My husband and I stayed with my sister and husband in Unit 1. The unit is not a sparkling hotel suite, but is roomy for 4 people and has a nice, useable kitchen. The pool is great for relaxing and exercising. There are boats to use at the gulf side dock. The Dolphin Research Center is only 1 block away - a must visit when in Marathon. We easily visited all the southern keys from this site. There are several nature preserves that are good for bird and creature watching. Local eateries have a wide variety of great food, including home made ice cream. In addition to our gulf side beach, the ocean side public beach is a short drive away and provides all necessary accommodations. All in all, this is a great bargain and nice, friendly place to stay on your Florida Keys vacation.

P and Q Parsons, Maryland

My husband and I stayed here for our anniversary December 24-27. We stayed in room 20, which is overlooking the birds. Every morning when we would walk out, the parot would tell us he loved us. This place is great. If you are looking for a five star resort with plush bedding and turndown service, this is not the place for you. If you are looking for a homey, comfortable, very clean place to rest your head each night after a day of water activities, this is it! Located right on the Gulf of Mexico, you can kayak or paddleboat to your heart's content. The resort was completely full of guests, but things stayed so quiet, we weren't bothered by anyone at all. We even took an evening swim in the pool, and had it completely to ourselves. We especially enjoyed the hammock's to relax in the evenings (bring bug spray).

Marathon has two grocery stores, so we stocked up on microwave meals, expecting all restaurants to be closed on Christmas day, but surprisingly there were several we saw that remained open, which I though was very "tourist friendly" of them.

We drove to Key West for one day, the drive took a little over one hour, and one day in Key West was plenty of time to experience the basic attractions. We even did a parasailing ride in Key West, which was the highlight of our day.

Overall, I highly recommend this resort as a wonderfull place to call home while on vacation in the Keys.

My wife and I stayed for four nights with our two grandsons. The boys loved the pool and being next door to the Dolphin Research Center where they went three days in a row. The property is older, but we saw that as a plus. We felt like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were likely to walk around the corner at any time.

Our two-bedroom unit was very clean and well appointed, even if the living area was a tad on the small side. The master bedroom had its own half-bath and its own walkout sliding door. The kitchen was nicely appointed with a full stove and large fridge. The housekeeper cleaned every day and each day made a different animal out of towels which she left on a table near the bath. She even showed the grandsons how she makes the crab out of towels and we all enjoyed the different ones. The only issue we had the whole time was a somewhat balky sliding door lock. Once we informed the owner, it was fixed immediately.

The owners are a total delight as are their two young sons. Mike, one of the owners, is a musician and, lucky for us, was playing with his band down at a great place in Marathon. We all went to hear them and they were very good and a lot of fun.

The other guests were just the sort of people we enjoy meeting: friendly, unpretentious, and very considerate of keeping the place clean and quiet. The "Wreck", a restaurant/bar next door had good food and was perfectly suited to everyone from younger folks out for a couple of drinks to families out for a meal.

The Gulf View has a few kayaks and canoes they let the guests use if they wish and the setting is beautiful. We were so busy otherwise that we never got out on the boats. While the property does not have a large beach as such, they have a great sandy picnic area down at the water with a grill and tables, under a thatch roof.

Most of the commercial infrastructure is either a couple of miles north at Duck Key or, for larger grocery stores and such, a few miles south at Marathon. This was not a drawback, because there was no hustle and bustle to make things noisy.

I would gladly spend a season at the Gulf View if I could get that much time off from work.

We wanted to explore the Keys and decided to stay at the Gulf View Waterfront based on other trip advisor reviews. The location was perfect since it is a mid point in the Keys. Our room had a kitchen which made it really nice with children. The resort is on the water and they have kayaks you can use, also a heated pool. We stayed in room 12 which was comfortable and clean, there was a little noise late at night from the highway traffic but it wasn't bad. The owners are so accommodating and helpful giving us tips on good beaches and restaurants nearby. We had a great time and will return !!