Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely place. On the water, in Key West. Unfortunately, for the almost $500/per night price tag, I expected more. The property exists of several buildings, and we were put in the Caribbean Spa. I was with my 80 year old parents. There was no elevator, and the rooms were on the second floor up a daunting staircase which they found very difficult to navigate. Our rooms faced onto the outdoor spa (directly below), and the street and parking lot. We tried to enjoy the lovely veranda, but the spa (hot tub) was so loud (the waterfall feature) that we could hardly hear each other speak. (It runs from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily). The tv in the room had basic cable and nothing more. The room itself was spacious, clean and nicely decorated. The pillows were lumpy and hard, and the mattress was hard. Honestly, I liked the typical rooms at the Mariott Residence (under $300) just as much if not more.

My husband and I stayed here for 4 nights in a dock side suite. Our view was great. We felt like we were on a cruise ship. Looking out of our room and sitting on the balcony we had an unobstructed ocean view. We would wave at the people in boats going by. It was very calm and peaceful. Then we would walk out of the property to the fun chaos of Key West. The location is perfect to walk every where. We felt Key West was a combination of Bourbon Street, Beal Street (Memphis), typical Carribean port (shops), and laid back island. We enjoyed our quick winter escape.

Key West is a crazy place. Hot, loud, crowded. And that makes the crowd here all the more curious..lots of older couples in their khakis and hats looking a little surprised. Mixed in with young people carrying their drinks around in plastic cups and lost souls in scraggly beards asleep on benches. And there wasn't a cruise ship docked in town when we were there. I can't imagine how loud the town gets when that is a factor. But it is a town full of history and architecture that shouldn't be missed. I was torn between staying in a guesthouse in one of the old buildings around town and in staying in a resort on the water. I think we got the best of both worlds at the Pier House. The Pier House is the original resort in town and although it is clear it has been renovated it is still funkier than the chain properties on the ocean side of the town. The interior garden area is pretty, the little beach is nice (one side is topless, although I didn't see any topless bathing) and the beach bar and restaurant is very nice. The rooms in the Bayside and Dockside buildings have to be some one the nicest in town. The Lanai suites are cute facing the interior of the garden-not very private but space is at a premium in this little town and they laid them out well given what they have to work with. Sadly we had one of four rooms that overlooked the parking lot but when a water front room became available the next evening the staff moved us without complaint. The staff here is excellent-helpful, friendly. They absolutely are one of the reasons I gave this place such a high mark. It is right near Mallory Square but when you are in the resort you feel miles away. We did the whole Key West pub crawl thing (during which I'd advise that you NOT get one of the temporary tattoos-once they smudge they are not repairable and not even a bleach pen gets rid of them) and it was fun. But the drinks are strong and the crowd gets crazy at night. I imagine there are a thousand and one stories of mishaps and guilty mornings here. On our return trip (and there will be more than one) I would scour the historical points of interest, take a yoga class, have a treatment at The Pier House spa, go to the Gardens of Key West and see the aromatherapy lady there, have a few afternoon drinks at La Te Da, watch the sunset at the pier bar then settle in back at The Pier House before the night gets going for a remorse-free and tattoo-less Key West vacation.

My sister and I stayed one night at this resort and really enjoyed the hotel and it's location. We had a cute, enclosed patio with two chairs. We were very surprised in the morning, when we opened our curtains to see a total stranger, in her pajamas, sitting two feet from our sliding doors, on the patio that we thought was exclusively ours. We later found out that some of the "Traditional Rooms" share patios with guests from another room. This type of arrangement has never occured at any other place we have stayed and, of course, we would never stay in this type of room again. Make sure that you find out beforehand what type of patio or balcony you get, so you won't have this happen to you. Most of us want our privacy and this, of course, had none.