Florida Keys

[kindbits]

Planning a trip for late spring, never been before. We are starting to narrow down rentals, likely going to end upon Key West but also looked at a few of the nearby Keys, which are nice properties, but there's nothing to do there.

Who has been? Where'd you stay? Worth it to pay a premium and be right off Duval Street, or stay a little further away? Trying to prioritize location, pool situation (private/shared), house vs condo, pricing, etc.

Also interested in fishing charters, obviously there's hundreds of them down there, but if anyone has a recommendation I'd love to hear it.

 

[brill]

My favorite place in US to go. Stayed at the Pier House my 1st time which is at the end of Duval St near Mallory Square where there is a lot of action going on. Not the place to stay if you want an area that is quiet and peaceful. Although the Pier House is great and quiet.

It all depends what you want. If you want to go to great restaurants/bars and be a part of the night life scene Pier House or anything on that end of Duval is great. Near sloppy joes, captain tonys, margaritaville etc..

If you want a quieter Duval st stay down at the other end near the Southernmost point and the beach area. People with young kids would probably prefer this part of Duval.

I have only stayed on Duval so don't know what to tell you about the other part of Key West (near the airport or inland). I did stay at the Simonton House (something like that) and it was great. More of a suite. 2 bedroom and living room space. 1 block off Duval st. Great location b/c it is a little quieter off of Duval and better than a hotel b/c it is more of a cottage. You can rent bikes there and they have a breakfast every morning where you sit outside and it's very relaxing.

You will love Key West! I'm planning a trip soon to stay in a condo or apt b/c we need a kitchen suite b/c our daughter has all these food allergies so we have to eat in a lot. Hence, we need the kitchen suite

 

[LGBlue]

Gr8 place. It's more about seeing sites, doing the Duval Street thing in the evening, and fishing than it is about hanging out on the beach. Stayed at one of the hotels on the north side about a block or two from Duval, can't remember which one. Duval Street is obviously great for the evening activities. Possibly the best fishing in the US -- can't remember which fishing charter I took, but there's a million of them and I have had the best fishing that I have ever done just picking random charters. You'll see flyers at the hotels and kiosks around Duval. You kind of have the option of fishing the gulf side or the atlantic/gulf stream side, just go with whatever the fisherman say is hot the day you are going out. The bike rental is a good idea, there's lots to see.

I assume you are flying into Key West airport? ALT is flying to Lauderdale or Miami and driving down. The drive down is nice because you get a glimpse of various islands and such, but it's really long and not a drive you want to repeat northbound at the end of your vacation. Guess you might want to do the drive on your first visit though, and you can throw in a Miami evening on night one before driving down the next day.

 

[JMerc2]

Originally posted by LGBlue:


I assume you are flying into Key West airport? "ALT" is flying to Lauderdale or Miami and driving down.

Fixed.

 

[adp98]

I've stayed at the Hyatt right in the middle of the action. No beach on that end but a great pool and convenient to everything. There were a few other hotels right near it. If you're looking to party/convenicne I would strongly recommend the south end of Duval.

 

[kindbits]

Thanks for the replies brill/LG/adp, and for the obvious correction JMerc.

We are going with one other couple and looking at renting a house or a condo. We have narrowed it down to a couple of places in the Truman Annex, a place a few blocks off of Duval at the north end, a place a block off of Duval at the south end, and a condo over near Smathers Beach. Sounds like we definitely want to be near Duval though.

Right now we are thinking we will fly into Ft Lauderdale or Miami and drive down. Probably a bit of a hassle but we wanted to be able to take a day trip or two to Bahia Honda State Park, so having a car is convenient. The drive down will be nice, but I can imagine that the drive back sucks. We'll probably build a day or two in Miami into the back end of the trip so the drive out won't be completely depressing.

 

[adp98]

There are some very cool spots on the drive down. I'm a huge fan of Miami and would recommend a night in South Beach and drive down.

 

[dirtyd]

Got a good old fashioned handjob in the middle of the night at the southern most point in the continental US a couple decades ago. beat that.

 

[kindbits]

Originally posted by dirtyd:

Got a good old fashioned handjob in the middle of the night at the southern most point in the continental US a couple decades ago. beat that.

