need2vacation

My wife has a special birthday coming up and I was looking to maybe drive down to the the Keys and spend a romantic night celebrating it. I need some suggestions, I am looking for a hotel with a beach, one on the gulf side for the sunset, and somewhere that might have a little nightlife. I am willing to go from Largo to Key West, but I need it to be of reasonable cost...I can't afford $800 a night in a private hut, although that would be great.

Thanks for your help!
BG

SusanCS

Where will you be coming from? The drive from Miami down to Key West takes nearly 4 hours, so that's a pretty long drive for one night. Any chance you could stay two nights?

Since the keys are coral, natural beaches are practically non-existent. Rather, the vast majority of beaches are man-made and small. There are 4 hotels in Key West that're on the bay side that might fit your bill (excluding the good beach). The Pier House has a small beach, the Ocean Key Resort is a great hotel, but with no beach, the Hyatt (on Front Street, there are 4 in Key West) has a postage-sized beach, and the Westin, which in my opinion wouldn't fall into the "romantic" category, and which also has no beach.

The Sunset Key Cottages are an 8 minute ferry ride from Key West and are apparently lovely. I haven't checked the prices recently, so have no idea how expensive they are these days, but they're run by the Westin in Key West. On the bay side, those really are your only options.

garyt22

rates usually drop in the Summer due to the heat and humidity so you can buy more luxury... Islamorada is half way to Key West and can be a great and faster alternative... there are also choices in all price ranges... have fun

lvk

I haven't stayed there, but Luxury Link is always showing specials for the Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada, which looks pretty nice:

http://www.luxurylink.com/fivestar/h...-lodge-and-spa

SusanCS

I haven't stayed at Cheeca Lodge in decades, but it had a great reputation then, and still does. If memory serves me, though, I think it may be on the Atlantic side. Another place that I'd forgotten about is the Moorings, which is just next door, and it also has great reputation.

http://mooringsvillage.com/moorings_village_tour.cfm

Tomsd

We stayed at the Cheeca Lodge at Islamorada about 15 years ago - and loved it. Went deep sea fishing the next day and then beat it back to Miami for our flight home (we had earlier been on a short cruise out of Miami) - and that was just fine as the Xmas Holidays were kicking in on Dec 18th or whatever it was - and the room prices were tripling.

Assuming it still lives up to the good rep - go for it.

You can walk out the dock and enjoy seeing fish in the water.

Tomsd

And yes, it is on the Atlantic side.

parrothead1225

Try the Lorelei, near Islamorada.Mile Marker around 80. They have music on the beach some evenings. If you want to go all the way to Key West, the Southernmost on the Beach has a sand beach. They also have 2 B&B's on the property, the Dewey House is one. $300-400/nght. The hotel runs $250ish in high season. Summer rates are probably lower.