Les Trois Rois Hotel

While I was away from Haiti for 2 years, a new hotel Les Trois Rois was built along the beach in Ducroix, between Cap Haitian and Labadee. I didn’t see a sign along the road, look on a web map to find the gate. The hotel is beautiful and felt like it was very old, in a good way, with stately wood accents. There is direct access to the beach, just steps away from the hotel pool. When the tide is high you can sit on the deck and enjoy the waves lapping below. There is both indoor and covered outdoor seating for meals. A group was having a meeting there, and another was celebrating a wedding.

The lunch and dinner menu is a variety of fish and meat and limited for vegetarians, but the standard bannann peze, pikliz, and vegetables are very good. The breakfast was super good! Coffee, fruit, soup joumou, and kasava which was suitable for my new gluten intolerance. Some of the rooms have balconies, all have AC and hot water and are roomy.

For my nature-exploring side it was limited due to the small area of the grounds and being right along the main road. There is a sort of tidal pool at the corner of the deck to watch crabs and aquatic isopods, and brown pelicans landed in the water nearby. From the 3^rd floor balcony we saw a white-crowned pigeon and other birds in the treetops across the road. Go to the nearby Cormier Plage grounds for a meal, or along the road higher up to see more birds.

 

 

 

Belly Beach near Labadee Haiti

Belly Beach is a small beach and hotel on the bay between the Royal Caribbean Cruise resort of Labadee and the Haitian village of Labadee. It has fewer foreigners than Cormier Plage, and better swimming in the calm bay and blue water (somewhat cloudy from all the boat activity). It's a nice place to spend the evening. We arrived around 5p on a Sunday, loud music was playing, people were enjoying the beach, but it wasn't too rowdy. They turned off music around 7p and most of the day-use people had left by then, so we enjoyed our meal in peace. 

We didn't make reservations, and seemed to be the only people staying overnight. There were around 10 rooms, $60/night. Each has a mini-fridge, TV, air conditioner, and indoor plumbing. There are no windows so we couldn't enjoy the view or sounds of the waves whiles we slept. Electricity was on until around 11pm. The main water pipe to the compound had broken, so there wasn't water that evening to the rooms (because they didn't know we were coming they hadn't filled the reservoir), but we could shower in the day-use facilities. The rooms had water by morning. The stay came with a hearty breakfast of eggs, bread, coffee. The manager speaks English and was pleasant, along with the woman who manages the rooms. Dinner and drinks for 5 was $30. They take only cash! Check out is 11am.

The morning was the best part for me - I came there to bird and explore. Go up the stairs and to the left to follow the road seen on google maps. There is a small fort, and lots of birds (see next blog). Go up the stairs to the right to get to the next beach over where people sell souvenirs to the cruise ship tourists. Tell them you are not from the cruise ship! The sellers are pleasant and not too pushy, but did try to charge 3x as much as they finally seemed happy taking.

Next time I would like to get there before noon, leave my belongings (and give time for water to the rooms), then take a boat to Labadee village to eat lunch and explore.

How to get there - Though google shows a road that looks like it goes directly to Belly Beach - it's really just a very rocky path that I don't think any truck could manage, and it stops at stairs that lead down to the hotel. On google maps Belly Beach is called Dhaloo, while a place within the resort compound is labeled as Belly Beach. To get to Belly, follow the road past the resort and park near the water taxis. Royal Caribbean had a ship in port the day I went, and when we arrived at 4 pm the area was very busy with employees who work in the resort. Hire a water taxi to take you to Belly. Pay 100 gd for the trip there, and arrange for pick up the next day for 1000 gd. 

water taxi

Dinner

Breakfast

Hotel Cormier Plage Cap Haitien Haiti

My favorite place to stay in Cap Haitien is Cormier Plage, whose beautiful grounds have a variety of birds, plants, and reptiles, and sit along a clean swimmable beach. Bring snorkel gear! There is a small reef where you can see sea urchins and colorful fish, and next door is a coral restoration group Amiga Island that also offers snorkeling trips at a nearby island. The paved road to the hotel follows the north coast out of Cap – watch for signs for forts.

Someone's anchor

The hotel room had a ceiling fan and AC and patio. I didn’t notice hot water (I forgot to check since I don’t have it at home). The room electricity is off during the day which I think is great for conservation. You can charge electronics at the restaurant/bar right along the beach where you should be anyway. The room price included a breakfast of coffee, juices, bread, and fruit, as well as a selection of eggs, oatmeal, and other food from a menu. Lunch and dinner ranges from pricey to cheaper sandwiches, and even omelettes (which took a while to make!). Try the rhum banana for dessert! Avoid the conch (lambi) which is over harvested and avoid lobster during the reproductive season (March - June), or there won’t be any more next year! 

