Key West Bahama House — Hotel in Key West

“LOCATION ISN'T EVERYTHING!!!!”||||||The purpose of this trip was to relax, enjoy the weather, explore Key West and most importantly we wanted to get rest and sleep. I traveled with my spouse and another couple. We work full time jobs in Maryland and like most, we have busy hectic lives. ||We wanted a comfortable affordable place to stay. ||||The positives: We stayed in the Bimini Suite. Checking into the suite was easy, we were sent an email a few days prior to our arrival. We were sent the rules and we followed the rules (even the rule about not using a oil suntan lotion because the owner would close the pool to have the oil chemically removed.) The size of the Bimini Suite was what we expected from the description on the website. It was nice having a washer and dryer. There were plenty of pool towels. There was shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hand soap in the bathroom, however all seemed to be watered down but at least something was offered if you didn't bring those supplies.The owner sent a email that a starter amount of toilet paper and paper towels were supplied and that was appreciated. The kitchen was small but stocked with most things needed. The suite was very clean (except for the dirty rug mentioned below).The location was perfect, the house was within walking distance to Duval Street. The landscape was well kept and the added colorful statue art in the back yard was very pretty and colorful. There was a grill, a table to eat outside, a large patio couch with comfy cushions. We were prepared for a small pool from reading the other reviews online. We enjoyed relaxing in the pool and it fit our needs fine. ||||Small negatives which we could get past but I think are worth mentioning because all travelers have different standards: Stove was old and had aluminum foil covering the plates under the burners. When the burners were in use this often made a burning smell. The rug in the TV room was super dirty and needed a good shampooing. We rented a car because we drove form FLL airport . We returned the car when in Key West because the house has one long driveway that can fit 3-4 cars. While we were there a guest got stuck behind a car and it took a while for them to leave because the car in front of them didn't leave a phone number visible on the dashboard. The owner had to get involved and find the guest. I wouldn't have a car at this house because it is just a courtesy that the owner lets you park in the drive way and you might have to move your car at anytime --night or day or you might get stuck behind a car (parking is a courtesy and this is stated in the rules of the house. This can't be blamed on the owner) It's just a big hassle in my opinion. The Grill was super dirty and needed a good cleaning. There was a rat crawling on the wall in the back yard when we had dinner at the outside table. We had roaches in our bathroom (kind of expect bugs in Florida.... but still gross). The walls are thin and you can hear other tenants. There was a man that comes by and blows leaves every morning around 8:00 am which is a little early and annoying. ||||THE HUGE NEGATIVE (made our time at the suite uncomfortable) : The air conditioner was controlled by the owner. Obviously this was a money saving method that is totally unfair for us because we paid $2,451.91 for 6 nights. The temperature outside during our stay (1/01/19-1/07/19) reached a bit above 80 degrees during some of our stay . On the hot days and nights the owner had the thermostat programmed/scheduled for 78 degrees to 85 degrees. We dealt with the heat for the first few days and then we couldn't take it anymore because we couldn't sleep at night or nap in the afternoons. We would wake up sweating. The owner had left the premises for a few days. We texted the number given to us in the email which promised a quick response. We texted at 4:00 pm and didn't receive an answer. We then called the phone number at 9:00 pm and left a message saying that we were unable to change the thermostat and we were concerned because we were all very uncomfortable. The Thermostat read 72 degrees but we have an app on our phone that reads the true temperature and it turned out to be 78 degrees. Not only did the owner have the thermostat governed, it also was not showing the correct temperature. During this time we did figure out how to change the thermostat. It wasn't easy finding the work around to her scheduled temperatures...We set it for mid to upper 60's since it was not registering the correct temperature. We finally were able to sleep that night and relax. More than 12 hours later the owner texted and said "Do Not Set the Thermostat under 70." As stated above all paperwork with rules were sent to us. There was NOTHING about the OWNER having CONTROL of the THERMOSTAT. There wasn't anything posted near the thermostat except a sign that said to raise the setting to 76 degrees if you plan on leaving the suite for a while.....When the owner was back on premises she came to us and sternly told us that we were not allowed to change the thermostat! She told us she could control our thermostat and see every single time we touched the thermostat (she had these capabilities from her phone which she held in her hand and waved around a bit) She said she had pages and pages of us changing the temperature and it was unacceptable. .We asked her to see "pages and pages" and she became really mad and told us that she could kick us out for any reason...(IF we would have known that we weren't allowed to adjust the temperature we would have never stayed here...It took her more than 12 hours to reply to our concern so of course we are going to try to figure something out for ourselves-- her pages and pages of records doesn't mean a thing!) She also said that if we broke her air conditioner unit we would be billed for it. She said we had it set it below 70 degrees and it would freeze the unit. She kept repeating that she only cared about our comfort but her actions didn't show this and she didn't make any sense. We told her that we were adults (39-47 yrs old ) and this was unreasonable. She went on about how she was a contractor and we didn't know anything about living in Florida with the humidity. We told her that actually three of us had lived in Florida and had used air conditioners under 70 degrees without any problems. It was just a bunch of excuses and really not something we should have to be stressing about on vacation. Here is an interesting side note: The owner had a room that she stayed in beside the Bimini Suite (not sure how large her area was) , she had her own window air conditioner unit (not sure if she had this along with central air) I know for a fact she was more comfortable than us! ||||We had started to notice that it was cooler outside than in our suite. We tried to open windows unfortunately several of the windows didn't have screens. Some windows were painted shut and we couldn't get those opened. We talked to other tenants and they said they were having similar problems with the air conditioner situation. They also opened windows that had screens because there wasn't any other option. ||||Bottom line: We will never stay here again. The owner was unreasonable, patronizing and was full of BS excuses. If you don't mind paying money to stay in a place that basically has no air conditioner, then this is the place for you....I realize some people love the heat and don't mind sleeping in warm/hot temperatures, so I guess this could be a positive for some tenants! The owner has total control of the air conditioner, this should be posted before someone books a suite in this house!||*The owner will answer back about my review and deny deny deny. I'm not going to waste my time writing a lengthy lie .....I leave good reviews if it is deserved and poor ones if that is deserved...Also...I have left this review before..this owner has several listings for this house on Tripadvisor and they aren't connected. I found this out because the couple we traveled with left a review and I wasn't able to find it and they weren't able to find mine because there are many listings! She's sneaky....||||Key west was beautiful and fun. We will visit again but of course with different...

