DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Grand Key - Key West — Hotel in Key West

We had a wonderful stay here, we definitely found a gem off the beaten path. Before arriving there, the room was upgraded to a balcony with water view (might be because of my Hilton status, but regardless we were thrilled). The rooms and the grounds were clean. Hallways were quiet. We were lucky to come right after labor day which to our delight was the low of the tourist season, so there was not an over crowding of people. THE ROOMS were clean, have a ceiling fan our balcony that overlooked the water was very very small, maybe only about two feet wide, the two chairs on the balcony could only sit facing each other (not out at the water). We would’ve been a disappointment if we paid extra for it. This hotel did daily room cleaning, which was nice to come back to a room with a made bed and fresh towels. THE POOL: was absolutely gorgeous and we felt we lucked out with this. We saw Margaritaville’s pool and it was nothing compared to ours. It gets as deep as 5 feet but has a walk in feature into the book (like a beach) that gradually gets deeper. They had some beachballs and noodles floating around for guest’s uses. 6 cabanas which are on a first come first serve basis (oh and did I mention free!). They also had a waiter walking around serving drinks. Green Iguana’s do walk around the poolside looking for food, were in the tropics so this is normal. They are harmless and will scurry off if you shoo them. Just don’t feed them. Thankfully no chickens here! THE ELEVATOR: The layout of the hotel has two elevators, one on each wing of the hotel. Our elevator was not operating for 4 out of the 5 days we were there. This was really unfortunate and the reason it is getting 4 stars instead of 5 stars. In addition to our room being on the top floor, our room was the last one at the end of the hallway. For our whole trip we had to take either the stairs or the elevator that was operating on the other wing of the hotel, which believe it or not was a decent walk and annoying. My mother has a knee injury so this was unfortunate. THE HOTEL and RESORT FEES: Upon check in, you’re greeted with two, warm, walnut chocolate chip cookies which were delicious! They are also up for grabs throughout the day but if you want these warm, there’s a microwave in the Sweet Shop. The hotel offers free parking, but make sure you go inside to get your parking pass. The resort fee a daily $30. We found that with this resort fee, they actually had some amenities you’ll actually use. They have a concierge to help you book their offered excursions or to assist with others. Through them, we booked a morning cruise with Sunset Water Sports which provided a grab and go breakfast, 3 hr excursion, 1 hr snorkel, and open bar for $55 each. We were going to rent bicycles which were $20 for 24 hrs but unfortunately it was just too hot. The hotel is about 4-4.4.5 miles from Duval Street, about a 15/20 minute drive. The hotel has a shuttle that operates hourly from 8am to 11pm that brings you right to Duval Street (right behind sloppy joes). The shuttle does not wait, they leave at the time they tell you to so be at the waiting spot a few minutes early. They also have a second shuttle to take you right to Smatther’s Beach, about a 5 minute drive. This shuttle operates from 8a-4p on every even hour. At the beach, your resort fee includes two free chair rentals for the day. The staff were very friendly and eager to assist with any needs. We took advantage of the pool side bar, staff were friendly and attentive and to our surprise, the drink prices were reasonable. Apart from the poolside bar, they have a sit-down restaurant that offers breakfast and lunch/dinner options, we did not eat here. THE LOCATION: The hotel is located close to the airport but the noise from the planes were practically unbearable from inside behind the storm windows. The hotel is surrounded by other apartment buildings and we felt very safe in this location. There’s a sidewalk along the water that is a short distance...

Earlier in 2024 my work team decided to go to Key West for our annual team work event. I reached out to several resorts in the area to enquire about their services, facilities, ability to handle our group of 20, have a conference room and food services and pricing. During that process I found that several resorts didn't have a conference room and/or catering abilities that we would need. There were a handful of resorts that we narrowed the list down to and I chose to go with DoubleTree in the end.

I worked with Victoria initially as she was a GREAT help in providing all the information I needed. I'm a very detailed person who likes to ask a lot of questions and make sure I have the answers needed. She was great at quickly providing an overall presentation with pricing, room and resort details as well as perks and benefits of their resort. She also provided details about Key West and gave recommendations of restaurants and activities in the area. She was always prompt and very thorough in her replies and extremely helpful. That also included her interaction with me through our 4 days stay this past week.

