Our week at Sunset House was generally very nice. We enjoyed the outstanding views afforded from the upper deck, and the property definitely lives up to its name. I am attaching photos I took during the week to underscore the beautiful sunsets we experienced. Our arrival at the airport went smoothly, and Marty was on the spot and took us to the house as arranged.

We experienced a couple of surprises, however, when we realized that although the location of the property is about mid-way between West End and West Bay as advertised, the 15-20 minute walk to either destination isn’t strictly along the beach as we originally perceived. The fact that rock outcroppings must be negotiated en route to West End, and some other relatively minor obstructions exist on the walk to West Bay were unexpected. Once we got situated, we used the water taxis to travel between both destinations, and although there was no particular schedule when they might come by the pier at Sunset House, we adapted to the regimen of “island time” and allowed a sufficient 30-minute buffer to ensure that we were able to arrive on time for any scheduled commitments in either West Bay or West End (e.g., SCUBA trips, dinner reservations, etc.). Although we intended to visit the Vintage Pearl restaurant in West Bay, and Tong’s Thai restaurant in West End, due to the fact that they didn’t open until 5 pm and 5:30 pm, respectively, and the water taxis stop operating at 6 pm, it made it somewhat difficult to do so without navigating the “beach” walk in the dark.

If anyone labors under the misconception that the pier/dock is private, I can only reiterate what has been said on previous TripAdvisor.com comments: it is not. It wasn’t a big deal for us, but nobody should expect this to be a private access. We had various people use the pier and the facilities for evening meals while we were there, and for the last couple of days, one of the water taxis that apparently ran out of gas or had a mechanical problem was tied up at the pier.

We did experience a couple of problems that I think future visitors should be made aware of. I was a little surprised that there wasn’t a telephone in the house. I guess I assumed that such a basic accommodation would be available due to the fact that when renting other vacation properties in various geographic locations it has always seemed to be a given. Our experience with other properties has been that even when incoming calls may be restricted, outgoing calls are possible to address any emergency situations. Due to another erroneous assumption, I admittedly didn’t ensure that my AT&T cellular service would be operational while in Roatan. I was originally told that AT&T international calls on my iPhone would be available, but it turned out that wasn’t the case while at Sunset House. As a result, when there was a power outage that shut down the air conditioning during Thursday (while we were in West Bay snorkeling), we weren’t aware of it. We came back to the house at about 6 pm, stayed out on the deck to enjoy another fabulous sunset, and didn’t realize until about 6:30 pm when we went into the house that there was no A/C operating. We gave it about fifteen minutes and then I went to contact the caretaker to see what the story was. No answer at the door. I checked the circuit breakers and all the switches were on. I continued to try to raise the caretaker until about 9 pm, when, exhausted, we went to bed with the ceiling fans on high. The bottom line was that it was between 85-90F both inside and outside that night. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

The next morning, when we were able to connect with the caretaker, he didn’t have a clue as to how to address the problem. We were scheduled for a 10 am pick-up, and were finally able to have the RPM representative address the issue and get the A/C going after the caretaker put us on the phone with her and she came to the property. It was a simple fix that could have been addressed if someone had either told us about the possibility of a power outage and what to do about it, or if we had communication capabilities (i.e., telephone service) or an on-site caretaker available 24/7 who knew how to address the problem.

The final issue that surprised us was that upon arriving at the airport, when I attempted to tip Marty $5 US, he said that although RPM pays for the transportation from the airport to the property upon arrival, it is not paid upon departure, and told me his fee was $20 US. When I expressed surprise, he said that he has had problems in the past because RPM hasn’t told clients that they were expected to pay the return fare to the airport. It would have been nice to know in advance that we would be responsible for paying the driver for our trip back to the airport; and would have also been nice to have an “Oh, by the way, there’s an exit tax of about $37 US each to leave the country.” I’ve traveled the world and realize that’s not an unusual requirement in many countries, but frankly, it’s something that I hadn’t really thought about beforehand.

