Holiday Inn Key Largo, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Key Largo

I have stayed at this property many times and have always enjoyed everything about it. Best thing about our rooms this time were the rocking chairs outside the front door - wonderful for sitting and enjoying the outside with all its great plantings. Unfortunately, this time had a couple things go wrong and then one totally inexcusable – first the simple items. We book 2 rooms. Get to our rooms and one room can't use safe due to low battery error, entry light does not work, tv was locked on an odd picture width setting where you could not see the top half of anyone’s heads on the screen and phone is not working. Reported all from the phone in the second room and was told someone would be down but no one ever came and that includes after we also went to desk as well to speak to someone – promises to have someone come by but never did. The second room seemed okay but there was an elephant in the room called the mini refrigerator. It was not enclosed in a compartment out of view like in the other room and was totally rusted on the outside - tried to wash it down but rust is rust. Also ceiling was falling out in bathroom. I have pictures but can't seem to add them to review. So now for the most disgusting part of the trip that I and my friends will never forget. Upon arrival we checked in and after reporting our issues went to the pool area. Went for a swim and pool water was dirty (literally) lots of sand/small rocks on bottom and odd chunks of someone’s hair floating around eeeww... So got out and headed to the jacuzzi where I ran into a man with a long rod with a rope loop on the end. It was obvious after watching he was catching iguanas with it. I asked him what he was doing and he told me just that. I asked him what he did with the iguanas after capture and he said with a circling motion of his hand that he usually just swings them breaking their necks but since today there are so many people around the pool, he is just putting them in a bag in his truck. I asked him what he was going to do with the ones in the bag and he said he was going to cut them up for fishing bait – wondered if he killed them first or just hacked away at them. Hello? what? unfortunately I can Never unhear this - totally disgusted me and friends. I know they are seen as pests but all the guests I watched were being entertained by them not scared or threatened. I am trying hard to keep my language GP rated but boy I told everyone who asked me what was going on and got the same disgusted reaction as I had. What kind of monster is running this resort?? Seriously is this condoned by...

The staff were all very nice for the most part. Some were extra helpful, like more so than most other IHG locations. As a diamond elite member I’ve stayed at many for comparison. The hotel itself is nothing special. There are a few different esthetic details that make it appear nicer in certain ways compared to other older holiday inns. Like the waterfall and tiki bar by the pool, however; the hotel really falls short in most other areas and why I’m giving it 3 stars. Once you get past the Lobby to the rooms, it really lacks. Especially with being labeled a “resort” location, it was definitely disappointing overall. Rooms are in desperate need of a makeover, like furnishings are older and ran down. Definitely dated! Bathroom was old and rundown as well while Ceilings are the ugly dropdown acoustics. Bathtub would not drain properly. Also the bathtub had terrible water pressure and took forever to fill up. I had the faucet on full blast as you can see from the photos and not a whole lot of water was coming out! Our bathroom door was quite messed up as well. Like half the time it would not open. Both me and my fiancée got stuck in there due to the door not opening. Mattress hurt both of our backs, however, the sheets were super comfy. The furniture on the balcony was older, still it was nice sitting above the water while watching all the iguanas climb around on the wall by the water. Also they have no microwaves in the rooms, and they only keep the coffee out in the morning. I’m used to holiday inns that have the hot coffee all day long. So that was disappointing. Also there’s no elevators, so you have to drag all your luggage through the resort then up the stairs and down the long hallway in our case. How far you have to drag your luggage around depends on the room you get and how accessible it is from the working lot. The location is pretty good. Like it’s right in the middle of key largo with everything being easily accessible, so...

My husband and I picked this hotel because we could book it with points (fourth night free) to use as a home base for exploring the upper Keys. We did not expect the hotel itself to be so much fun. The mid-century modern two-story motel is built around a charmingly landscaped pool complex with a regular pool (heated for inexplicable reasons), a beautiful waterfall pool, and a hot tub surrounded by greenery. A Tiki Bar sits in the middle, offering Rum Runners, sandwiches, and similar fare. Iguanas of all sizes wander around the pools and Tiki Bar, delighting visitors from northern climes, although locals are unimpressed.

We spent our first night unwinding from a stressful travel day with dinner and drinks at the Tiki Hut and then watching a beautiful sunset from the waterfall pool. The next day we discovered that we could book day cruises and enjoy a fancier dinner at the marina that appears to be part of the same property, so we didn't have to get back in our rental car for the entire 2nd day. The original African Queen from the 1952 Bogart/Hepburn movie has been retired to the marina, so the hotel has adopted that as their theme. We didn't take the cruising tour, but enjoyed looking at the boat and wall plaques. Eventually we started venturing further from the hotel each day for day trips, but spent every evening enjoying the pools and boat drinks at the Tiki Hut and chatting with our fellow guests.

One key point - you REALLY need a poolside room to get the full experience. If we had been in a room overlooking the parking lot it would not have been the same. The rooms themselves are nothing special, but the beds are comfortable and the AC keeps the room nice and cool. The staff is friendly and helpful. The clientele is pretty sedate, mostly middle-class couples of all ages, many of whom are repeat visitors. People are friendly, but not boisterous, so there was no problem with noise in the...