Key West questions
 

Hello, we are spending the week of Oct 9 through 16 at the Galleon in Key West. We have never stayed at a time share before and need some tips on what they do/don't provide.
Also, we are flying into Miami and renting a car to drive to the Keys (our first time.)
Any advice on car rental (company? on site?)
and should we keep the car the whole week or just rent it for the days back and forth to the airport? Thank you all so much.

The Galleon has several different types of accommodations. The primary ones are the full condos, which have basically everything you might need but a hair dryer. The kitchen is fully furnished with dishes, pots, coffee maker, toaster, etc. Unless someone has been kind enough to leave some, they do NOT have coffee filters, so coffee and filters are always on our grocery list. They also have a dishwasher and washing machine and dryer. A small amount of dishwasher detergent and washing machine detergent is supplied and extra is available for purchase. Linens are provided, and there's a mid-week linen service if you choose to use it.

The Galleon also has lock-out units that are very small (claustrophic in my opinion) that are bedrooms with a kitchen on one wall. They also serve as a second bedroom to people who own or rent the full condo adjacent.

The third option is a ground floor unit and I've never seen one of them. I imagine they're less nice than the condos but nicer than the lock-outs.

You don't really need a car in Key West. We enjoy having one, but parking is frequently scarce and expensive. The Galleon has a shuttle to the airport (which is where the car rental place is), so if you'd like to abandon your car after the first day, you'll have transportation back out.

I've always used Hertz or Avis at the Miami airport. They have shuttles from the terminal to the rental facility.
The drive time to Key West is roughly 4 hours, unless you stop a lot or there's bad traffic.
Personally, since you're going to be in Key West for such a long time, I'd keep the car. I'd plan on taking a day trip up to Bahia Honda or, maybe, snorkeling at Pennekamp at Key Largo. You'll still have plenty of time in Key West.
Have fun.

The times I've had a car in Key West, I've never used it. It just sat the entire time. But, if you think you may want to do some exploring, it may not cost that much more for a week long rental, rather than two days.

Have a great trip. Jean

Have you thought of flying into Ft. Lauderdale? Cheaper and less hassle, plane and car.

Thank you for all your help. I now know from reading all the other "horror" posts, that flying in and out of Miami is a big mistake. I've already paid for the tickets, though. Any other helpful comments appreciated.

I rented a SUV when I drove from FTL to Key West. With a car you can't see over the railing when driving all the bridges. But with a higher vehicle like a SUV or van you get a wonderful view that people in cars can't see.

It wasn't that much more expensive to rent and got 21mpg going down and 24mpg coming back. (Got stuck in a 2.5 hour traffic jam going down to Key West around MM60 due to an accident. Was ticked that we missed sunset in Key West due to the delay until I found out 4 people died in the accident.)

Check rates but the weekly will probably be much better. Plus keeping the vehicle you can drive to Smathers Beach, Fort Zach Taylor Beach or Bahia Honda. Plus according to the Galleon website you get one parking space included.