Heron House — Hotel in Key West

Heron House was fine. We were there mid February 2025. It was our first time to Key West. We wanted to get the full Duval Street experience so location was the key. After a lot of research, it was apparent that the larger properties near Duval looked the nicest but were way more expensive than the smaller properties like Heron House. Heron House was mid-range price for similar location similar property, so we went with it. The reviews were largely accurate and we knew what we booked. It was fine.

The location was fantastic. One block from Duval and Margaritaville. That can't be beat for the prices we saw.

It's a cute property with some Key West-y nostalgia. But that comes with some things to know before you book. The pool is super small, but nice and clean. The property is almost communal - everyone is right on top of each other at the pool or the small breakfast area. The pool rooms are literally 4 feet from the pool edge and the pictures don't necessarily give you that perspective. All of the room doors are glass with wood blinds that kind of close or curtains. There were several pool rooms that had pool towels hung behind the blinds so people at the pool couldn't see in. We were on the 2nd floor so I can't attest to how noisy it is with the pool feet from your bed, but imagine it can be an issue.

If you have trouble getting around, get a ground floor room because there's no elevator and the stairs are old and narrow.

Some things from the room I feel are a good indicator of the place in general: all rooms have window air conditioners that seem to be on constantly which was loud and annoying, the fridge in the room was wobbly when opened and it made me wonder why nobody would fix that, the toilet seat was for an oval toilet and the toilet was round, the shower is super narrow and not sure how a bigger person would fit in it, and the bathroom sink faucet was an after thought because it was too short and the water when run barely made it past the back of the sink. The room was clean but in a 3 star kind of way - old and worn.

We had an issue where the toilet wouldn't refill and the problem was fixed right away. The desk was very responsive on that issue.

There is free breakfast which was nice and bike rentals on property. We used both and enjoyed them.

Heron house is location...

Oh where to begin.

Let's start with the good stuff... the property is very nice on the outside, pool is clean and heated, reasonable rates, staff is polite.

And the not so good... we booked a room for 7 nights. I called ahead to let them know we would be checking in after hours. Upon arrival at 8pm, we found the room had not been cleaned. There was matted black hair in the tub, the sheets looked to have been previously slept on, there were not towels, no soap and no toilet paper. I left a message with the front desk to handle this immediately in the morning. We received towels the next morning, but no new sheets and the room wasn't cleaned or sanitized. (I'll summarize the remainder of the issues and leave out the minutiae). After speaking to 4 different employees INCLUDING THE PROPRIETOR over the course of 6 days, we were finally provided with a new set of sheets THAT WE HAD TO PUT ON THE BED. So after checking in on Sunday night, we finally slept on clean sheets on Friday night.

Additionally, (1) we didn't have cold water in the bathroom sink, only hot water, (2) the sink on the wet bar leaked all over the counter every time it was turned on, (3) the housekeeper didn't have her mask on when attending to the rooms in the morning, and (4) the person who managed the continental breakfast didn't have gloves or a mask on while packing up all of the leftover bread and muffins.

Upon checkout, I relayed my dissatisfaction to the front desk manager, explaining that I was disgusted that during a global health pandemic, and after speaking to four managers, it took 5 nights to get me a set of clean sheets and I was told I should put them on the bed. They were very quick to remind me to put my mask on, but don't seem to enforce those same rules with the staff. At no point did any of the management team follow up with me to ensure that the room was getting cleaned.

I let them know that I don't expect a lot from a hotel. But I do expect the room to be ready for me with towels and toilet paper and for it to be clean upon my arrival, especially during a pandemic.

As a courtesy, the proprietor refunded 1 of my 7 nights for my inconveniences. However, I also requested to speak to Jay Janssen, listed on the website as the Owner/Operator, on 7/23/20, and have not received any further communication from Heron House...

I am shocked with the way Heron House conducts itself as a business. I was booked to stay here for this coming weekend Sept. 6th-8th for my girlfriends birthday. After hearing about Hurricane Irma set to hit this weekend I decided to cancel my trip. Everyone knows the tragedy that struck Houston, TX last week. We've seen the photos and the posts on news outletts and social media. We saw the damage and lives lost. So when I found out about Hurricane Irma we decided not to put ourselves in danger. When I called on Monday Sept 4th. to cancel my trip I was told by their employee that nobody in Florida has issued any such warning about the storm and that they are conducting business as usual and we're not refunding anyone's money. This is after every news outlet has been reporting on this. Even after Florida's own governor issued a state of emergency. We aren't talking about a last minute change of heart. I had airline tickets that were refunded with no problem. I also had booked another hotel in south beach for later that weekend as well and they not only understood the potential danger, but cancelled and refunded my money. They even said most of their employees were taking the weekend off to prepare for the storm. I decided to wait another day to try and cancel again. This time I spoke to a different employee who told me that the only way they could help was if there was an evacuation notice, and that all they could do was hold my reservation for another time. What?! This is said to be the fastest growing Hurricane people have seen and you are telling me that you would rather your customer come to Florida and use the booking than simply refund me my money?! He said he was sorry and there was nothing he could do. Being that my business is in the customer service industry, I would never ask someone to put their lives in harms way over a few nights stay at my hotel. To the owner of this hotel, you should be ashamed of yourself. To the employees this is the type of company you work for and represent. It's someone who would rather keep a buck in his pocket than do what's right by his customers. I hope everyone in Florida prepares are safe...