All in all, it was a nice week. The view and the sunsets were outstanding. Would we return? Probably not. We’ve spent many years traveling the world, from South America to Asia, as well as throughout the US. I’ve worked and lived in places like Colombia, India, Pakistan, and the Eastern Caribbean; and traveled throughout Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Singapore, as well as throughout Europe. Maybe we’re getting a little older and want a little more, but all things considered, I think we expected more for the money we spent.

This beautiful house is located right in the halfway point, and an easy walk from both west side and west bay. We rented all the units of the house and the distribution of space of the living quarters is great. The sunsets are everything as advertised or better, the snorkeling and diving was fantastic. But paradise had some issues, for us, and there were in the services that were promised. The house is advertised as having a private dock, but it was anything but private with people from around using it at will, parking boats, and eating there, with no regard if we were going to use it. When we pointed out to the managers this issue they said that that was the way it was done in Roatan. Believe me I have no issue sharing a dock with other people, but the dock was not private as advertised. Prior to our arrival we were promised transport to the house from the ferry. because of the easter week the original ferry was full so we took another one . WE were received as promised but the manager was questioning with an attitude our choices of luggage and that we were creating them an extra hassle. In Roatan electricity at peak times like Easter, causes to have power failures, so the house was offered with a generator to cover issues like running water and the fridge, while the national grid was out. The house generator was constantly failing during the first 3 days and we were not getting running water, approached by us the manager gave us a lot of excuses, which would not have been an issue except for the fact that when we called her to try to have things fixed she always would answer in a bad mood or making us feel that we were bothering her. Even though our transfer back to the ferry was included in the original arrangement, we had to pay it ourselves. Would I recommend this house to a friend, yes, but pray that you do not have a problem because the managers of the house will make you feel guilty for asking there assistance.

This is a beautiful place to stay. Great location to either West Bay or the West End. House couldn't be nicer. Great view of the water and the Sunset. Comfortable beds. Draw Back: CHOCO the DOG! Mario is the grounds keeper who lives behind the house and his dog CHOCO sleeps outside. He is VERY BARKY! and woke us numerous times each night and then would WHINE at 7 am to be fed. THe property manager, Stella, who was also very nice, said to me when I complained about the dog's barking "well, he's probably barking at intruders that are around at night"? REally? Is the island really that unsafe that you need a dog barking at all hours? Very lame response after spending A LOT of money to stay there and getting very little of the rest I needed. Also, know that the water taxis DO NOT run all night. Most stop around dusk, so if you're having dinner in the West End, you have to walk back along the shore, which is not that far and rather nice in the moon light. Just bring a flashlight with you. There are a few rocky patches. THere is a reef directly out and a little to the left of the house. It's a little trecherous swimming there, as the water taxis are running in the channel between the shore and the reef. But once your there, you could spend hours just slowly skimming the reef. Most of the food on Roatan is sub-par. THe best meal we had was at the Thai place in the west end. Lobster with Green Curry! Really good. Otherwise, I give it all a B- to a C. We used TYLLS DIVE SHOP to get our Advanced diver certification. I highly recommend them. European hospitality, good equipment and great dive instructors. A really great small laid back shop. Oaky, have fun!!!!

We spent 8 days here (3 couples and one child) in July 2007, and had a wonderful time. The area between West End and West Bay (the names should be interchanged, since West Bay is at the end of the island), is a great location with some of the best beaches. We rented Sunset house at Tabyana Beach from Roatan Property Management and were not dissapointed. Tabyana Beach is midway between West End and West Bay.

It has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, AC, satellite TV and internet access, two outside decks and a private dock/palapa where you can catch a waer taxi. There is a caretaker in a separate house on site (Mario) and the house is pretty well equipped with barbecue, games, propane stove and emergency generator (useful on this island). See the house here: [--]

The 4 bedrooms include 3 kings and one twin (2 up/2 down). Access requires an SUV type vehicle, as the road down from the main road is pretty rough. You drive a hundred yards or so on the beach to your door.

I highly recommend it for small groups or large families.