Opal Key Resort & Marina — Hotel in Key West

We stayed here previously in January of 2024 and had a nice time and were happy with our stay. I was traveling with my mom who had just finished her chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Unfortunately we had to leave two days early and the hotel was great and accommodated our request to cancel the last two night of our stay. Wonderful customer service by Alex.||My mom had a recurrence of cancer and just finished treatment again so we are back in Key West and back at Opal. I had made the reservation through booking.com and before the trip I called the hotel to ask about golf cart parking as I didn’t think my mom would be able to walk as far as last time. It turned out I was talking to Alex and he remembered us and that we had to leave early etc and he told me he was going to upgrade us from two hotel rooms with two queen beds to a two bedroom Suite. This was so sweet and special! I didn’t tell my mom about the upgrade until we were at the airport because we also surprised her with the fact that her grandson and his GF were also coming with us. Everyone was very excited. Alex had said that he was changing the hotel he was working at and that his last day was 4/29 but that it was all taken care of. However, at check in they said they didn’t have that room available and didn’t know anything about our upgrade. It was embarrassing as I felt like it appeared I was just trying to get a better room. They did see a note from Alex in the system but the room hadn’t actually been assigned to us. After much back and forth and explaining they gave us a beautiful and very large two bedroom suite. As I laid down to sleep I saw a cockroach scurry across the wall. I killed it and just tried not to think about it. However, there was another one in the bathroom hiding behind a picture over the toilet and I couldn’t get to it to kill it. We brought it to the hotels attention and they were apologetic and said sometimes guests leave the balcony doors open and they can get inside. They offered to switch rooms and I declined as we loved the room and assumed a couple of them just got in via the balcony door being left open. However, the next morning I was able to find and kill the one in the bathroom but the final straw was when we had baby cockroaches crawling in the countertops of the kitchen that was in the room. Babies meant infestation so I did go down and ask for a new room.||After more back and forth, they said they could move us to the exact same room on a different floor and to pack up and bring our luggage down and they would store until the new room was ready. When we got to the new room it was not the same. It was much, much smaller and didn’t have all the amenities the other room had. My mom brought all sun dresses and our closet didn’t even have a rod tall enough to hold her dresses without them laying on the ground. We no longer had a sink in the kitchen area and our bathroom had no vanity, just a wall mounted sink. My mom had no place to set her wig on the new bathroom. They also repeatedly told me that the rooms were the same because if they have the same number of rooms and beds, they are the same. Ridiculous since they were completely different sizes with different configurations as well as different amenities.||In addition to all this we also had parking issues in their lot. The keypad used for guests to exit at the left side exit wasn’t working which we only found out after 3 attempts at swapping out our hotel keys. 30+ minutes later the manager says that they had been having trouble with that keypad all day and to only exit out of the right gate.||Frustrated and very disappointed in the hotel and will not stay here again. They offered something nice for us and it was and still is nothing but a headache for us as we still have 3 more nights here. I wish I had taken pictures of all the cockroaches I killed. ||This hotel is expensive and should have exceptional...

Summary: Be aware of somewhat deceptive booking practices at this hotel and staff who will do nothing about it. Read on for more detail.

We booked one of Opal's "King Oceanfront" rooms for a visit to Key West in November 2023. The description on the Opal website reads: "If waking up and winding down on Key West's iconic oceanfront is your idea of paradise, consider staying in one of our King Oceanfront Rooms. In addition to magnificent views, you'll be pampered with a luxe king bed, a private balcony or patio, and modern furnishings." For an upcharge that added several hundred dollars to the total cost of our stay, we were expecting a good view of the Key West harbor and water. That's not really what we got.

For the three full days of our stay, in fact there were large cruise ships parked in front of our room for the vast majority of the daylight hours (approximately 8AM to 5PM). During this period the water view from our room was blotted out by an iron ship hull and passenger decks (I've attached pictures taken from our room from day 2 and 3 of our stay for reference). This was disappointing and we wondered why were paying an upcharge for this room that really didn't deliver on what the booking description implied.

OK, at hotels in this price range that hold themselves out to provide a "luxe" type of experience, there is generally a willingness by the staff at such establishments to make acceptable adjustments for the guests if there is dissatisfaction expressed. But not at Opal Key West. When we politely described our disappointment to the concierge it was returned with a blank stare followed by his statement that "it is well documented on internet sites that this is an active cruise ship port". So, somehow we were supposed to connect all the dots on our own and realize when we booked an extra-cost oceanfront room that there could be cruise ships obstructing the view all day? Hmmm. As we were disengaging from the conversation with the concierge, he offered a free breakfast.... a hollow offering given that the booking package we already paid for included breakfast.

