Parrot Key Hotel & Villas — Hotel in Key West

A couple of items that you should know before booking this hotel.

First, this hotel is conveniently located close so absolutely nothing. Duvall St is where you will be spending your time, is a one hour walk, and it will cost you about $15 each way to Uber. There are plenty of Ubers. Figure this into your hotel selection. If you are planning to take part in activities, it will be on Duvall or that part of the island. You will take an Uber every day.

The property has four pools that are no larger than a personal pool in the backyard of most homes. There are three that are a free-for-all, and the fourth is adult only. The pools are saltwater, varying temperatures, clean, and nice enough. Free towels and sunscreen are everywhere.

The food at this hotel is an insult to the word. The food is frankly, terrible. A few sandwiches, a burger, a salad, really a very poor menu, and the food is boring and expensive. They offer pizza, but that wasn’t working when I was there either. Everything else is just modified fast food.

When you arrive, check-in is reasonably quick. They will offer cleaning service as it must be selected either daily by 10:00 AM, or you can ask for the entire stay (which I did). During the 5 nights I was there they cleaned my room twice, after I asked (again, each day). It seemed like this was just not a ‘thing.’ It’s really a disappointment to look at trash, unmade bed, no towels, and then you have to make a ‘fuss’ to get it. I was promised my resort fee would be refunded, twice, when I checked out no one knew what I was referring to. I couldn’t stay to argue, so no luck. I do however have texts from the staff. You can text the hotel, but it didn’t make any difference, because they don’t talk to one another.

I made a number of advanced reservations utilizing the concierge staff at the hotel prior to arrival. That part started great. Then upon arrival, It was confusing, each concierge did things differently, and when you talked to them (Concierge) they seemed to pass you/me back to an employee who was never there (who made the reservations) during my visit. I’d forgo these guys, just find your tours/jetski, scuba, snorkeling and make your own reservations. The big idea was oh ‘——‘ made the reservation, well you will need to text his cell phone, he never replied perhaps bc he is off of work? No one else was willing to help, it’s like all independent concierge’s that don’t work together. Clearly communication sucks here as well. There was a woman there who I found tremendously unhelpful. It’s like a hotel of independent employees who either don’t care, or it isn’t important.

The rooms and the grounds are old and tired. The upgrade to a suite gets you a front and back balcony. The partially obstructed views are fine. Around the outside of the hotel is some sand, chairs (lounge), and some hammocks. There is no beach, there is no water access, and again any misnomer that the higher price gets you something- it doesn’t. Don’t be fooled by the views. The rooms are either first or second floor with steps only, the rooms are large, and ugly. The carpets, the chairs, rust all over, everything about this property compared to higher price is literally an insult to how it’s portrayed. This place is tired and feels like a 2 or 3 star property max. Everyone begs for reviews.

BOTTOM LINE: This hotel really is an all-around loser. It’s close to nothing, no airport shuttle, no room, or cleaning service, concierge is an insult, and the price is one of the highest on the island. The resort fee is $80 a day, in addition to your nightly room. For me this entire experience was sold as a at least a 4/5 stars that delivered much, much less. Candidly, with all of the old stuff on the island you might stay much closer to Duvall, I thought this higher end hotel would easily make up the difference with a brilliant stay. Unfortunately, not.

Sadly, I can’t think of a reason to actually stay here. I absolutely do not...

We stayed at Parrot Key late August. I take reviews very seriously when staying somewhere especially for the first time so I hope this is helpful to someone! I did read a lot of other reviews that had already been left too.

Ok so first, someone had mentioned there was nobody waiting on them etc. that wasn’t true for our experience. Every day we were at the pool, we had a server come up to us and ask if we were okay and if we needed anything. Actually, multiple servers sometimes in one pool day. We did order poolside and Tracey was awesome! He was efficient and we had our food quick. It is very resort-like. Anyone who complains about the 18% gratuity added to resort food/drinks you order, never planned on tipping to begin with. After being in the industry for many years, that was added after probably months if not years of people being waited on hand and foot and not leaving the server a dollar, how would they keep employees that way? So, we were more than fine with that and you can add more if you would like to tip 20%. There were always complimentary towels by every pool. The pool areas were clean. I think some of the comments about the grounds being dirty, I think there’s always room for improvement but it is a very outdoor spot and I think it would be hard to clean the outdoor areas much more than they do. However, if I could put a request in for anything, it would be a garbage can out front on the “beach” area! With someone designated to change it. I think that would help the trash problem greatly. People just throw it anywhere, even though they shouldn’t, when you don’t give them another option.

So the actual rooms were beautiful. I would highly recommend staying waterfront. I can see why someone in the middle of the courtyard might not have loved their stay as much as someone waterfront. The views are phenomenal. The rooms needed a few updates but other than that, they were really clean, cozy and spacious.

