Staying at Doubletree Should I keep rental car while in Key West?
 

We are renting a car to drive to Key West for a long weekend, staying at the Doubletree (which is not on Duval) for 3 nights. Although the hotel does have free shuttle service to Duval, I'm wondering if I should keep the rental car the whole time I am there to have it to drive around Key West rather than taking the shuttle. Will parking around Duval be a problem? Can we easily find a meter rather than parking in a garage? If I keep the car, it will cost me $30 to park it at the hotel plus another $100 for the extra time. Other option is to turn it in at the airport and then pick it up again when we are ready to leave (Doubletree also offers free shuttle to airport). Is keeping the car worth the extra money?
Also, any info/experience from those who have stayed at the Doubletree would be great.

The Doubletree is in a terribly inconvenient location near the airport and nothing else. The beauty of Key West is that if you stay in Old Town, you will be within walking distance of sunset celebrations, tourist attractions and restaurants. At the Doubletree you'll be within walking distance of nothing.

I'd strongly advise you to look for another place to stay. Parking IS a problem in Key West and can be expensive, too.

I might add that I just responded to your post about packages for attractions, and based on the knowledge that you'll only be there for a long weekend, I don't think it'd be worth the money to try and cram so much into such a few days. The Conch Train Tour is definitely worth it, and maybe one or two other things of your choice.

Ditch the car and try to find a hotel in Old Town. The Southernmost Hotel is reasonable, has a great pool, and is within walking distance to all the fun stuff.

Those hotels away from old town offer shuttle service but with very limited hours. Look for a hotel in Old Town, so nice to walk all over and not depend on a car or shuttle. Key West is a very small town to walk around...

If you want an idea of the proximity of the Doubletree to the center of activity in Key West, take a look at this map.

Mallory Square (the location of the nightly sunset celebrations) is designated by the picture of the cruise ship at the top left of the map. The Doubletree (Grand Key Resort) is at the lower right side of the map next to the airport.

http://www.boneislandshuttle.com/map.htm

I'd also recommend getting lodging in the old town part so you can walk everywhere. But if you choose to stay at the Doubletree, I'd get rid of the car. It's really tough to park in the old town and when the shuttle isn't convenient, you can probably take cabs and not spend any more than if you keep the car. Then you don't have to worry about parking.