Gilbert's Resort & Marina — Restaurant in Key Largo

HANDICAPPED NOT ALLOWED !!!!!! I was here yesterday to meet my family for dinner and get my daughter who was been dropped off from Fort Myers. I’m staying in Marathon have been coming to the keys since 1975. I drove in and a parking attendant who claimed he was the owner of the place & general manager, was the most unwelcome cruelest rudest most insensitive person to handicap people probably on the face of the Earth. I explained to him. I need to park somewhere for one minute to use the bathroom. I can’t leave as my daughter is being dropped off here in the next 20 mins - I picked this place as it’s supposed to be a friendly and fun place and it was in the middle of south Florida and marathon where I have property. I just have to use the bathroom I told him, because he said if you’re not a hotel guest , you’re going to have to park on the road far away and walk in - a few people were walking from blocks away near the dangerous Hwy bridge to get into this place. I told him I’m handicapped, and showed him my 2026 Handicapped Placard hanging from my mirror, I told him politely “ sir I just need to use the bathroom” - and again I showed him my handicapped mirror tag. He said, I don’t care, get off the property you’re blocking people who are staying here, you need to exit the property. I called the hotel 24 times in a row from my cell phone and finally someone answered the phone and i asked to speak to the owners. I told her I’m handicapped and trying the use the bathroom quickly as my daughter is meeting me here and her phone won’t take calls so I have to wait here. I saw the woman walk out to talk to parking attendant / general manager / owner as he told me and I called her back and she said he said you have to leave here we can’t help you here and you can’t park on our property. There was a very nice family that saw me struggling to deal with a horrifically mean apparent manager of the place, and they asked me to park in their space and then the manager ended up blocking the space with an orange cone to prevent me from parking. There was also a handicapped spot right in front of me that I could’ve parked out there an orange cone for two minutes to use the bathroom and then I would’ve left and again he said NO, you need to LEAVE ! I had to then call the police as I was in shock. The police told me that if I don’t leave here after they spoke to him he’s gonna ask for me to be arrested because I’m not allowed here. I’ve never heard of a place being so cruel to “people with disabilities” in my life. This has to be the most anti disabled company I’ve ever experienced. I will admit the police were in shock that this gentleman would not let a handicap person use the bathroom but they said he claims he’s in charge here and they told me to find a much friendlier resort - next time. If he wants to be against and not accommodate handicapped people that’s his prerogative as an owner the police told me - he should’ve let you go to the bathroom but he told us no. So if you’re not staying here, do not come for dinner, if you don’t want to stay at a place that can’t and won’t accommodate handicapped people to dine here - Don’t Come Here. I’m going to contact my high school friend who’s a state Congressman in Texas and ask him to assist me to contact the Attorney General of Florida. This man is evil to...

Utter Dissatisfaction @GilbertsResortKeylargo

I’m beyond disappointed with our dining experience at Gilbert’s Resort in Key Largo. Our family gathered from England, Atlanta, and Virginia for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and we decided to have our last meal together at Gilbert's. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a memorable experience turned into an incredibly frustrating ordeal.

We arrived on Saturday, Nov 30 at 2:37 pm, and despite the nice outdoor Tiki dining area with a view of the beach, the service was absolutely horrendous. We were a party of 9, and we waited an hour and a half just to get our drinks — three fountain sodas, two spirits, and water. This is unacceptable for any restaurant, and I’ve never been to one that couldn’t even provide water after sitting down.

I understand being short-staffed, but waiting for drinks for 90 minutes is completely unreasonable. Then, it took another 40 minutes for our food to arrive. But of course, it didn’t all come at once. Our meals were served in batches, with long gaps between them. Three of our meals were barely warm, and two were cold. We had to return two cold entrees, and when they brought us replacements, those were cold as well.

To make matters worse, the "owner" responded to another post by claiming that we had left nine negative reviews. That’s not even accurate—only three reviews had been submitted at the time, and two of the negative reviews came from family members who didn’t eat their cold meals. So, let’s be clear: the service was beyond subpar, andsome of the food was unacceptable.

We could have left, but after driving over an hour to get there, we decided to stay, though we regret that decision. The worst part was the complete lack of communication from the staff. We saw two tables seated after us, and they received their drinks and food before we did. If there had been a simple explanation of the delays, we could have decided to leave, but instead, we were left waiting without any updates.

When we finally asked to speak with the manager, Carlos S., he apologized and explained that they were overwhelmed with large groups. While I understand the difficulties they were facing, this does not justify the poor service and lack of communication. We certainly didn’t expect to eat for free, but waiting that long without any explanation is inexcusable.

Bottom line: Gilbert's Resort provided the worst service I’ve ever experienced at a restaurant, and we will never return. I cannot recommend this place to anyone, especially if you're looking for good service and a timely dining experience. Gilbert's take this as a lesson and improve your communication and service.

We had a poor experience, but we still managed to make the best of our time together. Best of luck in the future, Gilbert’s, but we...

I just write a review for this nasty place on my other account and the response was:

Dear Customer’s ,

"We understand your concern, but our policy clearly states that personal beach umbrellas are not allowed on the property for safety reasons. This rule ensures the safety and comfort of all our guests. We kindly ask you to respect this policy. Thank you for your cooperation"

You understand NOTHING as a matter of fact and, because we are a very respectfull and understanding kind of family we were just trying to speak with someone with enough power for a customer solution and we find a rude, nasty, unprofessional "manager" you really should be aware of your current situation, nothing is forever. I really hope the best for you but you need to start listening your customer more than calling police on families and justifying all your mess with rude answers talking balonies, and start improving better customer service. You should be the one cooperating with yourself.

Here is my Review

CARLOS THE MANAGER, THE WORST We're from Hollywood Fl and we used to come to this place every single time we traveled to Key Largo, this time wasn't different. But, what a nasty experience. We were a family member of 8 adults and 2 kids enjoying drinks and food and music (as usual) but, the day was really sunny and we all were under an small umbrella not enough for that big table, sun was bothering us but more so the children so we decided to bring our own beach umbrellas, one staff member approached us to let us know that it was prohibited and we nicely ask for a manager to help us with the situation and he may either allow us to keep it or change the table for a better covered spot. Well, that was it. This manager CARLOS is the opposite of what manager means, this person is the most disrespectful, zero customer service skill and rude guy on earth, and by the way, with his attitude he’s ruining the place, he just approached to us to tell us if we were not comfortable we can leave with the most disrespectful attitude not even taking into consideration that more food kept arriving, of course, we cancel everything and left the place and tks god cause I was reading old reviews and they used to call the police on families,. Worst experience ever, Never...