The Duval House — Hotel in Key West

Warning- long review!!

Nothing bad to say about this place! I came to Key West on a whim and booked this hotel the day before. I was there during the last week of the"off-season"(the week before Christmas). I got to Key West at 11am and check in was not until 4pm but I called and they said to come in when I get to town. I booked the cheapest room, a Cabana queen and upon check in was upgraded to a king room which was gorgeous and so spacious. The check in process felt so personalized. I parked in a loading/unloading spot in front of the hotel. As soon as I told her that was where I had parked, she gave me the parking pass and had me move to the nice parking lot for guests only. (more on parking later) As soon as I returned from moving the car, check in continued. I got a complementary beer(rolling rock) to drink while I got checked in. She went over all the hotels features and extras and gave me a map of the hotel. Then, she actually got up and took me on a full tour of the hotel. Because I arrived so early, my room was not ready but she made sure I had access to the rest of the amenities while I waited. I finished checking in and wandered Duval Street. She called me as soon as my room was ready and when I got back to the hotel she once again took me up to my room, showed me how to use the different keys, and showed me my room. Beyond excellent service! I wish I remembered her name but she has gorgeous lashes! After 9 pm they lock the property gates but she made sure I had the emergency number just in case. The room was amazing. Huge bed! I have a king bed at home but this seemed larger somehow! Bathroom was huge and clean. See pictures I slept so well there despite the street noises and the loud drunks walking by. If you are a light sleeper, I don't recommend staying on Duval Street at all! Duval Street location was excellent. It was still walking distance to a lot but also far enough away from the craziness! The room was so cold that I actually had to turn off the AC unit. But there was an overhead fan which was wonderful and just enough cooling. Breakfast the next morning was wonderful. It's down in a small pool house in the courtyard. There was coffee, tea, juice, water, fresh fruit, danishes, bagels, toast, adorable yogurt parfaits, and fresh waffles. I made the mistake of trying to do waffle maker on my own- I didn't spray it first! Needless to say, I made a huge mess and felt terrible. The 2 ladies working made me a new waffle and cleaned up my big waffle mess. They were wonderful. One of them even went to get me a map of Key West to show me the best things to see that day. She went above and beyond even though I was such a pain with the waffle mess. After eating I went to the courtyard to play with the cute house cat while drinking my coffee (see pictures). At check out, I left my bags with the front desk since I was not leaving town until 9pm that night. On my last day I rented a bicycle from the hotel for $15. It had a great basket and comfy seat and an easy lock. Parking was $20/day but they didn't charge me the full $20 for day 2 since I wasn't staying overnight. The parking is off street and the lot connects to the courtyard making it very easy to tote the luggage. There was a beautiful heated pool but I didn't have time to enjoy it. I'm a 30 year old woman traveling alone and felt completely safe here. I will definitely stay here again and have already recommended this place to friends and family. Thanks again...

Spent 2 nights here. First impression was very beautiful. It has a lovely court yard with a small pool (just right for the setting). The staff was very friendly and gave a nice tour of the property when we arrived and gave us a beer each and beverage wraps for later. After we settled in we laid back for a few after the long drive. We go to turn on the small tv to find it unplugged. No biggy. Got it on to and found it was set to Spanish not english. So we spent 20 min figuring it out and finally got it set for english. A little irritating but still no biggy. Then as we watch it was pixilating often. But we were there for key west not the tv. But at this point it did start to annoy us. We grab the remote for the ceiling fan and it does work. After several attempts we finally pulled the chains and it came on. The remote did nothing still. Just something to irritate us. After all, all this happened within the first hour . We were in unit 18. It had a very nice private sitting area outside the back of the room. The second and third day the pixilating tv was not an issue. But the tv still is small. The bed on the other hand was a major issue. When we sat or laid on it, it would slump. Unless you were in the center of the bed, you would constantly feel like you were falling off. Very uncomfortable. It sagged in the middle on the sides. For a single person this bed MIGHT be alright. But for couples, nope. The best thing is we were drunk the first night so it helped us get by. But the second night we hadn't drunk enough. We weren't in the mood to complain or move to another room because we only were staying for the 2 nights. If we were going to stay a week, something would of happened. The bathroom was what you would expect for a old florida inn. So wasn't disappointed with the tight room. The only other issue would be the continental breakfast. It was a bit on the weak side. The best thing about this place is the friendly help, cleanliness and the superb location. It is center area of Duval street. Your less than a mile from almost anything that you would want to do or see in the main part...

First, the good. The included breakfast was a nice Continental Plus, served by friendly, helpful ladies. If you’re looking to have a central Duval Street location, this is it.

My opinion is affected by the fact that I paid over $500 a night for our room. Two double beds were comfortable. But there were no table tops, desk, etc. to put anything except the small table between the beds. (A small wicker chest next to the door had an ice bucket and tray on it, and no out of the way floor space for it). Had to keep my makeup in the wardrobe cupboard (no closet) and run back and forth into the bathroom. No surfaces in the bathroom either. The floor severely sloped from the bedroom to the bathroom, and in the night, felt like a safety hazard. The shower might have been 30x36 (feels like an over-estimate) with poor water pressure. The bathroom sink is plumbed to have the hot and cold faucets reversed. Several of the floor vinyl tiles in the bathroom were cracked, and my son caught his foot on one in the night. We kept a towel on the floor after that. We never could connect to the internet. Plus, this room was right on the street and noisy until about 1:30 am. Door hinges were rusty: the room looks like a tired, poorly maintained one in a * or ** roadside motel.

To add insult to injury, there were tornado watches, high winds and rain on the Sunday we were checking out. When the office opened at 9:00, I asked if we could have a late checkout as it would be safer to drive back to the “mainland” at noon or 1:00, rather than leaving at 11:00. The weather was dangerous. It was the main topic on the Weather Channel. I was told a late check-out would be $50. I passed, we drove to a Hyatt, and had breakfast with free parking until we left. The Duval House was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had. I live in Florida and will warn everyone off when I hear of people heading...