Casa Morada — Hotel in Islamorada

We chose Casa Morada on a bit of a last minute whim while planning a trip to Key West. We were looking for a place in the Upper/Middle Keys to spend a few nights before going into Key West. We found Casa Morada on a Google search and could not believe how lovely the photos looked. We decided to give it a try, assuming, as is usually the case, that photos are better than the real thing. Reality could not have been further from the truth! Photos do not do Casa Morada justice! It is truly one of the loveliest places we have ever stayed and now we can’t wait to go back. We were at Casa Morada for 4 glorious nights! Not only are the grounds heavenly, the room is super comfortable with lots of thoughtful amenities which I will list below if you are interested! |In summary: if you want an incredibly comfortable, healing, rejuvenating, quiet, private, zen and peaceful stay (also pet friendly!) surrounded by lush nature…..this is your place. |If you want a party place or place with lots of amenities for kids, this is not the place for you. ||1. The beds are super comfortable with high end linens, lots of pillows, and a bedside table device for red light therapy for those who have issues sleeping (which I have had recently. I am thinking of getting one of these!), and phone charging outlets in the bedside tables. I slept better here than I have in months! |2. The shower was soothing (we stayed in the Moon Garden Jacuzzi suite.) The shower was made of pebbles, which was neat. It had a “seat” built in. It had a rain shower head and another shower head which was detachable. There was plenty of pressure and hot water! And the shower head was high so can comfortably accommodate very tall people ( I am tall, so this matters to me!) The bathroom was positioned between the bedroom and sitting room and had a “window” that made the shower and toilet area visible from either room! I found this unusual at first….but there were shades, of course, that could be drawn for complete privacy while still letting in lots of natural light! If you want to shower and still see the glorious lush gardens out the window, you could open the shade because it was completely private. And, like I said, this allowed lots of natural light into the bathroom, which is usually not the case in hotels. What I found unusual in these windows initially, I grew to find genius! |3. Daily housekeeping! It is almost as if the housekeeping was magically done! We rarely saw the housekeeping staff, but our room was always immaculately clean! We would go to breakfast or walk to the water, come back and the room was clean! |4. Some reviews state that the facility is “dated”. I did not find this to be the case at all. The building is mid-century (which we love) with glorious pierced brick and zen landscaping. The facility is beautifully restored, so I am not sure what reviews mean by “dated”. |5. Our room had a screened and private balcony which was lovely. On the balcony was a jacuzzi tub! I am not a personal fan of jacuzzi tubs as I feel they take too much water and are the jets ever really clean? Also, the water only got lukewarm, which was fine as it was an outdoor tub and it was warm outside! I did find it glorious to sit on the side of the tub with a glass of wine and enough water for a soothing foot soak! |6. There were lots of nice amenities in the room: a fridge, coffee/tea/hot water maker with lots of nice selections (Starbucks!) , fridge stocked with Pellegrino water and some other nice selections (I am sure at a room charge, but not certain), wine glasses, beer glasses, nice coffee mugs, nice tea cups, a broom and dust pan for tracked in sand, yoga mats, bathrobes, binoculars, a sleep therapy light, flashlight, a small selection of books, probably other things that I missed). |7. The staff were the BEST! The manager, Samantha (Sam), was a true gem! |8. The grounds offered lots of lushness, tropical plants (orchids!), sitting areas, a yoga hut that was used for lounging when there were no yoga classes), a bar over the water on the “pool island” with nice beer and wine and other seltzers and such (can only be charged to the room which assured only guests were there), bikes. A lovely pool. Lots of sun lounging as well as shade lounging. The grounds were indescribably beautiful and peaceful. I truly have never experienced anything like it at an inn! |9. Breakfast was lovely with delicious croissants and other pastries, cereals, yogurts, boiled eggs. A light but delicious breakfast. If you want a big breakfast, Mangrove Mike’s is about a block away and easily walkable. |10. Pet friendly. |11. Yoga classes offered a couple of times a week|12. Massage services available|13. Add-on available…. We got champagne and chocolate strawberries, which were delicious! |14....

Islamorada:

First, Islamorada is pronounced: eye-la-more-a-da...I think. We spent the last week of September 2015 at the hotel. This was our first time visiting the Florida Keys. The hotel staff were very pleasant and quick to accommodate.

There is no beach at this hotel. We discovered that the better beaches are in Key West, approximately 2 hours away; however even those are pitiful compared to most of the beaches we've visited. Apparently the Keys are mainly for boating, diving and snorkeling.

For a couple days, the entire Islamorada island smelled of sulfur. The natives don't notice it. We never learned what caused it.

We drove all over the Keys, from Key Largo to Key West, stopping and looking at shops, restaurants, etc. It was mostly hot and sticky the entire time. This was a nice time of year to go there because it was off season and so there wasn't much traffic. The Florida Keys highway is only one lane. Oh, and as far as I could see, all the Florida Key souvenirs were made in China.

The Starfish Room:

The room we stayed in was on the ground level overlooking the bay and has a very nice view. There is a small sail boat docked outside the room, with another slightly larger boat docked on the small island about 30 feet from the first one. You can see several Palm Trees waving in the wind on the small island right past the boats. We were unable to see the sunset from the room due to the island and the bridge that goes to the island; however at the covered lounge, which is also where the bar is, we had a great view.

