My family and I stayed here two years ago and everything was fine, but it has gone downhill since then. I’m talking WAY downhill. My husband travels frequently for work so he accumulates IHG points and he had to use 110,000 points for us to stay here for 2 nights, which is a lot. Like you’d think it would be the Ritz-Carlton type nice. For reference, we’ve stayed in places where he’s only had to use half that amount of points and they’re in pristine condition with updated rooms, free breakfast, and accommodating staff. Well, not this nightmare motel. The only thing it has going for it is the pool, but you’d be better off buying a kiddie pool and hooking up a sprinkler in your backyard instead of dealing with this place.

Where to begin? Let’s see, we get there about an hour after the stated check-in time and the front desk staff tells us that we will have to wait another 45 minutes for our room to be ready and they don’t offer us anything in return…like “hey, enjoy some free drinks on us” or “feel free to use the pool.” No, just wait in your car and burn overpriced gas. Who knows what we were even waiting for them to do with the room because it was in an acceptable condition once we arrived. First off, only one lightbulb was working. That I could deal with if maybe the refrigerator worked! It didn’t feel all that cool but we put all of our drinks in there, only to have them melting all over the place. And you can tell they knew about the problem, because there was some disgusting sticky substance that melted all over the place under the refrigerator, which they didn’t even bother to clean. I mean, replacing the refrigerator seems like the logical option here, but leaving guests in 90 degree temperatures with no refrigerator is apparently the standard at the Holiday Inn of Key Largo.

Then the toilet clogs and we asked for a plunger since apparently six other people ahead of us had clogged toilets too, and there was not one extra plunger on the entire property. Give me a break! So my husband had to go and buy one at Walgreens. I actually manage to get in touch with the manager and his solution? A free breakfast that they did not even honor the next morning because the same “manager” who promised it was nowhere to be found. Absolutely unacceptable customer service! You are paying for a nice area, not a nice hotel. Save yourself the aggravation and stay anywhere but here. I’ve included pictures of the nasty disgusting refrigerator and accompanying area.

This is an older hotel and it would be perfect if it was updated. We checked in on March 27th fairly late. Finding the room was somewhat confusing because the hotel is a big square with a courtyard in the center. You access your room from the outside. One thing I did not like, the sink and mirror is not in the bathroom. I am an early riser and my wife is not, so I had to shave with my cellphone light instead of the overhead light. The bed was comfortable and the room was cleaned. We ate breakfast the two mornings that we were there and it was great. The African Queen is docked next to the hotel so I would go down and check it out while my wife slept. They have a beautiful courtyard that you can enjoy. Leaving the hotel can be bad because traffic is horrible.

Check in went well. The rooms are accessible via the outside, the only indoor area is the front desk and the small restaurant/bar. Rooms are very small but since I was solo it was OK. TV didn’t have much but I didn’t spend much time in the room other than late night and early morning. Shower and internet were a bit weak.

There are two pools, one of a salt water variety and the other fresh. Both are outdoor, which is common in Florida. You need a card to get pool towels, apparently too many people steal them otherwise. I have never seen that in a hotel. Other areas around the grounds show this is an older property in need of a renovation.

I was lucky to stay both nights with overlapping anniversary nights. The normal costs and point amounts are very high, clearly because you are staying in the Keys. If you take out the location, it’s not worth the price.