Ibis Bay Beach Resort — Hotel in Key West

The reviews for Ibis Bay Waterfront Resort in Key West are mixed, understandably, but it may be perfect for you as it almost was for me. ||This is not where I’d stay with my wife especially if we were looking for an upscale romantic experience. I’m here alone with plans to explore the old city. I’m not here for the comfort of the room, the quality of the beach, or the local environment - gas stations, supermarkets, fast food outlets abound.||Ibis reminds me of the iconic Thunderbird Motel on Treasure Island near St Petersburg, Fla. Except the Thunderbird is on a fabulous beach and it’s surrounded by a variety of good restaurants. It’s a quality family experience but don’t expect too much in the way of comforts. Same for Ibis.||I’ll give you an example. Reviews mentioned room cleanliness as a problem. My room is clean. But it’s old. The bed is comfortable but the chairs at the lunch table - very uncomfortable. The shower - it’s small and the shower head should be replaced. The sink looks crappy but there’s hot water. So if you stay here don’t expect too much.||There’s no beach with sand that leads into the bay. But there’s a hammock and plenty of outdoor seating. You could get a tan out there - but it smells a bit! There is sand but there are also rocks. ||You can park right outside your unit and the pool is huge with lots of chairs. There’s an over priced gift shop but the people are friendly and everything everywhere in Florida is over priced. ||The Stoned Crab restaurant is adjacent and gets good reviews but I’d skip it. I got sucked in by a reviewer who made it sound like a bayside table at night with lobster and melted butter - forget it. You’ll get more lobster at a walk up joint in the old city and for less money. I got an appetizer portion of lobster for an entree price. There are better options in the area.||There are bicycles and scooters and golf carts to rent. $18/day for a bike is fair.||They feed sharks twice a day - but I went to watch this afternoon and the sharks didn’t show up!||The front desk people are helpful but not always knowledgeable. The lady told me the trolley tour stopped at the nearby Fairfield “just a ten minute walk north.” Ha! Glad I checked with the bike rental guy. The Fairfield is south! (And looks like a good place to stay). ||Breakfast is included but you’re not getting bacon and eggs. There were boiled eggs. There were rolled up slices of ham and cheese. Cereal. Bagels and toast. Peanut butter. So it’s okay and, hey, you can get a table at bayside.||I think the word is “tacky.” It’s not a bad place. And if you want to keep the price reasonable this may be your best choice. Meanwhile, the Courtyard by Marriott next...

The staff was very friendly. I did not do much because as I arrived I was already feeling under the weather. Could not enjoy any of the many amenities that they do have. I spent it at work or in my room trying to get over my cold. I will say that it is a friendly atmosphere and very cute place to stay. I had one of the basic second floor rooms, but the fridge seemed that from the 50's era and the microwave also if they had them back then. There are other rooms to choose from with the sliding doors that you walk out to your semi private little siting area with a small table and two chairs and a hammock. Your very own hammock per room. There are other hammocks around the property and the pool area that you can use as well. You have the Stoned Crab restaurant that has great food and prices are descent as well. The bar is inside and out by the pool side as well. plenty of space for a great time with family, friends or just the right person in your life to enjoy an evening right by the water as the sun goes down and a glass of wine. It gave me that Cuba feel from back in the 50's and 60's and it was very nice. The lobby area very fun to look at and plenty of souvenirs to choose from if you are one of those people. Price was descent, again it was a business trip and therefore my expenses were paid for, but pretty descent price for sure. I gave them 4 stars because I had to ask for a microwave and then when I received it, they just threw it on the bed and did not have a place to put it to be honest. Bed was a little to soft for my licking but that is to each person's preference. The bathroom did not have the brush to clean the toilet, which is a must have. If you use the restroom, I am the type to clean up after myself and would ask that they please make sure the bathrooms have those. Although there is room service, I think we can all agree that we do not want to leave anything behind for the next person in your party to have to see what you did when you went to the bathroom. It should be cleaned by the last person that used it. All in all, a pretty good experience and I would definitely come back with the family. Scheduling a leisure trip already to return again with the family. Oh and another downfall is that you do not have access to the beach from there, but you can drive about 6 miles to the closest beach. I would have given 5 stars but these minor details that for others may be petty, I think they are important. I still say it's a 4.5 stars on my book. Thank you for your hospitality...

With a little more TLC the place could be super cute. We liked our room, despite the rusted tub. The descriptions listed for Ibis Bay Resort are quite misleading. The ocean view rooms are on a canal, and the photos don't show the rocky drop off to the water. The hammocks were a nice touch,it's a shame we didn't get time to enjoy those. Listed also is shark feeding and free breakfast. There is no shark feeding and there is a $56 resort fee they add on once you check in for that free breakfast of boiled eggs and sweaty rolled lunch meat. They also say it included the hourly shuttle to and from downtown. We checked in, unloaded the car and hopped in the short bus. We were dropped off downtown around 2 p m and after walking to the beach and back we were tired, wet and hungry. It was just after 7 pm when we reached Annie's, one of two places we were told by the driver to catch the ride back. We waited until 8:15 to call the resort and Barbara in an aggravated tone said they were coming for us. After waiting much longer, we tried calling several more times, but no one would answer the phone. We had to walk 2 and 1/2 miles through a seedy and dark neighborhood to get back. By then the restaurant had closed. It was almost 9 pm. The shuttles were already put away, and they never went out again. Not at 9 or at 10, as we were told several times they did. We had to get our keys from the lobby, as we wanted 2 keys and they collected our only key to make a copy. We were met by the rudest person ever Barbara, who while checking in other customers, overheard my friend say we had seen a couple drug deals go down while walking. She screamed over at us that there were NO bad neighborhoods in Key West, which is a matter of opinion anyway and pointless to argue. She was the one who ignored our calls asking for any kind of help. I'm 55 years old, needimg in my room for my meds. She gave us two keys that didn't work, after I left my original key so they could make a copy. She argued with us about that as well and sent the maintenance man to help. The keys didn't work for him either. After all the verbal assaults from Barbara, it was 10 pm before we got into our room. The turtles were cute and Claudine, who checked us in, was a complete doll. Also, Lenny, who checked us out was very sweet and kind. Barbara was so rude, I will NEVER stay...