Our Story

In 1995, Phillipe & Nadia, followed their dreams and sailed the Caribbean looking for the perfect place to build their beach resort. They fell in love with a beautiful stretch of beach 5 miles north of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Before long, they gave up their quest, parked their boat and began designing and building Mata Chica Resort. During its construction, Phillipe and Nadia traveled to Guatemala to find central American antiquities such as hand carved nahuala (animal spirit) tables, hand woven rugs and lamps. No detail was left to chance. Mata Chica became the most unique and exquisite resort in Belize.

It became so well loved for its elegant and tasteful style, that people began asking Phillipe and Nadia if they could become investors. Instead, in 2002, Phillipe and Nadia purchased the plot of land north of Mata Chica to develop an exclusive group of individual homes designed in the same impeccable style as Mata Chica. La Perla del Caribe was born.

With only 12 homes, each one was painstakingly designed and decorated to be not only beautiful but unique. More trips to Guatemala provided antique tables (originally beds), wood carvings, benches, chests, nahuala’s and rich textiles. Walls were painted with rich saturated hues, natural Belizean hard wood was used for flooring and decks, and bright hand painted Mexican tile that Philippe installed himself were used throughout to create sumptuous rooms.

In some of the villa’s, artists were commissioned to create one of a kind tile mosaics and paintings. Each of the 12-homes was named for a stone; Opal, Ruby, Amber, Diamond, Emerald Jade, Topaz, Coral, Amethyst, Sapphire, Pearl and Sand.

Today each home is individually owned, and the 12 homes share a beautiful, lovingly restored pool that looks out over 500 feet of beach and the barrier reef. These Ambergris Caye vacation rentals are still furnished with the same unique details, including antiques, original artwork, wood carvings and handwoven Central American textiles. Come experience the magic of Belize with us at La Perla del Caribe.