The Inn on Fleming — Hotel in Key West

Raised by Parents that sought to provide “experiences” to their children versus “things” (even if that meant sleeping in our caravan overnight driving across country to save money). As such memories have been, what I believe, has shaped the most positive aspects of the adult I am today, I always attempt to share such adventures with my own sons. Needless to say, Covid-19, threw us all for a loop. However, precisely the same as when I was a child, myself, after two months of quarantine, my Parents (now just as knowledgeable in their role as Grandparents) knew just when to step in and suggest a road trip. This journey would lead us to Key West, a bucket-list destination for my family and I; a town my parents fell in love with on their first trip a few years ago and have since shared many stories regarding its allure.

A week before we had planned to set out for Florida, I stumbled upon the 4th night free, Summer Deal at the Inn on Fleming. Initially, it was attractive not only because of the price but the accommodations as well. The Inn afforded my parents, my husband and I, as well as each of the two teenage boys we had with us, our own bedrooms on the third floor (with the most comfortable mattresses I have slept on away from home).

Little did we realize at the time of booking, just how much this little slice of paradise would mean to us in the near future and in the numerous stories we will all be sharing with our own children and grandchildren in the future.

While I could write a book on the southern hospitality offered at the Inn on Fleming, I will attempt to provide a handful of the highlights which genuinely set it apart from any other place we have experienced.

Our confirmation message was an individualized message from David, the manager, inclusive of guidance for visiting during such a unique time. While I travel more often than most for my job, I have received countless confirmation messages with a first name attached as a signature, but not one from the actual person that will also be physically welcoming you upon arrival. As we arrived early, David, Eril and Margarita were more than accommodating in assuring that we not only had a place to park (for free, most definitely a commodity for the area), but one of our rooms ready to leave our luggage while we explored the town. After more than 18 hours on the road, such offers of hospitality do not go unnoticed! THE.FRONT.PORCH. Both of my parents absolutely love to meet people from outside of their own local area, and if for only a few days they were able to experience life on a Key West Porch, greeting other guests coming and going. We cherished this spot so much, that as a family we elected to have our last dinner/dessert on the island right there, with a pizza from Duetto and an entire key lime pie from Kermit’s. Have I mentioned David? If so, he is worth mentioning yet again and many times over. As friendly as my parents may be, it takes an extremely special person to pay the amount of attention they like to have at times and David was more than gracious to provide on many occasions during and even since our stay on the island. In closing, I think the events of Father’s Day, back in the Shenandoah Valley, provides the most authentic example of just what the Inn on Fleming means to our entire family now. An avid coffee drinker, my husband and I decided to pick up an “Inn on Fleming” mug from David the morning of our departure. On our return road trip home, we stopped for a night in Savannah, where my husband and I picked up yet another coffee pottery mug, with “Poppy” inscribed on the front. While he opened both on his day of honor, when asked which he would like to have his cup of...

There appears to have been some recent change in management of this property. It is now managed by Dwell, maybe was previously privately owned? There was no sign of “David” who others have frequently mentioned in reviews. |First off, when you check in, there is nobody available to greet you or provide any direction. You are sent a text with instructions on how to find your room and there’s a lock box outside the door to get your keys. Prior reviews have mentioned a free, happy hour and continental breakfast. According to the new management, these are no longer provided.|We stayed in the Cornish room, which was on the third floor. The room is cute and well appointed. But the entryway ceiling is extremely low and if you are above about 5‘8“, you were going to hit your head if you’re not careful. There are room air conditioners as opposed to central AC. You have to carry your suitcases up two sets of fairly steep stairs to get to the third floor, this might be an issue for people with mobility problems.|The reason that I am giving this property, a poor rating is that we came back from an evening out at about 11:30 PM and went to go to bed and discovered our bed was infested with what appeared to be termite larvae. They were all over the headboard, underneath the sheets in the bed, and all over the curtains. I immediately messaged the property manager and got a prompt response. But was told that these are “swarmers” and are common in the area when it’s warm. I googled a close-up image of the bugs in the bed, and discovered they are a form of termite. See my photos. The only resolution we were offered was to have the maid come in the morning and clean the room. Fortunately, there is a small second bedroom in this suite so we were able to attempt to sleep in there as opposed to finding a new hotel at midnight. However, it only has a full-size bed and two full-size adults have quite a hard time fitting in that bed. The ceilings in that room are also slanted and quite low, so the person sleeping on the left side of the bed has to be very careful to not hit their head when getting into the bed. The inn was full, so there was no other room for us to be moved to. We slept about 1.5 hours and left as soon as we could find another hotel in the morning. On our way out, we met our next-door neighbors in the Geiger room. They also had the same experience with the same bugs in their bed and room. There seems to be a significant issue with these bugs on this property. I am not sure how you could have this bad of an infestation of termites and not be aware of it. Seems to me they are spraying and hoping the bugs don’t come out while people are there. This place needs termite treatment. Our negative experience at this property caused us to miss half a day of our vacation as we had to change properties and try to catch up on sleep after being up most of the night. It is unfortunate because the property is cute and the location...

TLDR; new management seems to lack care and attention to meaningful details.

I wish there were specific categories for ownership and atmosphere. Other reviews list the same question I have, “where’s David?”

This is our first time visiting since Dwell took over and it gave off the sterilization of a mgmt company after the buy out a private landlord.

Much of the antiques, eclectic decor has been replaced by shabby wayfair products. Further, it felt like we were living through their renovation for half of our stay. Planks on the back deck had caved in by the lounge chairs, and so the entire area was blocked off for the majority of our stay. They also had an enormous ceiling leak right outside our door (Mallory room), that took three days to resolve—I understand that this is clearly an urgent matter to fix, however, it wasn’t even acknowledged by the mgmt until about two hours into loud plumbing work outside our door at 9:00 am. on day 3.

The owners were absent throughout our stay, except when guiding the contractors completing repairs, they didn’t make any attempts to build rapport with those of us staying there until we were leaving to go home.

This place has been a family favorite for over ten years—the friendliness of local staff who provided great recs for around town, the homey kitchen with ACTUAL coffee (let’s be honest about the generic K cups), and the adorable coolers and happy hour fridge when you want a beverage by the pool are all gone. It felt like a house going through a renovation, not a home. The waterfall on the pool was out of order, and the jets were barely working…nothing was offered to us as a consolation for the constant renovations occurring, not even our bicycle fees.

I’m sad our favorite place has changed so much, as the location is perfect IMO, and the labor staff are phenomenal. We will have to find another...