Returned home today from a quick (3-day) return visit to Key West. We stayed at the Island City House Hotel. I recommend it highly but with one caveat: rugrats abound! It's one of the few guest houses in KW that welcomes children and it shows. If you don't want to share the pool with children, you may look somewhere else. Had great dinners at Mangia Mangia, Blue Heaven and the Cuban place near Mallory Square...sorry, the name escapes me. Also had an enjoyable lunch at Margaritaville. It's a tourist trap, I know, but the soups/salads were good! Only bad meal was at Turtle Kraals. Ick! Rented mopeds from Moped Hospital (!) and had a ball riding around the island. We decided locals probably hate mopeds but it was a good way to beat the heat. By the way, the heat was stifling. I doubt I will visit KW again in the summer. All in all, a good trip!!

John, was the Cuban place near Mallory Square Pepe's? Ate there twice in January and really enjoyed it.

Pepe's isn't Cuban.

We had to have a cheeseburger in Margaritaville. Otherwise, we stuck to Pepe's and the like.

John,

Did you see the Hilton? How did it look?

Shel

Hilton is a great property.

There are two Pepe's. One is the Cuban place near Mallory Square where John ate. I can't remember the entire name, but it's normally shortened to Pepe's. The other is a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall place behind Key West Bight, simply known as Pepe's. I've eaten lots of times at the latter, but never at the former, though it gets great reports. The Hilton continues to get mixed reviews, but many more favorable than negative in recent months.

John:

We are leaving for Key West July 7th for a week long visit. Heard MTV was down there all summer. Just trying to get an idea of crowds-and what they were doing there all summer.

Apparently the MTV presence hasn't been much of a problem at all except to people staying at the Reach, and possibly at the Casa Marina, though I'm not sure. As I understand it, MTV is already beginnning to clear out.

I didn't notice MTV at all, but then again I wasn't really looking. I was hoping to avoid hordes of college kids and we did so it was a success!

Just returned home from Key West. Sheraton Suites is a great place to stay.Shuttle to town only runs every hour and wasn't worth the wait . so, we used our own car. No problems finding a parking spot in July.The heat was unbearable at times 102 degreesone day and 94 the other. It cooled down to 80 degreesa at night!!There wasn't any crowds. E-coli in the water closed 2 beaches.(smathers and Higgs) Duval street had alot of vagrants sleeping on the side walks and begging for money.I was not impressed. Alot of bars, music and lots of T-shirts for sale!! Mallory square was fun watching the sunset( a little disappointed that it sets over an island with houses instead of the water) and the carnival atmosphere. Turtle Kraals restaurant was terrible.Greasy food in small portions with huge piles of black beans and rice. Nasty! Hard Rock had great food.We snorkeled at the state parkFort Zachary Taylor. It was ok. The MTV set was closed to the public. Even the folks that were staying at the Wyndam couldn't get onto the set. the people were bussed in from Miami. It was a big disappointment to the girls. We ended up leaving early to go to Key Largo. The snorkeling was great there.