Island City House Key West Guest Reviews

The Island City House Hotel is a wonderful place with a beautiful garden. They serve breakfast under a canopy of tropical trees and orchids. They have the most gracious staff of any hotel I have ever stayed in. I keep recommending the Island City House to friends and anyone I meet traveling to Key West. I haven't had anyone come back disappointed with the hotel in any way. All of my friends who have taken many vacations back to Key West have become, like my husband and I, permanent clients of the Island City House Hotel. The best part of the property has to be the location. I can rave on and on about the hotel, but the rest of the island is truly why you go. It's far enough off from Duval to be quiet and secluded, yet it's within easy walking distance to the bars and nightlife. There is also the best marina and great restaurants right around the corner. Parking in this area was not bad at all, and once you find a spot you won't be back for the car until it's time to go home.

My husband and I stayed here in early May for 5 nights in a third floor suite on the pool side. The best description I can give you is simply heavenly bliss in the swaying palms. We had a suite complete with a kitchen, king size bed with a feather down mattress and plenty of pillows. Ceiling fans in the kitchen and in the bedroom. There's a private sitting area up on the third floor veranda. It has tropical comfortable wicker chairs and tables. The widows walk up on the fourth floor is a great place to get some sun and it too is private. The area is clothing optional if you want to rid yourself of tan lines without being stared at on the beach. In the evenings there's a very nice starlight view of the Island. Very romantic and we were the only ones up there. Wonderful palm shaded pool and hot tub area. Plenty of sun by the pool as well if you prefer. Best of both worlds here. The green tropical gardens  make for a very nice setting to enjoy continental breakfast every morning. The hotel is in a quiet residential area within a short walking distance to anywhere in Old Town you'll want to go. The harbor marina and Mallory Square are the main areas and just a stones throw away. We highly recommend this one.
 

We made reservations for the Island City House Hotel for 5 nights in July from your site and wanted let you know that we loved it! We called the hotel directly and from the start they treated us like gold. In the end we really didn't want to leave! The location is ideal, in a quiet setting with short walk to Duval and all the attractions. We booked a single room at the Island City House, and it was beautiful. With a classic, yet tropical style it had hardwood flooring, an exquisite marble bath, comfy bed, kitchenette, and everything you need. Noise wasn't a problem in the evening, it was a peaceful quiet setting. The entire staff was very hospitable, offering advice and even coupons for shopping. They also have bike rentals on site which was affordable, less than others in the area and convenient. The hotel grounds are just gorgeous, it is like a lush tropical island in the middle of a city that seems to just melt away when you step into the compound. The pool was large, and always kept clean. We spent a few hours just relaxing in and around the pool almost every day. We didn't wake up in time once for the free morning breakfast, but there are plenty of great breakfast places around if you want to just sleep in every day. We will stay here again in the future. We spent the first couple of nights of our vacation at one of the large, and expensive corporate hotels on the ocean and when we moved to the Island City House we were sorry that we didn't spend our whole vacation there. If your idea of a great vacation is getting out of bed, and hanging out on the beach all day long, this isn't right on the beach, but there are a few nearby and the pool is great for hanging out and relaxing. If you like walking around old town, shopping, exploring the island, and relaxing in a quiet tropical garden, then this is the place to stay. It's private and simply peaceful with great service and a perfect location.

We stayed at the Island City House in August for 8 days and thought it was splendid. As other guests have written, the staff is willing to help with anything they can, and the hotel has real charm. The property is clean, well kept, and the gardens are full of life and just captivating. The pool is big for Key West, and was great for the children. They learned to swim during the 8 days we were there. It's all about these memories for us. The free breakfast was convenient for grabbing a couple bites to eat before hitting the town. Our 2 room suite was clean and the beds were very comfortable. We slept well every night. The bathroom had a real marble floor and was really luxurious I thought. The furnishings are unique for even this type of establishment. The furniture is probably worth more than the property. Although it is antique and not new, I still prefer this decor of the suite over fancy cookie cutter stuff you get everywhere else. We had hardwood floors, tiffany style lamps, four-poster bed and the normal comfort amenities. The other bedroom and the entire hotel follows the same style. There's a kitchen complete with utensils and dishes. We made a few meals and felt like home. There's bike rental  available right at the front door, which was very convenient for getting around town and they don't charge more than you'll pay else ware (I checked). You do not need a car if you stay here. Everything is close by, even a little grocery store for supplies. The location is perfect for biking around. We didn't miss anything. When you have a bike, nothing is too far away in Key West. Just don't forget to lock it. Not that crime is a real problem there, but bikes are a common way of getting around and they do ride off on their own we were warned. You can easily walk to all the major attractions and bars from the Island City House too. Don't drink and ride your bike thinking it's ok. You can get a DUI on a bike. Walk it. I found the public library is right around the corner from the front of the hotel. A library card costs $15, and you get a year of time on it, which is great. If we ever go down to Key West in the future, we'll stay at the Island City House. And if We do it within a year I can still use my library card.

