Sands of Islamorada

What an absolute delight! I was a little hesitant as it seemed too good to be true... but it wasn't too good... it was better!! We were greeted by one of the caretakers, Robert, with a smile and welcome to the property upon arrival. Check in was simple/easy as was checkout. The hotel has changed hands recently from what I understand and the current owners have really done a fantastic job of renovating it and bringing it up to par for the area. The beach is right there with beautiful ocean views, the pool was cool but refreshing, our rooms were lovely and so comfortable, very quiet, great location within a mile or two of lots of great restaurants. I almost don't want to write this glowing review because I want to keep it all to myself! We really didn't want to leave but are looking forward to another trip next year and hopefully by boat once they get their dock all fixed up.

Just hoping the dock gets fixed so we can come back via boat! Other than that, not really much to change... we really enjoyed the "old school Islamorada" feel of the place... cute, quite, quaint, and SO relaxing! Wait... was I supposed to say something I didn't like here? ;)

location/ pool/ beach access/ cage of parrots outside/ spacious room

The fact that they called me up to tell us a towel was missing and asked us to return it. Huh? we didn’t take a towel and suggested it might be drying on a outside chair, beach resort and all. I have stayed in more than 1,000 hotels in my life and have never been called by one of them asking for a towel to be returned. Glad I didn’t take the small tube of shampoo..I this the hospitality industry calls such things a loss factor? That call took away the good feeling we had about our stay.

As mentioned by the other reviews, the hotel is very meticulously maintained : the room was spotless clean as well as the grounds. There are only a few rooms, so you do not feel overcrowded by people. The room was very spacious, with every facility needed for your stay : dishes, cuttlery, coffee maker, coffee, fridge etc. Soundproofing of the room is perfect, considered the location on the motorway (and I am very difficult when it comes to noise). The garden by the sea is really wonderful, the coconut trees give a little shadow which is nice. We particularly enjoyed the big gas barbecues. Please note that though you could have a swim in the sea, it is not a beach per se. (I saw nobody swimming in the area).

We had the room at the entrance (#11), so we felt we were living in a parking lot on the road rather than by the beach. It was said in the reviews that the hot tubs are nice, but they do not exist anymore --> if you look at reviews on Google, the most up to date pictures are those where the hotel is painted in blue. Booking.com pictures are accurate. I know the Keys are expensive in terms of accomodation, but we felt it is overpriced for what it is, especially when you have travelled a lot around the world (300$ a night!). it is more like a confortable road motel in a beautiful location.

Loved the view from our room and the sitting area on the porch, pefect to watch the gorgeous sunrises. The pool was refreshing and very clean. The property is so peaceful as there are only 9 rooms. The birds provided daily entertainment and Lazy Days Restaurant is only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. The kitchen is fully equipped. One night we made steaks on the grill provided by the hotel (there are 3 of them). Bought the steaks from the Trading Post, it's just up the road from the hotel and is open 24 hrs.

Falling coconuts were a little scarey.

It was quiet. Rooms were updated & spacious. Felt more like a tiny house than just a room. Everything we needed was provided. They’ve done a GREAT job making this a true getaway! Pool is gorgeously lit up at night. Close enough to shops, grocery stores & restaurants to grab stuff if needed but not so close you felt in the middle of it. ***My pics I shared are all of our room, but NOT as labeled by booking.com. No option to upload multiple pics of room.**

Brown algae that washes up to boat dock stinks but that’s not properties fault. just something to be aware of. we couldn’t smell it all all from our room or pool, only if we tried sitting close to water. Also, if your assigned parking spot is under one of the trees, you WILL have poop (dove? lizard?) poop all over your car where the tree overhangs. again, just be aware.

Pleasant, little motel close to some of the best diving and snorkeling around middle keys. Large size king-size room, quiet, very clean, perfect for 3 nights. Room was equipped with 2 bath robes, a safe, AC, cups, cutlery, microwave and a toaster, a small fridge, even tea set was provided. No complaints regarding the amenities provided in the room. Staff very pleasant, too. I wanted to pay cash and Joanna was very accomaodating for me to do that.

Water pressure in the room was very iffy especailly around 6pm, water got cold in about 2 minutes during taking a shower, this was not an issue at any other point during the day. This is personal preference but the radio station was set on Nashville country music and was blasting all day long from a speaker right outside our room. I would have prefered more contemporary tunes or even a Latin chanel. But if you are a country music fan, you will love it!

The location was perfect, it was on the ocean front and close to restaurants and shopping. The room was large well decorated and very clean. There was a coffee maker and coffee available in the room with a table to sit at. Outside our door there were patio chairs to use. The room was super clean we were very comfortable staying here.

The only drawback to our stay we couldn’t use the beach area. The smell from the seaweed was overpowering, it wasn’t racked up, so you couldn’t sit by the water. It was one of the reasons we booked this resort was to use the beach, but unfortunately we couldn’t. This was our only drawback but we managed to drive to a public beach. Other than that we really enjoyed ourselves here.

We love the quiet and relaxing environment, the wildlife we see all around, the easy of access to sandbars via Kayaks and the staff. It's really nice for our young family of 4. Rooms were very clean!

There is nothing we did not like. We visit this place yearly and it is continuously improving in quality. Good bang for your buck.

We stayed in the Queen room with a balcony (access from outside the room). The room has been recently renovated and was super clean and spacious. There are no real beaches in the Keys, so the hotel pool overlooking the water was perfect. Walking distance to Lazy Days restaurant for a meal overlooking the water. We loved our stay and would highly recommend to others. There are much more expensive places to stay in Islamorada, but I would save that money to charter a boat or do snorkeling or other water activities. It was a lovely little place!

The room looked like it had been recently renovated... very nicely decorated and had a little kitchenette with microwave, toaster oven, and refrigerator. Loved the property, right on the water with hammocks and chairs overlooking the water. Beautiful sunrises! Also used the hot tub, which was delightful on the cool days we were there.

We never did figure out how to use the TV remote - even staff couldn't help us. But who comes to Florida to watch TV?! The fan in the room had the only light near the beds and the controller was on the same frequency as the room next door, so when they turned the light on, ours came on too! We came to an agreement with them and all was fine. Still a bedside light would be nice. Also the outdoor lights were on some type of motion sensor so when anyone walked by they would turn on which was an issue because the blinds didn't really block out the light.