A while later we received a text from the Opal acknowledging we were dissatisfied with our stay and asking us to describe our concerns in more detail. We did so, but never heard any followup at all.

When we checked out at departure, the front desk staff member asked how our stay was. My spouse explained our disappointment with the room versus our expectations. The front desk response was: "we are an active cruise ship port". It seemed as if the Opal staff have been trained to give this empty scripted response, which suggests we are not the only ones who have experienced this situation. No recompense was offered.

In summary, this hotel charges high room rates but the amenities and care for guests do not match them based on past experiences we've had at similarly-priced hotels. Other comparable hotels we've stayed at work much harder to make things right for their guests- that's part of how they develop a reputation to support their pricing. And I wouldn't be writing this review if we hadn't paid extra for an upgraded room that really wasn't. The disinterested response by the Opal staff just made our perceptions worse- they had three different opportunities to fix things with us, and they didn't. What allows them to get away with this is the location, which is outstanding in terms walking distance to the many wonderful activities in Key West. Another bright spot in our stay was Bistro 245, the hotel restaurant where the drinks and food were consistently excellent.

We will not be...

We were so excited. - our first girls trip in 4 years. We had heard Opal in Key West was amazing. Sadly, it turned out to be more filthy than a street in north Philly. Initially, you are greeted by a gorgeous lobby, clean and fresh. Think West Elm! Awesome a company that cares? … Not so much.

From there, everything goes catastrophically downhill. You enter the building of rooms, a short walk away, and are welcomed by a grotesque mildew smell that had us all gagging.

We then enter the 3rd floor where our room is and see hundreds upon hundreds of ants ambling along the walls above the 1980s multi-color carpet and wonder how we will stay here 6 days. We are in shock and awe at the negligence and we haven’t even arrived at our room. As a Floridian, I am aware of how common ants are hence I have pest control. Clearly, something they don’t have.

Once in our room, that looked as though it hadn’t been updated in 25+ years, we realize shortly our sink is leaking, bathroom door is broken and the toilet is broken. Not to mention the filth and dust covering the room.

After we report the issues, we are moved to a new room. Meanwhile, we realize we are experiencing respiratory issues from all the filth, dust and mildew in the room. The a/c is also as loud as a tractor, making it hard to talk above it, let alone sleep, hindering our precious time together.

Next, the new room’s toilet was functional but the sink was still leaking via the faucets. The filth was also just as bad. Dust everywhere; previous folks’s hair everywhere; filthy floor; a dirt caked a/c vent; dirty bathroom and a black rimmed toilet. Not sure what the cleaning staff is doing all day, but they are not cleaning. In fact, even when we requested our sheets be cleaned and that our room was in dire need of a deep clean, it didn’t happen inspite of being told ‘we will do asap’. Apologies ring hollow when you are deceived by staff and they are rude. If you don’t want to work in hospitality, get a new job.

Finally, when we did encounter a janitorial staff member, we asked her to please change our sheets as we had been there several days and she proceeded to huff and puff and said she ‘was too busy’ for this. If nothing is being cleaned, not sure what she is busy with. We then asked her for cleaning supplies so we could clean the room ourselves - her response, ‘I don’t have cleaning supplies’. We stood there shocked.

Needless to say, this place ruined our trip. It’s not a ´resort’. It’s a motel 6 with a pottery barn lobby because they don’t care that you are living with roaches in squalor and mildew - as it’s all about deception for this property.

As business owners and executives in our own careers, our next step is to discuss the alarming conditions at this ‘resort’ with corporate so that it is condemned until renovated and properly cared for. Being in healthcare, my friend was especially disturbed at the respiratory issues that popped up as soon as we began our stay.

What a nightmare - and management didn’t bat an eye when I conveyed the issues with the filth and bugs. However, when we mentioned the roach that came out of the sink that seemed to be more of a surprise / concern.

We look forward to next steps with corporate to save anyone else such a despicable experience. Integrity and accountability are paramount. Opal Corp needs to take a hard look at this property and realize there is no one managing it — and no one seems to care that that’s...