The Reach Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton — Hotel in Key West

I’m very sorry to say that the stay was abysmal. First, it took us 25+ minutes to get checked in just to get physical key cards. Supervisor Annie tried for 20 minutes to get our two rooms closer together but finally gave up so we were on opposite ends of the hotel. That's fine. Things happen.

The rooms themselves and even the outside of the resort, however, are in a state of disrepair. Our first room had two broken USB ports. That’s not too bad. Again, things happen. We understand small hiccups. No stay is perfect. However, there were so many physical issues with the outside of the hotel and the insides of the rooms that it was appalling. A few examples: rust and discoloration everywhere outside, poor water drainage (there were standing puddles even before it rained) our rug was ripped, and small amenities were overlooked. The coffee machine was filthy and there were only decaf Kcups available in our room, and the shower didn’t have any conditioner. Not that the bottle was empty…the middle bottle where the conditioner should be wasn’t there at all. It looked ripped off of the wall. We called housekeeping to get some hair conditioner and they originally wanted to send engineering to our room thinking our air conditioner wasn’t working. I explained their misunderstanding and finally got hair conditioner. The toilet even wobbled like it would fall over if you moved too much. Meanwhile, in the other, their balcony sliding door barely slides. That’s fine. More secure that way, right? I’m being only partly tongue in cheek. Well, evidently the plumbing was hooked up backwards in that room for the shower because the shower was extremely cold unless you moved the lever almost all the way to cold. Then, it was scalding hot. Needless to say my parents were forced to take cold showers. They also had no hair dryer and it took multiple calls to get one and about 45 minutes. The text system that was touted when checking in was an abject failure. I finally walked them over ours so they didn’t have to wait any longer. Also, while the weather isn’t anything anyone could control there was a downpour at about 7pm and there was a waterfall of rain inside the building right past the main lobby flowing right into the elevator shafts. There was a major structural leak in the glass skylight in that section. No wonder only one of the elevators was in working order. Holy cow. I can recall only a couple experiences in a Hilton in the last 10 years of traveling extensively for work that came close to the terrible stay this turned out to be. I’ve stayed at better simple Hampton Inns in rural areas while working and travelling. To call this establishment a resort is tantamount to calling my two grape vines at home a vineyard. I’m beyond disappointed. I brought along my parents for this single night excursion as a treat and I’ve never been more embarrassed. This property, The Reach, is in really bad shape. The level of customer care was as poor as the facility itself. I had this email written up before we left since I knew I wouldn’t be able to send it until I returned home, and I’m afraid I have to tack on this last part because of how the valet process was when trying to leave. You have valet service only but the system in place is severely flawed. I texted the number as per the instructions on the valet ticket, and although I received a prompt text back, there was a disconnect between whoever answered the text and the valet assistant himself. We ended up waiting 35+ minutes for our vehicle (the ticket says to expect 10 minutes) because whoever answered the text didn’t relay to the valet that we wanted our car. After over a half hour I finally went over and asked what the hold up was. He said, “oh. No one told me. I’ll go now.” Another 10 minute wait later and we could finally get away. Unreal. Hilton should honestly be professionally embarrassed by association. This is only what would fit in this review too. It’s...