I also worked with Dianne and Angelyn with our room bookings and food catering as one of the days we reserved a conference room and had breakfast and lunch catered for our group. They upgraded our conference room to their largest room at no charge when it wasn't used the day we needed. The food was delicious for both breakfast and lunch and the conference room as perfect for what we needed. Tyrone met me the day before and went over what he was going to do when setting up the room and food and then was available the day of our meeting to make sure everything was perfect. The resorts communication with their team was exceptional and nothing went wrong. Tyrone did a great job of communicating with me the day before and making sure what he understood we needed was right and the next day everything was set up perfectly.

We had people on our team who were HiltonHonor members and received upgrades and the perks that come with being a member. The location was 5 mins (at the most) from the airport and their shuttle that ran every hour was perfect for the group to take to get to the downtown area for meals and activities. Victoria worked with her manager to make the shuttle available one morning for our group as we had a fishing charter scheduled and we needed to leave the hotel at 7am. Their shuttle normally started at 8am but they accommodated our needs and got us to our charter right on time.

I also met the manager, Michael, and everyone I worked with leading up to our event and they were all very friendly and felt like friends.

Our trip occurred right after the IT incident that created a lot of headaches with airlines and we ended up having around 8-9 people not able to make it as their flights were cancelled. I was able to work easily and seamlessly with Victoria to get their rooms cancelled at the last minute with no charges. She and her team were excellent at helping with that and not making a stressful situation worse, but instead made it better. Those that were able to make it raved about their time in Key West and were happy with the resort and especially the service staff. 3 people arrived at the resort 5 minutes before the kitchen was closing on Monday after a LONG day of travel and airline delays. The kitchen was great and made sure to get them food after their long day of travel and headaches. This was much appreciated.

I have been told that the resort is doing a multi-million dollar renovation this fall and should be finished by January of 2025. If/when any of us come back to Key West we will definitely look at staying at the DoubleTree due to the great service, location and amenities. Thanks...

I’d like to give it no stars, but it won’t allow that. This was our first vacation since having our son. It should have been relaxing and enjoyable. It was not. I also want to preface that we are avid and laid back travelers. My husband travels for work, exclusively staying with Hilton. As Hilton Diamond members we thought we were very familiar with the Hilton product, but we were shocked and disappointed. When we got to our room, I went to the restroom, upon turning on the light I saw an insect scurry toward the corner of the room. I immediately recognized it as a cockroach, but my husband was unsure as it was on the smaller side - we let it go. By Sunday evening we didn’t have any hot water in our room; when it wasn’t working by Monday morning we informed the front desk. The staff member rolled her eyes, was indignant and said, “yeah, we know”. We asked when it would be fixed and were told it was being looked at. We went about our day, kayaking. When we returned, it was still not fixed so we cleaned up in cold showers and decided we’d just warm up in the hot tub afterwards. The hot tub was broken and remained as such for our entire 6 night stay. The next day (Tuesday) we spent the morning in town and when we returned that afternoon, we checked in about the water. We again were met with unprofessional behavior, eye rolling and brushing us off, saying simply, “it’s fixed”. We relaxed at the pool and returned to our room in the evening to get ready for dinner - we STILL did not have hot water. Took cold showers again and informed the front desk on our way out - I don’t need to tell you how they responded. By Wednesday morning, we finally had hot water. Wednesday night, however, my initial fear of roaches returned, when I turned on my bedside light and saw two scurry across the table and down the side. I don’t usually leave reviews, I’m laid back, I get it - I’ve worked in the service industry and spent many years in property management I really understand, but what did me in was the total lack of care. After not getting any help or response from the front desk for 3 days and not so much as a, “We’re sorry for the inconvenience” from any of the staff, we made a formal complaint to Hilton regarding the cold water and overall lack of service - this was done Tuesday night. They were very helpful and kind - the rep from Hilton even contacted Doubletree to find out why guests were without hot water for several days and informed them of our complaint. We were told by Hilton that the manager would be in touch with us the following day, either by phone or in person - that would have been Wednesday. As I write this it is na Thursday night and we have not heard from a manager or any of the hospitality team members. To add insult to injury, we were told tonight that the “complimentary on-demand airport shuttle” is not actually on demand - they will not take us to the airport before 7 am. I could scream. I decided to write this in hopes that it will spare others from this experience. The only bright spots have been the bar and restaurant staff, the pool and the shuttle to/from down town is always on time. Bottom line - a Hostel would offer better care and service, don’t waste your money or vacation...