My husband and I have been to Key West and loved it. We want to take our boys, 7 and 9, to the Keys for spring break. Key West is a bit pricey and our boys care more about nature than commercialism. Can anyone recommend a good spot for us? Specifically, I am looking for a hotel/motel recommendation that is clean, affordable and in a great location. Big Pine Key looks great but I am not sure where we should stay. Any advice is also appreciated!!

Check out Islamorada or Marathon. There are some condos in both places - perhaps more in Islamorada than the other. We stayed at a condo building called Sea Gulls on the ocean side. There was not a beach, but we visited Bahia Honda one day for a beach day.

Parmer's Resort, www.parmersresort.com/index.html, on Little Torch Key (next to Big Pine Key) might work well for your family.

The Hampton Inn Islamorada is not your typical Hampton. They have suites rooms with 2 BR and sitting room. They have a Keys style mini beach and a very nice pool area. Walking distance to good restaurants. You can day trip the entire Keys from Islamorada.

This forum has many threads of what to do in the Keys. Use the Search the Forum function for lots of info.

I agree with Marathon. Lots of lodging, easy to find grocery stores.

We stayed recently here, http://cocoplum.com/
Its an older location, but clean. 2 stories, each with kitchens and 2 bedrooms. I think they sleep 6.

You would be within an hour of Key West and Bahia Honda is 20 minutes or so away.

Big Pine would be great. If you check www.tripadvisor.com you will see that there are a couple of very highly recommended B&Bs(Deer Run and Barnacle) At Big Pine you would be close to Bahia Honda State Park and the boys would probably enjoy seeing the deer and visiting the National Key Deer Refuge and the Blue Hole. There is a Wynn Dixie and a library in town as well as a number of inexpensive places to eat. I don't have any personal recommendations for accommodation as we spent January there in our RV!