Key West trip report from the first timers.
Just came back from 5 nights stay of our first trip to Key West.
Flew on American all the way to Key West, uneventful flights both ways at a reasonable price.
Weather: gorgeous all 5 days, sunny, low to mid 80’s-delightful.
Water:
Hotel pool was very warm, a lot warmer then I expected it to be at this time of the year. Sampled ocean and it felt coldish, so didn’t go in. Our friends though, went on snorkeling trip and said it was not bad further out, but didn’t see whole a lot of fish.
Hotel:
Stayed at Casa Marina. All renovations were just about done, both pools were operational, so was the pool bar and outdoors grill. However the indoor restaurant did not appear to be set up for the evening dining, at least when we peaked in there. Rooms are nice, with trendy contemporary décor and furnishings that are not always convenient or made cense. Most of the help was of foreign origin on one year work visas. The ones that spoke English served guests and the ones that didn’t worked the kitchen and housekeeping. They all were pleasant and just smiled and nodded. There were group parties at hotel every night, weddings and other functions. The beach was nothing to write home about, very coarse sand and seaweed all over. Hotel didn’t remove it. There were plenty of beach towels and loungers around the pool and beach, also there was bar and food service. Water toys were available at one end of the beach. Over all, the hotel left good impression.
Dining:
Plenty of choices in different price ranges, though not always all that good. Best dinner we had was at Louie’s Back Yard. Pricey but the food and ambience made up for it. Another meal we enjoyed was at the Pier in front of Hot Tin Roof Restaurant AT Ocean Key Resort, nothing fancy but it was very pleasant to see the ocean and listen to a jazz band. It was reasonably priced; I had a lobster-crab salad sandwich and DH had macadamia nut encrusted scallops and oysters on half shell. All was very good. The rest of our meals were less memorable. Half Shell Raw Bar was so so (dinner), so was the Turtle Craals (lunch). Bananas at the South end of Duval were pretty good (dinner, French), so was the big Hot dog at the Hog’s Breath. Couple of lunches at Caroline’s were good, nice spot to people watch. Also had drinks at Mangoes and Hard Rock Café and couple of other stops on Duval, I can’t remember the names. Had breakfast at French bakery on Duval, and it was very good, don’t remember the name of it. Roof Top Café was closed due to fire and entrance was roped off with yellow tape. We wanted to stop there for dinner.
Activities:
Did Duval St. crawl twice with stops in different places to eat, drink, shop and people watch. Did Conch Train Tour- it was fun. Stopped at Mel Fischer’s museum. Did sunset sail on Hindu sail boat. It was very nice, just what we were looking for, not that many people, no loud music, plenty of drinks and snacks, very enjoyable.
Overall impressions: Didn’t expect the island to be as big as it is and as commercialized. It was a good thing that we rented a car, as it was way too far to walk to all activities on Duval from Casa Marina. And even though parking was tough, we always managed to get a spot. Were astounded of all the chickens that run around everywhere, including restaurants and hotel grounds, even saw one in our hotel’s hallway. We couldn’t sleep with the windows opened, as those roosters kept us awake first two nights. Most of the restaurants and bars employ foreign help, I guess as a source of cheap labor. Most of them were pretty good. In general things were more expensive then we expected, right alone with other Caribbean Islands. It looked that every big hotel had major renovations going, including Pier House, Hyatt, Ocean Key resort and the Reach, so are the houses in town. You would think they would get it all done before the high season starts.
As a conclusion:
We were glad we finally did the Key West as we always wanted to try it, and we enjoyed our stay, but won’t be in a hurry to go back. Just not a repeater for us…

Luda