Under US$25

The best low-budget room in West End [1] is at
Georphi’s (tel. 504/445-4205, www.roatangeorphis.com [2]), where one cabin has been converted into a tidy, attractive dorm (US$10 pp) with (gasp!) hot water in the shared bath.

A good alternative for backpackers is Tina’s Backpacker Hostel (tel. 504/445-4144, moy-1978 [at] yahoo [dot] com, cold water only) at the southern end of town just where the road becomes beach. Dorm beds go for US$10 per person, and the place is clean and cheery. There are two rooms with four beds each, plus another two pairs of beds in the shared living room with a TV, so better nab your bed as soon as possible if you’re early to bed. There is a kitchen available for use by guests. The hostel is run by the owners of the adjacent Barefeet Restaurant and Bar [3].

Chillies Hotel (tel. 504/445-4003, US$20–24 s/d, US$27–30 t, shared bath, cold water), facing Half Moon Bay [4], is very popular with the low-budget crowd, for its doubles with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities as well as a sociable front porch. There are also a few rooms with private baths and hot water for a few dollars more, available only to those diving with their dive shop, Native Sons [5].

Milka’s (tel. 504/445-4241, milkasrooms [at] yahoo [dot] com, US$12 pp shared bath, US$25 d with bath and TV, cold water only), located behind Pura Vida dive shop [5], is a bit ramshackle but offers 11 very basic rooms with fans and shared bathrooms, as well as three much better rooms with TV and private bathrooms.

One of the cheapest places in town is Valerie’s (tel. 504/3290-6055), a run-down hotel in the center of town with dorms for US$8, doubles with bath for US$16, and apartments with refrigerator, cooktop, and bath for US$25. It’s all cold-water only and rather grubby.

Many local residents rent rooms out of their houses for US$10–25 d—ask around.