My review is similar to one of the others. I stayed in June and although this wasn’t my first time staying here it most likely will be my last. We had a group of 10 people between 2 units. The owner allowed for an early check in as we were arriving on the KW Express. Upon arrival the unit was 85 degrees. We attempted to lower the thermostat with no relief. After 2 hrs we started contacting the owner of the issue. From the start we were blamed for leaving the door open or it was cause we checked in early and the temp was set to go down at normal check in. She said she’d send the cleaning lady to check on it so we headed back out. We come back several hours to still a hot house so I proceeded to text the owner. Now being after 5pm she said she couldn’t get anyone there soon and that if I didn’t like it I could leave. Although she offered a refund to leave, where were 10 people going to find a place on a Friday evening in Key West?! We stayed with the expectation that the owner would be sending someone to look at the AC that night or first thing Saturday. Due to a medical condition, 2 people of our party left to another hotel at over $250. We left early Saturday to go out for the day, hoping our AC would work, however after arriving back around 7pm, we still had no air and no communication from the owner. When I texted her I was told this was the first she heard of it (that day) and said that she already offered me to leave. We only chose to stay cause we were only there 2 nights but it certainly was not the relaxing vacation that I was looking for. If I would’ve been there any longer than that I would’ve certainly left but I was giving the owner the benefit of the doubt to correct it. ||At over $950 for a 2 night stay for just 1 of our units I expect better customer service. Yes a refund was offered at that time but why should I be the one responsible for a faulty unit? And now reading it, this seems to be a consistent problem which makes it even more aggravating. As an owner of a facility, you should be held responsible and not take the easy way out by just telling someone they can leave. Easier for you to push us aside than to actually deal with a problem. Unprofessional!||I love KW and loved this location for the proximity to Dual and in summer, the pool is a bonus but this experience has me looking for a new KW accommodation for future trips. ||Pics of our temperature throughout the stay. Like a previous poster mentioned, the AC is supposedly controlled by the owner. She will text you not to touch it even though there’s a note above the thermostat to set it before you leave...

We had a girls weekend in the paradise suite. Upon arrival, the code we setup a couple of days before was not working. Called customer service and the lady was being extremely rude. After telling her which suite we were trying to get into, and the name on the reservation, she kept calling me Melissa when I told her my name was meredith. After a few continuous tries, she says...havent you been there before, you should know how to unlock it. No...it was my first time and I told her that along with my name again and that's when she apologized. I also had to ask her about parking as it wasn't very clear where we can park. Continuing her nasty attitude, she tells me to park on the side of the house, three cars can fit there and when I told her other guests parked but didnt back in all the way, she tells me...park it on the street and pay for it... keep the receipts and they'll reimburse me. We ended up finding parking where we didnt have to pay but they should let guests know about this beforehand. Emailing the manager through the site was also pointless. I only heard from them once before arrival when I asked about a late check out. There was supposed to be a second email with the wifi password and key code etc. That was never sent and still never replied to me on the day of checkout when I sent a message asking the day we arrived. So all in all...management is completely rude and inattentive to new guests.

The paradise suite itself was nice. Worked for a girls weekend. Close to everything and the other guests were very nice. They stay here often. I had to ask them for the wifi password. The only issues were ha.f with the suite... water temp never got hot at all the entire stay even with it all the way on hot and there were a few roaches/ water bugs in the kitchen area.

If your looking to be closer to everything, this place is great for you, just be prepared to deal with a bad management team, water bugs and...