The room is furnished in the modern style. The couch, to put it nicely, was not comfortable, ever. The bathtub was large and easily fit two people; although we were surprised there was not a step leading up into it.

There is a lot of glass in the room, which helps give great views, but it's at ground level, so disturbingly anyone could walk by and see inside, so we usually kept the shades down. Also, the shades only keep people from looking in, they don't block the sunlight, so every morning we woke up due to the sun shining it's glory into our eyes. They should add heavy curtains to all the glass.

The Lounge:

The bar/lounge is right on the bay. It had some comfortable couches and chairs, tables, board games, etc. The best part was when we saw a couple Manatees swimming by.

Mosquitoes:

The first night there we were discovered by the mosquito horde. Okay, I'm exaggerating; however we did have to kill approximately half a dozen of them in the room so that we wouldn't be bit all night. That was a daily task. Outside they'd feed off of you constantly unless you lathered yourself with Deet or whatever bug-keep-away lotion you have. After a couple days a nice breeze came in and kept them at bay, thus we didn't need to use any lotion to keep them off. Bring bug spray.

Restaurants:

The hotel only serves a continental breakfast. There are numerous very good restaurants in Islamorada; they're not inexpensive. I wish they were up here in our area.

Ziggie's Mad Dog restaurant was excellent. We have eaten a lot of Filet Mignon, but that was the best we've ever had! Also their Lobster with White Truffle Mac and Cheese was fantastic.

Right behind the Bass Outfitters store there is a restaurant, maybe named Islamorada Fish House, that has a 30 or 40 foot open-to-the-bay pool inbetween two dining areas. Around sunset a bunch of very large Tarpon, 5 to 6 feet long, swim around waiting for the staff to feed them.

The Lazy Days restaurant has a nice upper level outside dining area. We were entertained by a man playing his guitar on the first level, who could play very well, but needed a partner who could sing...his voice was painful to listen to.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, we had a very relaxing time at Casa Morada. I would recommend this hotel for anyone who wants a nice...

(Update) Manager called me on Monday and confirmed the construction has stopped and put off until next month. She assured me that they were back to normal, including the pool/pool bar, equipment rentals, yoga, breakfast, etc.. Excellent! Everything was great upon checking in Wednesday, although when we asked to apply hubby’s IHG membership to our reservation, Manny advised they don’t participate in the rewards program. Ok minor inconvenience, hubs will take that up with IHG directly. Then we head to the pool and noticed no bartender, and upon inquiring with the office, we were told the bartender had COVID and they did not know when she would be back…so BYOB until further notice. Next day we meet another couple at the pool who have been there since the prior weekend, who tell us there hasn’t been a bartender all week. And, this couple booked their stay using IHG rewards! So we did the BYOB thing, until Sunday, when lo behold, we find the bartender is back! We asked her how she’s feeling and she tells us she didn’t have COVID at all, rather she and her daughter (who incidentally is the other bartender) were on vacation. Now why, when I spoke to her on Monday, did the Manager assure me the pool bar was “back to normal” when the bartender hasn’t been there all week? Why was there no backup bartender? Why did the staff tell us the bartender had COVID (which btw, is a violation of HIPPA)? Why could we not apply our IHG membership to our stay, when the other couple used their reward points? And to top it all off, this morning we wake up to the sound of hammers and saws right below our window, as the construction crew is back working on the sea wall again! We’re checking out today so I’m not going to raise the issue to the Manager, but I sure feel sorry for the other guests who are staying. At least they have a bartender, right?? Bottom line, the management of this gorgeous property has declined significantly since the last time we were here 2 years ago. It’s very sad…I don’t know that we will be back next year.

This is a pre-stay review…having stayed at Casa Morada 3x in the past (pre COVID), we did not hesitate to book again for our annual anniversary trip coming up next week (Sept 22). I had seen where CM is now part of the IHG Hotel Group, which explains a few things. Upon booking this on Aug 8th, we received a 30% off summer promo…GREAT (CM is not inexpensive)…taking full advantage of that. Manny advised they would take 50% deposit right away and it was non-refundable, balance due at check in. Email confirmation received didn’t mention anything about this, nor did it confirm room total, deposit taken and balance due. I’ve called twice to request this and still have not received an updated email confirmation. Last week CM charged my card what I thought was again (7 days prior to arrival)…but looking back on my CC statement, they never put the 50% deposit through back when I booked it 2 months ago. OK no biggie. But then, I happened to see some really bad reviews about construction at CM. So I call today (Sunday-3 days prior to arrival) only to learn that yes, they are reconstructing their sea wall…which is the entire private island, pool & bar area that we absolutely love hanging out in. These reviews date back to July 2021, so this construction was well underway when I originally booked, and of the 3 times I’ve spoken to someone there, not one person informed me of this. And I was supposed to receive a call last week to advise this before they charged my deposit…nope. Now I know why there’s the 30% off promo. Waiting for the manager to call me to discuss…noise pollution aside, if the pool & bar are closed or limited hours like these reviews are saying, then we are NOT going to waste our $$. I will be updating this review once this all...