45th Annual ACH Conference, Belize, 2013

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE 45th ANNUAL ACH CONFERENCE, BELIZE 2013:

The 45th Annual Conference of the Association of Caribbean Historians will be held in San Ignacio, Belize from Sunday, May 12 to Friday, May 17, 2013. Registration will open on Sunday midday, and sessions begin Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm.  The conference fete, our annual dinner and dance, which is highly recommended and a central feature of this organization, is Thursday evening, May 16, and an optional field trip to nearby historic venues—including important Mayan site—is scheduled for Friday, May 17.  Please make your travel plans accordingly.     

CONFERENCE VENUE AND ACCOMMODATIONS:

All conference sessions will be held at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel, and participants will be housed here, as well as at Windy Hill Resort and Cahal Pech Village Resort.  The San Ignacio and Windy Hill hotels are offering a special rate of $140/a night, including taxes, fees and breakfast daily, for ACH attendees, but all rooms at these two venues have been booked.  Reservations are now being taken for Cahal Pech Village (http://www.cahalpech.com), located approximately 5 miles from the conference site; free shuttle service will be provided between hotels in the morning and evening daily.  This is a more modest accommodation, and rates are $59.95 ($55.00 + 9% tax) for a single and $98.10 ($90.00 + 9% tax) for a double.  This rate does NOT include breakfast, which is an additional $9.00 per person (so $18.00 for a double room).

Reservations should be made with Cahal Pech Village Resort directly.  Please note that these rates are only guaranteed through March 15, 2013, and that a credit card will be required to hold each request.  After that date, the conference rate cannot be guaranteed.  To request a room, please call 011-501-824-3740 (for international callers) or 239-494-3281 (from the U.S.), or email Cynthia Robateau, General Manager, Cahal Pech Village Resort at cynthia@cahalpech.com.  

Please specify you are attending the "ACH 2013" to receive the conference rate.  For more information about these sites and their amenities, visit the hotel websites at:

San Ignacio Resort Hotel:  http://www.sanignaciobelize.com/

Windy Hills Resort Hotel: http://www.windyhillresort.com/

Cahal Pech Village Resort: http://www.cahalpech.com

HOW TO RESERVE YOUR CONFERENCE HOTEL ROOM:

To reserve your conference hotel room, please do the following:

1. Send an email with your arrival and departure information, number of occupants, and room type preference to Cynthia Robateau, General Manager, Cahal Pech Village Resort at cynthia@cahalpech.com, OR book your hotel room by telephone.  The hotel’s telephone number is 011-501-824-3740 (for international callers) or 239-494-3281 (from the U.S.)

2. All reservations will require a credit card for confirmation, although payment is not required until checkout.

3. Please note, however, that while a full refund (minus a $100.00 USD handling fee) will be made on cancellations 60 days or more prior to the scheduled trip, for cancellations 60-45 days in advance a 50% refund will be given, and cancellations 45 days or less prior to arrival—no refund will be given.   In other words, please ensure that your funding is in place before making your hotel reservation.

TRANSPORTATION:

American Airlines, United, and Delta all operate flights to Belize City International Airport.  Please research your flight schedule early as some may require overnight stays en route, or early morning departures.  The first conference session is scheduled for Sunday at 3:00pm, so we recommend that you plan to arrive in Belize City by noon if at all possible; the drive to San Ignacio is approximately an hour and a half.

Shuttle service will be arranged from Belize City International Airport to San Ignacio, located 70 miles in the interior.  Up to three shuttles will operate daily on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 for arrivals, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday May 17, 18, and 19 for departures (exact times will be based on participants’ travel schedules collected as part of your conference registration, so it is important to provide as much information as possible). The shuttle rate is $35.00 US each way.

Those travelling outside these dates must arrange their own transportation with the San Ignacio Resort Hotel; rates average $152.00 if traveling alone, or $78.00 for a shared taxi.

Michelle Craig McDonald, Secretary-Treasurer, Association of Caribbean Historians: achsecretary@gmail.com.