FreddieD

My husband and I are planning a trip to the Keys in July and I was wondering if anyone has visited Grassy Key, FL in the Keys or the White Sands Inn on Grass Key. Any feedback on the 2 would be great. Also, we will be coming from the North (Georgia) and want to bypass the Miami traffic. Where should we get off of I-95 and where would we go from there? Thanks!

Quinty

Went there a couple of years ago and stayed on Grassy Key at the Bonefish resort which is within a 1/4 mile of White Sands Inn. Not much going on there at all.

Each little hotel has their own dock, courtesy (sometimes rental) boats, and a manmade sand area, but there are no beaches really, which was a surprise to me.
We couldn't utilize the sandy area so much because of the noseums.
One BIG tip, this key is really narrow so make sure you get a room far away from the road. We were in a couple of rooms at the Bonefish for various reasons and ended up by the road for a few nights and it was SO LOUD. We also thought we kept hearing someone knocking at the door, but turns out it was some kind of tropical tree with these weird nuts that kept falling and rolling off the roof of our room!

The night time along the water at your hotel will be nice though if you have good moonlight - that is what we enjoyed most about staying there.

I don't remember about the drive though. My husband was at the wheel and I was not paying attention.

If you have any more questions I can answer them for you. I have digital pictures of the area as well.

FreddieD

Thanks a lot for all of the info! I will be sure to find out how close the property is from the Hwy.

buckeyemom

Driving from Ft. Lauderdale-take 595 west to the Florida turnpike south and then to Highway 1.

Are your plans set in stone staying in Grassy Key? IMO, Islamorada would be a much better place to stay, more to do, more restaurants. There really isn't much around Grassy Key.

Some hotel recommendations in Islamorada:
Cheeca Lodge
Hampton Inn
Pine and Palms
Coral Bay
Chesapeake Resort
Casa Morada

Go to the rants and raves section on Travel Talk home and there are tons of rereviews on Keys hotels.

FreddieD

Thanks Buckeyemom! Well, the reason we chose Grassy Key is because we want to do absolutely nothing for 5 days. My husband works shift work in 7 day shifts with 1-4 days off in b/w each shift so we just want to relax. I see that at White Sands Inn they are on some sand flats so, all I plan on doing is taking a chair and sitting right there from sun up to sun down with a cold drink in my hand. I'm sure we will go to Islamorada to do some fishing, we will definately snorkel and we can drive into Marathon for restaurants. The only thing I worry about is the first reply to my message about traffic being heard from US-1 in our room. With your directions we will miss all Miami traffic, right? Thanks so much for all your input!

Quinty

FreddieD
Your hotel is right on the highway (as all of them are in that area). The key is so narrow at that point there is no other option.
Just make sure to get a room closest to the water which will make ALL the difference.