FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA IN BELIZE 10-MS

The famed director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now tells us why the Central American country has captured one of the world's greatest imaginations,

- JARED PAUL STERN

As he tells it, famed director Francis Ford Coppola first fell in love with the jungle when shooting 1979’s Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen in the Philippines. That film netted two Academy Awards and is widely considered one of the greatest in cinematic history—rivaled only, some have said, by Coppola’s even more successful The Godfather. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Coppola has since directed 22 films won six Oscars, and launched equally sensational careers in the worlds of wine and hospitality, the former based in Napa Valley and the latter, Belize.

It is in Belize where his passion for a personal jungle paradise found fruition, as the Philippines was simply too remote. In 1993 he opened Blancaneaux Lodge, his first foray into the luxury hotel business, after converting an abandoned estate into a private family retreat; acquiring a second property, Turtle Inn, in the small but disproportionately beautiful Central American country known for its pristine rainforests and beaches, in 2001. He prefers properties with history as opposed to new builds, and in recent years he has added a private island called Coral Caye near Turtle Inn to an impressive portfolio now known as the Family Coppola Hideaways, which also now includes hotels in Guatemala, Italy, and Argentina.