Casa Morada has anyone been very recently (Islamorada in the Florida Keys)
 

I am looking at places for later this fall and just looked at Casa Morada again. A quick search brought up comments like the similarity of pricing at this place and a Hampton Inn and some other comments that would indicate this was modest resort. I just looked at their site and the prices were in the $450 per night range. Hardly modest. The place looks even more awesome than I imagined and is now run by some Ian Schrager escapees. Anyone know anything more?

Looks like it is right there with Little Palm but a little less $..

http://www.casamorada.com/about.html

The big plus is we can take our puppy with us. I am so there already and I've only been back at work one day. ;;) LMF

just sending me up the queue. LMF

We stayed there in March, 2003 when they were just about finishing up the remodel. I would consider this 3 star "boutique motel" and think you are right to feel skeptical about the price. The pros are that the grounds are beautiful, the beds are very comfortable, and the rooms are huge. The cons are that there were a lot of kids in the pool and the old bones of the motel sometimes show through. By this, I mean the window air conditioning unit was kind of creaky, the sliding door to the balcony was somewhat rickety and sticky, and the parking lot was right next to our room, so we could hear the noise from people coming and going. Obviously, these are not true complaints - they are only cons relative to a $450 price tag, which implies to me a 4 star type of experience. I would try to stay here, but see if they have any discounts or if there is any other way to knock the price down. I noticed they start their high season rates in early November, which seems a bit early. Also, this resort gets very good reviews on tripadvisor.com, so maybe more improvements have been made since we were there.

Thanks for your comments. I think that the hotel finished its revisions in fall of 2003. It is an adult hotel now, like Little Palm but I can take my dog!

It looks lovely from the website, but a photographer can do a lot as we know to alter perception. LMF

LMF, I would call the Casa Morada and discuss your concerns with them. $450 is a lot of money in anyone's book and if they would not alleviate your fears by talking this out with you, best to stay elsewhere.

At the very minimum $450 per night should get you a nice conversation with a manager.

My thougnts exactly, I never hesitate to call directly but someone who has a vested interested sees things in a different light...but for a couple of nights I am game and we are probably going to book this week. Sending this up again as I trust the comments here more than anywhere else. LMf

I haven't stayed at Casa Morada, but read trip reviews on tripadvisor.com that were great! I posted a question on an AOL message board and got a very favorable response. The only apparent negative was the Casa Morada has no "services", i.e., no room cleaning without an extra charge.

With what I know of it and Little Palm Island, I don't think they compare.