They tell you when you first check in that if you need anything, call the front desk. They don’t go around in the morning to see if you need towels. We prefer this. I don’t want to have to get up at 8am to tell someone we don’t need towels. Plus, there are steps for a lot of the units and I doubt anyone would be able to hear someone knocking so this is definitely the most efficient way I believe. If you call to the front desk for anything, they answer quickly and provide whatever you need.

The shuttle is easy, all you have to do is literally call the front desk the night before and “sign up”. We didn’t use it because it ran to the beach too early coming back at 4pm but we did inquire about the beach chair rental at Smathers and you can get towels and chairs at the beach for staying at the Parrot Key, this is also very simple.

The only “cons” for us were the valet. I am sure some people enjoy valet and find it to be regal but we don’t at all. I hate someone having my keys and driving my car. I didn’t like having to get someone to get our car every single time we need to leave, we are very active people and like to come and go a lot. I would suggest giving people the option as there are many who would still do valet, you could even have that as an add on before they check in so you know how to staff. We would’ve been more apt to spend more money on the grounds or water sports if the valet charge wasn’t there at weeks end. Just a suggestion. The resort fee isn’t a big deal if you get your use. You do have to consider things like the water they put out at the pools and the towels. Those all cost money. So while you might not do EVERY thing, you are most likely getting some use out of the resort fee to some capacity daily. I used the gym which is very nice, small, but up to date and very clean. We also utilized the sunset pier quite often.

All in all, like every place you stay, there are things you would change. We will definitely stay here again as our experience was great! Thanks to...

Bizarre, Unpleasant, and Unacceptable Experience – Avoid This Place

We booked a 3-bedroom suite at Parrot Key Hotel & Villas in Key West just one hour before arriving, hoping for a smooth two-night family stay with our three young kids (ages 1, 4, and 5). What we got instead was one of the weirdest and most frustrating hotel experiences we’ve ever had – from start to (thankfully) early finish.

Late Check-In, No Help with Luggage Our welcome began with a stiff “check-in is at 4 PM” policy – no flexibility at all, even with tired kids and a last-minute reservation. When the room was finally ready, no bellhop, no help, nothing. We had to haul all our luggage ourselves across the sprawling garden-style layout, weaving through paths to find our room. For a 4-star hotel, this felt shockingly bare-bones.

Crib? Nope. “Policy.” When we asked for a baby crib (standard request anywhere else), the front desk informed us that they don’t offer cribs at all — “as a matter of policy due to liability.” What? In 2025? This is the first hotel we’ve ever encountered in the U.S. that doesn’t offer cribs — not even on request — and the explanation felt like a total shrug. Just… baffling.

Housekeeping Only If You Ask — Early Then came the heads-up that rooms are only cleaned if you request it early the next morning. Otherwise, no service. Again, this is a full-service resort charging premium rates. It’s absurd to have to opt in to basic housekeeping. If you don’t specifically request it in advance? No towels, no trash removal, no bed made. What kind of operation is this?

Unsafe Room Design for Families — Not Disclosed Online We finally got to the room, only to discover that the 3-bedroom “suite” was actually spread over three floors, with multiple interior staircases and no safety gates. For us — with a crawling toddler — this was a total dealbreaker. None of this was disclosed in the room description. But even worse: my wife is 8.5 months pregnant, and going up and down stairs multiple times a day was not an option. This was not only inconvenient — it was unsafe and completely inappropriate for our needs.

The “Solution” Made No Sense When we asked to switch rooms, we were offered two separate, non-connecting rooms. With three kids under five, including a baby, how is that a viable option? We’re supposed to leave our children alone in another room? Just ridiculous.

The Refund Runaround – Unethical and Frustrating We told them we were leaving and they agreed to refund the second night. But they said we’d have to contact Booking.com for the first night, since they couldn’t process it directly. That turned out to be a complete lie. Booking.com sent us right back to the hotel — and the hotel then refused to refund, claiming that because they had “offered an alternative” (again, non-connecting rooms), the charge stood. We made the booking an hour before arrival and left immediately — this is entirely on them for misrepresenting the room.

Final Take: Strange, Stingy, and Out of Step with 2025 This hotel left us stunned — not by luxury, but by its bizarre policies, lack of service, and complete indifference to guest experience. No crib, no housekeeping unless you beg for it, no luggage help, inflexible front desk, and a refusal to own their own booking mistakes.

Parrot Key feels more like a DIY rental than a full-service resort — and yet it’s priced and rated like an upscale hotel. Nothing about our experience reflected 4 stars. It was unpleasant, inconvenient, and completely unsuitable for families — especially those with small children or anyone with physical limitations.

We’re grateful we didn’t end up staying the night. Save yourself the headache. There are plenty of other places in Key West that actually care about...