My wife and I stayed 7 nights in March at the Island City House Key West. Our room was extremely clean. It was a little odd that the a/c was in the closet, but it kept the room cool fine. We had a great time every day and every night, late into the night and slept very well on the comfortable beds. The continental Breakfast was fruit, toasts, bagels, the usual in a nice setting though. No one said anything about the area you eat in surrounded for tropical trees and foliage. They have orchids everywhere and the scene is almost surreal and like a postcard. I had thought that the Island City House was more of a Bed and Breakfast,  but it's more like a hotel without the 'everything is exactly the same' feel. It's not a little Mom and Pop type of place. The pool is very refreshing. Plenty of great restaurants near by. Also a lot of places to eat that you just don't find anywhere else in the world. We spent some time on the beach at Ft Zachary Taylor State Park, which is nice with a little lagoon and facilities. People said the beaches there were crummy, but it sure was much nicer than anything outside of Florida. People get spoiled. The sunset cruise / booze cruise was a blast. I also found a fishing guide here on See A Room and went flats fishing. Bonefishing on the flats off of Key West is a great time and well worth the $300. If you like to go fishing. They do have bike rentals but we opted for an electric car which was fun too. The hotel is conveniently located to the major stuff but the island is still 2 by four miles, and if you want to explore, a bike gets old after a mile or two.

This was our third trip to Key West, and for this trip we chose the Island City House Hotel. Well from now on we will stay here! The hotel is a compound of three houses actually: the Island City House, the Cigar House, and the Arch House. Our room was on the second floor of the Island City House with a view of the pool from a balcony. The rooms are huge and have everything you need for vacation. Ours had a full-size fridge which came in handy for keeping beer and wine cold. Probably saved us a ton too, from having to go to the bars for drinks constantly. We also re-heated leftovers for lunch. We didn't do any full blown meals, we were after all on vacation.

We are a couple of thirty something's, and found the Island City House to be well located, quiet, relaxing after being out late, and overall very well kept. There are a lot of different people who want different things r expect different things from a hotel and they do an amazing job of pleasing everyone. You'll have a hard time finding anything negative on the net about this place on the virtual tours really give you a look into the place. Thus See A Room right? We personally were looking for local charm and style. We had enough of the cookie cutter corporate hotels everywhere else. To nit pick a little, the linins, towels, and furniture were all top notch. We noticed the rooms had different pieces in each, but the quality is really high. The furnishings must have been a huge expense for them. This place is a large cut above the rest. The staff was very professional and seemed happy to see us every day. Like other reviewers, we relied on them for advise on what to do and were to go. They steered us in the right direction every time. We noticed too that they actually took the time to ask us some questions and made sure they sent us to the right places. They don't seem to have a master list of places they just funnel all their guests to. You get real one on one attention. The curtains were all white and bright. Most places have "tinted" white curtains. They looked and felt new, which they may have been, but it went along with the extreme cleanliness of the hotel itself. Our suite was superbly cleaned and you can tell their housekeeping staff pays attention to detail on a very unusual scale. It's so good we laughed wondering if the owners were running everything from the front desk to the housekeeping. It seemed like it anyway. Our suite had a full kitchen and we used it for a few meals to save some money. There plenty of little grocers nearby for the essentials. In case you can't tell, we are picky about cleanliness and quality. The A+ comes from the bathrooms, which for most accommodations is the source of our biggest complaint. Like everything else, it was perfectly clean upon arrival and kept in top order while we were there. We didn't expect many toiletries in a Bed and Breakfast type of  hotel, but it even had eye makeup remover pads with the usual corporate lotions, soaps, etc. When it came time for the free breakfast, we didn't expect much more than the stale toast and cereal you get a the trough breakfast line in most hotels. Once again they have a nice spread, in a gorgeous setting to exceed our expectations. This is the best privately owned hotel we have stayed in by far, anywhere.