Where to stay in Key West?

[pb&j]

DH and I are trying to squeeze in a little sunshine time in Key West in December. Have any of you stayed anywhere fabulous there? We're looking for a hotel (versus rental house/condo), preferably with a pool or beach access. We're open to accomodations on other Keys as well. Just looking for some R&R, nice accomodations, good food, sunshine, and perhaps some snorkeling.

-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, 01/05/06

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32812.gif
http://b1.lilypie.com/aKGqm5/.png[/img] ([img)

[JTsMom]

My email addy is keywestbride, so you can guess I've been there a time or 2. :)

Are you open to B&B's, or do you want a big hotel? My favorite B&B is The Mermaid and the Alligator. They have a nice pool.

http://www.kwmermaid.com/

You might want to check out keywest.com for other options as well. I've stayed at several other places, so let me know if you need more info on any place in particular.

[Alys the Cat]

You might want to check out www.almondtreeinn.com. I got into a little spat with the manager (long story - preggo brain), but it's clean, modern and in a good location. One of my best friends (who, like PP, also got married in Key West) swears by it!

[ohiomom]

Hey Ry! Sounds wonderful! A few years ago we stayed at Duck Key -- Hawk's Cay Resort. Instead of the hotel, we stayed rented out one of the condos. The condo was fabulous -- decorating very nice, etc., but that is probably dependent upon the owner's taste! It's a bit up from Key West, though, so may not be what you were looking for.

Nicole's Mom 7/03
Joshua ^|^ 5/05
Baby Girl! EDD 7/29/06

[bostonsmama]

No advice on where to stay unless you're military (if you have a connection, Truman Annex is so awesome...very close to Duval Street and downtown and right on the oceanfront...you won't even have to go to Mallory Square for sunsets over the water). We walked everywhere, so unless you're driving down there, I wouldn't rent a car (plus parking is outrageous and hard to find).

I do have a few excellent restaurant recs:

1. Kelly's Caribbean Bar & Grill-go during happy hour (4-7pm) and get a Key Lime Pie Margarita and a side of the best tasting wings for $3 and $4 respectively, or try one of their microbrew beers for $1.50/each!! Regular margaritas are $2/ea during happy hour and are great. We went 6/13 days we were there! We also did dinner, and the blackened salmon was to die for at dinner (under the pretty twinkle light-lined palms!) It's actually owned by Kelly McGillis from Top Gun.

2. El Siboney-the island's best authentic Cuban food with huge portions and great prices. My favorite was the Ropa Vieja meal ($11) and the #1 combo, pulled pork cuban style w/ yucca, rice & beans and cuban bread for $8. The desert is divine as well!

3. Ray's Pizza of Key West on 2798 N Roosevelt Blvd, Ph# (305) 293-3447 made us the best greek pizza I'd ever tasted in my whole life short of New York City!! It is authentic brick oven style...and there are coupons in most local coupon flyers. Yes delivery, but it was quicker to pick it up.

4. Alice's Key West Restaurant...some of the best gourmet cuisine you'll taste even though it's spendy.

For entertainment, check out the Green Parrot (Bar) b/c the best live bands have played there over the years, plus no cover charge, cheap pool and lots of locals...so very tame compared to the roar of the Duval Crawl! We went during Mardi Gras, so it was crazy!

One more thing, the weather was beautiful while we were there, but I took a few light sweaters and jackets and was VERY glad. It got down-right chilly in the evenings (so much so that one evening I shivered in my shorts and T-shirt all of 8 blocks home when the temp dropped to 63 degrees!), but the days are warm and sunny and perfect for sunning or seashell collecting on the beach. The water was a little chilly (so much so that it wouldn't take long to get hypothermia w/out some kind of wetsuit). I think the water temp is 68-72 degrees in December which is warm enough for a small swim just to say you did it, but don't plan to go snorkeling w/out a wetsuit. Also, bring a light rain jacket (umbrellas can be futile b/c of the rain). And call ahead before you leave to make sure this hurricane season doesn't leave your hotel without said ammenties from their website. It's supposed to be a doozy this year, and frankly lots of stores and houses were still undergoing renovation from the last hurricane.

But it really was a slice of heaven...and I cried almost the entire plane ride home. It was soooo beautiful! It was such a jolt to go back to the cold reality of the wintery eastern seaboard (we went late Feb to early March).

HTH! I liked both Frommers and Fodors guides to Key West, and peruse the online sites for ratings. I talked to a local there and he confessed that it's really easy to get a bad meal for a big price. Talk to the locals!

Larissa

Baseline appt July 25th! Tentative retrieval ~Aug 10th, transfer ~8/13 or 15

Proud Aunt to Jack Dorian, born to my bro & SIL 3/06
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32719.jpg

[dowlinal]

Hi Ry,

Tommy and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary there and it was fabulous. There is a Hilton that is right on the water that is supposed to be wonderful. We stayed at the Hampton Inn because my BIL got us an employee rate there. It was nice, but you need to take a cab to the main strip.

If your looking for a amazing resturant try Blue Heaven. It's a bit quirky, but we had an amazing anniversary dinner.

A

ETC my overuse of the word fabulous. LOL. I need to get more sleep because my level of functioning is becoming frightening.

[Alys the Cat]

Ditto the rec on Blue Heaven (www.blueheavenkw.com). Bahama Mama's Kitchen (don't think they have a site) is downscale, authentic and tasty!

Alice's (www.aliceskeywest.com) is a great choice for a nice dinner. We went there for Valentine's Day in '04 and loved it.

[cpapay]

When we went to Key West last May we stayed at the Casa Marina Resort. They have two pools, beach on the ocean, etc. We ended up spending alot of time at the resort because it was way to hot to walk around and I was 3 mo. pregnant.

http://www.casamarinaresort.com/

If you are driving down to the keys stop in Marathon at Keys Fisheries...very yummy seafood on the water. An experience worth stopping for.

www.keysfisheries.com

carrie

[pb&j]

Thanks for all the great recommendations - we'll definitely check them out!



-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, 01/05/06

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/32812.gif
http://b1.lilypie.com/aKGqm5/.png[/img] ([img)