Key West

[daytonpaul]

My wife and I are planning a trip to Key West for early December. Need help with a place stay for a week. We would like a great place on the beach and close to night life. Help!

[Kentuckygirl]

I haven't been to Key West since college. As I recall, there weren't too many places on a beach. Finding places for a good happy hour was not a problem though! We were at Islamorada a couple years ago and really enjoyed it there. You might consider splitting your week between the 2 places. Hopefully someone can help you that has been there more recently.

[Gromit]

The Keys don;'t exactly have a BEACH in the sense that we STJ lovers think of as a beach. We stayed at Cheeca Lodge on Islamorada December 2 years ago.

This is a beautiful resort (if you stay in one of the ocean front villas) that we had mixed experiences with. Grounds were well mainatined, but service was spotty and the restaurant was AWFUL. See my review of Cheeca Lodge on Trip Advisor. If you get a good price for the top level rooms it might be worth it. And tehre are plenty of other great options nearby.

We just did a day trip down to Key West. From what i could tell there were some really cute B&B's and that seems the way to go in term sof lodging.

Honestly, I wasn't all that impressed with Key West. It was OK, but not all that. VERY touristy.

If you do go though, be sure to stop by Key West Aloe-- great skin stuff there!

[Ryn]

My hubby and I have been to Key West 3 times and absolutely love it. We usually went in early Dec too.

You really cannot get some place right on the beach without being far from the nightlife. My recommendation would be the Wicker Guesthouse. www.wickerguesthouse.com It is a B&B right on Duval Street. This is within walking distance to everything. No car rental is needed. The Wicker is great because you would never know you are on busy Duval when you are within the gates. It is very tropical, swimming pool, quaint, great people, etc. At the end of Duval (not far from Wicker) is a bar/restaurant that has a beach you can rent chairs/umbrellas/tables. Good food too. Kinda the best of both worlds.

We're hoping to get down there this winter again for a quick getaway. Fun place! Any ?? please pm me.

[captainjay]

We spent a night at the Pier House once. Right at the end of Duvall on the beach cool restruants and bars and on the beach.
Jay

[SanDiegoMark]

We go to Key West whenever we can't make it all the way to STJ. Everyone is correct. Not much in the way of beaches, at least not what you would expect. Most are pebbles with a little sand. Yeah, lots of touristy stuff, but lots of history if you look for it. Sunset in Mallory Square is crazy-fun. We absolutely love the Curry Mansion Inn. (Just google it) They are one block off of Duval Street in the heart of the action. The cool part is they have a "pour your own" happy hour 5 - 7 every night (hic!) They also provide a full on breakfast buffet poolside every morning. Not just continental but eggs to order. Between the happy hour and breakfast I think they're losing money on us! We're arriving on Dec 27 through New Years. Have fun!

[daytonpaul]

Thanks for the input. We have booked the entire trip using a combination of this advice plus added some of our own spin. I will post a trip report when we return. I know this is VI Forum but we all need another place now and then. This will have to work until we return to SJ in March for our 8th consecutive year.

[SusanNJ]

My husband and I are actually headed back to Key West for the third time in March. We fell in love with the Gardens Hotel when we first went to Key West and have been staying there ever since. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help!


http://www.gardenshotel.com/