So I really oscillated back and forth between giving this hotel a "very good" and "average review." However, ultimately I am going with "good." Partially because they upgraded our room to something with a better view than we paid for, and partially because looking at other reviews (and just the general feeling I got when I was in Key West) this is probably one of the better hotels on the island. I booked my room a couple months in advance as I knew things were going to be pricey this summer. We paid $500 a night for a room that was not supposed to have any view and booked directly through the Hilton website. However, when I checked-in we were generously upgraded to an ocean view studio suite (I assume because I am a Hilton Gold member). This was very much appreciated as the view was decent and we had a separate living area and two TVs in the room, there was also a separate shower and tub in the bathroom. The staff was generally very nice, they text you frequently to make sure everything is going well with the stay. One critique, we opted in for daily housekeeping, and the housekeeper came around 0900 the first morning, we told her come back later, and then left for lunch. I texted the front desk and they said they would send housekeeping, yet when we came back two hours later - the room had not been serviced; again we went out, and I texted them again (around 3:00pm in the afternoon) when we came back around 6:30pm the room had been cleaned. Not a huge deal, but not sure why it took two requests, if it was going to take several hours for housekeeping to come back the hotel should have just said that the first time we asked. Some other critiques: while we appreciated having a separate shower and bathtub in the room, the bathtub nozzles were like an after thought and I was very hard to switch the bathtub/shower (this bathtub was combined) from shower to bath if you understand what I mean. The separate shower also flooded the bathroom frequently and was kind of small. Not major issues, but also sort of like why can't it be a little better? While the condition of the room was good, the overall condition of the common areas of the property made me sort of scratch my head wondering "they charge this much per night for this property?" For example, around the corner from our room there was a "sunset" terrace but there was really not much up there (no furniture that I recall) except a green fake grass spot that I assume is a spot used for dogs to urinate. The pool, I didn't have time to use it, looked like it could have been cleaner. None of these deficiencies ruined our experience or made me regret choosing this property over another, but as I have said in other posts, I just can't believe I am paying $500+ a night for something that is barely a four star hotel - alas, this is the post-pandemic travel world. On the positive, there are lots of games to play for couples and families on the property, they have a sister property next door where you can use a $36 a day food credit in their restaurant (can also use it at the hotel's 'Four Marlins' restaurant), and the gym was decent. It's also walking distance to the famous "Duval" Street and to the "Southernmost Point" of the continental United States. Overall, if I ever have the inkling to return to Key West in the future, I would definitely consider...

We really enjoyed our stay here. The location is perfect! One block away from Duval St and lots of things to do. The Southernmost point is also within walking distance as well as a liquor store, grocery store, trolley station and place to rent bikes, scooters and golf carts to get around the island. The hotel itself is nice and the staff is friendly and helpful. We bought the breakfast package online before we got here. It is for the Four Marlins restaurant at the property. It seems like not many people buy it because they always charge you for breakfast and when you tell them you paid for it, they have no idea what you're talking about and have to look it up on a spreadsheet. I believe it is for $30 per person for the meal but it is unclear. The Four Marlins restaurant in general is AWESOME! The food is absolutely fantastic and so are the drinks! Very flavorful, creative and strong. The pool is nice and goes from 3.5' to 5' and is lit with colored lights and looks great at night. The pool is open until 11 which is great. The beach never closes! You have to walk through the pool area to get to the beach but the pool gates are magnetic and are never locked so even if the pool is closed you can walk through that area to the beach. The pier is nice and great place to have a drink or romantic moment. But it is a large area but there are only two small benches and two small chairs so I guess you are supposed to stand up if you aren't the only one there? The are some outlets on the pier so if you wanted to bring your laptop to work out there you could plug it in which I thought was nice. The courtyard area is great with chess, Bocce corn hole and some other games. There are some fun touches like mannequins playing cards etc around the pool area which are cool. The gift shop at the hotel is great! Has useful things that are high quality like Ray Ban sunglasses, nice sun protective shirts and snacks and alcohol in the fridge. One thing I, noticed is the elevators are rough. Seems like they tried to update older ones they already had but need to replace them with new ones. When they start they start with a hard jolt and when they stop, they take a long time making you think you're stuck in the elevator and then you have a sigh of relief when the door opens. If you come during July, there is a good chance the beach will be full of seaweed which is NOT the hotels fault. It is a normal part of the sea currents and weather. They do clear it but can only clear the beach and not the water. It does also have a pervasive odor which is part of being right on the ocean. If you are not used to being by the ocean, it will catch you off guard. You can still use the beach but will have to swim 20-30' past the seaweed to where the water is clearer. If you want to avoid the seaweed you will have to go earlier in the season (or later after hurricane season). If you go to the other side of the island, there will not be any seaweed and the water is great. Overall, we really liked this hotel and we would definitely come back. Hopefully this review helps...