. The wait staff was excellent - Oscar and Jose took very good care of us everyday. We ate all our meals except one at the hotel restaurant. The restaurant has a rest day on Wednesdays, but will still provide breakfast and sandwiches in the evening. We decided to walk up the hill to Gio's for a great King Crab meal - and it was a good choice. The meal consisted of salad, garlic toast, huge king crab (entirely covered the plate) and veggies all for around $18.
The grounds around the hotel are nice. Lots of flowering trees and shrubs. There is a small swimming pool and walking paths with benches for beautiful views of French harbour. There is a new Spa located where the dive shop had once been. We didn't use any of the services, but there is a nice variety available.
Taxis from the hotel are very expensive, so we learned to just go out to the street and hail one there to get the local price. There is a grocery store less than a block away from the hotel, as well as 2 banks. These banks would cash travelers cheques, but only into the local currency. They would give a cash advance but only on Visa credit cards.
If we ever return to Roatan, this would be our choice of hotel again. The price was very reasonable. We were able to book this hotel on Travelocity, but could have also called directly to book. Good value, good people, good rooms, good restaurant - who could ask for more?