Hmmm- I shall make my wife aware of your challenge. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[kindbits]

Originally posted by adp98:
There are some very cool spots on the drive down. I'm a huge fan of Miami and would recommend a night in South Beach and drive down.

Once we get closer I'll ask for suggestions in Miami, and where we should stop on the way down. Thanks.

 

[dirtyd]

south beach - Mangos.

half-naked latina bartenders shakin their big asses in skin tight clothes.

 

[brill]

Pennekamp state park is great near Key Largo on the way down. The drive is nice. 7 mile bridge as scenic as it gets. Islamorada has an outstanding lunch/dinner place.

I was thinking of renting in Truman Annex as well when we go so let me know how they are. They have condos which suits our needs with a kitchen
This post was edited on 1/17 3:15 PM by brill

 

[Bethlehem Steel]

Bahia Honda

 

[VU82]

We just went to the Miami area between Christmas and New Years. We also made it down as far as Key Largo for a day trip. Our next vacation will be in Key West. I would recommend a couple of days in Miami. Lots to do. If you stay in Miami, plan on staying on the beach. Well worth it. You can stroll along the boardwalk and enjoy the ocean right at you hotel.

 

[Franchise 34]

dont go to the nude bar, garden of Eden - it's Third floor of some bar on duval. It's what you would expect - very bad old man naked. We camped out on the second floor and twice told I know him (and possibly lowry45?) to meet us up there.

We rented wave runners one day,that was great. I almost booked an all gay inn - not that there is anything wrong with that, but be aware.

 

[kindbits]

brill- we took a quick look at those condos in Truman Annex, lots for rent and they look nice, we opted for a house rental though as we wanted a little more privacy. We were able to find a house with a pool right off Duval for about $3000 when it is all said and done. In the end it was worth it to just have the pool right off the deck in the back, rather than have to pack our stuff and walk a bit to a shared pool.

Franchise34- Planning on staying away from Garden of Eden, though it looks like there may be one or two other places to check out. The wife has said in the past that she'd have an interest in hitting a strip club so long as she wasn't the only girl in the group, but we've never really been in a situation to make that happen. Also, renting Wave Runners one day, and at least one day out fishing are built into the schedule.

 

[brill]

kindbits- thanks for feedback! enjoy. let me know how the house is? how many BR's? 2 or 3?

 

[kindbits]

2 bedrooms with a queen size pullout sofa if needed.

http://www.vrbo.com/251642

 

[SnottieDrippen]

Kindbits,

You made the right call. My family has done the last 3 Memorial Day weekends (+ a few extra days to make it a real trip) in Key West. We stayed in a private house each time and we all have agreed it has been the best series of trips we've gone on as a family.

If you want to spend a day on the beach, go to the Southernmost Hotel early in the AM and hand the chair guy a few 20s and he will set you up with chairs,towels, umbrellas, etc. they even come by with iced towels in the afternoon for a little cool down. I wouldn't do this for more than a day, but if you want the traditional beach lounging day near Duvall St. this is the best way to do it. It's a good spot to hang - there's a bar/restaurant right behind you, there is a pier extending into the ocean which fellow tourists walk out on to for pictures, and there have always been some good looking women to stare at in my experience.

There are so many good restaurants in Key West but I am drawing a blank on a lot. Here's what I remember:

The highest end experience we had was Louie's Backyard - this place is hard to get a table at but if you book after 8 PM it gets a lot easier. Built right on top of rocks overlooking the water. White cloth, fine dining experience but there's a key west casualness element to it. Foie Gras type food,

Banana Cafe for breakfast. Amazing crepes. Really close to a Southernmost so good place to start the beach day if you opt for it,

Onlywood for some Italian/Pizza/Wine. This isn't a must go but I remember it and really liked the staff.

Grunt's. This place is a unique a Key West experience. Caribbean style food which fits the atmosphere of the whole town. Service was kind of sub par but it almost felt like part of the Caribbean experience haha. Great seafood, island influenced dishes, cool spot overall.

Have fun.

 

[catFANatic80]

Definitely wanna check out Blue Heaven a couple of blocks off of Duval Street for a breakfast/brunch.