A 40 minute walk up hill on the main road you’ll come to an overlook of the private Labadee cruise ship port – complete with roller coaster and zipline for resort guests. Turn left and walk downhill to get to water taxis that will take you to the actual village of Labadie (see this post for more).

Gate from main road

View from balcony

Breakfast before I knew we could also choose from a menu!

Just one page of the large lunch and dinner menu.

Hotel Rival, Cap Haitien

Steps to the beach are to the right of the gate.

I learned about Hotel Rival from Paul Clammer’s Bradt Haiti guide. I wanted to go to Fort Picolet so stayed in the hotel closest so I could walk. It is a clean hotel with a great view of the ocean and a nice pool. The bar area has nice ocean view seating. Ask for room #2 to get a large corner room with 2 balconies. The property, tucked into the hillside, shares a gated road with houses, so you have a quiet road to walk and see birds. The road to get to the hotel is a bit rough, but passes a small fort (Etienne-Magny) that I didn’t notice was a fort until I passed it later on a moto and saw the canons. The Crammer guide mentions a second fort that might have been what formed the wall along the road at the hotel gate.

It was odd that I seemed to be the only guest, and the staff weren’t at the front desk much, mostly saw them hanging out upstairs near the bar looking at their phones. I ordered a drink, they couldn’t make change for my $20US bill, so I gave them my remaining small bills and didn’t have any left for a tip. The room didn’t have electricity part of the time. The bathroom didn’t have amenities except towels and a bar of soap. I forgot to see if the shower had hot water since I’m not used to having any! According to the Crammer guide there is a restaurant, which must have been the bar area, but there was no indication they served food until I went up the next morning for the complimentary breakfast which was really good - an omelet, bread, butter, jelly, juice and coffee. Someone else was eating there so I must not have been the only guest.

Don't get excited about swimming at the beach. You can access it from stairs outside the hotel gate (the start of the route to Fort Picolet), but is a bit trashy (including a syringe - don't go barefoot, but I've seen worse). Knowing what runs off into the bay from Cap made me leery of going in the water. Plus people literally bathing there, and groups of men standing around watching, made me uncomfortable about being the only foreigner.

I am a low key traveler with electricity only part of the time at home, so the sparseness and partial no electricity was ok with me, but if you expect the amenities of the Roi Christophe or Mont Joli you might be disappointed. It is not within walking distance of anything except the forts. That and the ocean view was the only thing that made it worth $100 for one night. I think if they charged $70/night they'd have more guests, and thus could improve the service! So enjoy Hotel Rival for the view, pool, and access to forts!

Yummy breakfast and great view!

All rooms seem to face the ocean.

Nice pool!

Large room!

One of the balconies on room #2.

Hotel Mont Joli Cap Haitien

I had the opportunity to stay at the Mont Joli so I could meet with fellow ecologists and water scientists. The Joli is a cute hotel tucked onto the hillside above Cap Haitien – you can’t tell how steep the road is from satellite imagery or maps. It doesn’t occupy much space, but offers scenic views of the bay and town below. The restaurant is down the stairs next to the pool, and offers typical Haitian chicken and seafood plates plus burgers and pasta (please don’t eat conch/lambi – they are ENDANGERED!). Along with the typical limited options for vegetarians (pasta, french fries, fried plantains and rice), not too exciting, but it was good. There is seating on the main level near the bar for relaxing and meeting other hotel guests. The rooms have AC and hot water, along with a view of the bay. There’s a little gift shop in case you forgot essentials or want a t-shirt that says Mont Joli. If you are up it you can walk down the step hill to the Roi Christophe and nearby restaurants. Or hug the side of the road and walk up hill to see trees and maybe the scaly-naped pigeon that I saw on a property located above the Joli.

Hotel Roi Christophe

Hotel Roi Christophe is a quaint hotel in Cap Haitien, not far from the main road people call Buccaneer (Blvd du Cap-Haitian on the map). It is in a colonial-era building which gives you a close-up experience with the history of Haiti. The rooms are comfortable, with ceiling fan, tv, mini-fridge, and hot water. Complimentary breakfast comes with the stay: eggs, oatmeal, or Haitian spaghetti, with fruit, rolls, and coffee. The restaurant also serves lunch and breakfast. There is a pool, conference rooms, and nice gift shop. Also a ticket counter for Sunrise Airline.

The best part of the hotel for me is all the trees and plants in the courtyard. Yellow-crowned night herons nest here! Plus woodpeckers, banaquits, and palmchat. The endangered white-necked crows and plain pigeons also visit! Unique statues and iron-work, and some canons decorate the grounds.

The hotel is within walking distance (<10 min.) from several restaurants and a tourist souvenir area next to the water. Lots of typical Haitian arts and crafts, but also some unique items, like paper mache birds. Some people are pushy about getting you to buy something, but for the most part it is easy to say no and walk away.

Hotel gift shop

Mozzarella plate

Entrance to the Cap Haitien tourist market

Booths at Cap Haitien tourist market