Miami to Key West pre-cruise

We are planning on doing something similar in May right after our cruise. We disembark on May 5, so I thought we would rent a car and drive down that day. Then stay the night of the 5th and 6th, drive to Miami on the 6th to fly home (we would book late flights), does it sound doable? If not then we would just spend one night in Key West and one night in Miami.

 

Its doable

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to stay that accommodates 3 ppl? Most of what I find is for 2ppl. There are actually 5 of us, but it is 2 couples and a child (well, she is 16 ;))

There are plenty of places that will accommodate three or more people. Wonder if you are looking strictly at B&B's or boutique guest houses.

There are the usual Sheraton/Hilton/Marriott chains on the west end of the island. They're nice but if you are looking to stay closer to the Historic District, take a look at the Maragitaville Key West Resort, Ocean Key Resort, Hyatt Residence Club Sunset Harbor and Simonton Court. On the quieter end of Upper Duval, there's the Southernmost Point and the affordable Blue Marlin. All of them have two bed rooms - the Hyatt has 2 BR suites if that works better for you. Duval Street is a tad over a mile long - you can walk from one end to the other in 20-25-ish minutes at a normal walking pace

There are plenty of places that will accommodate three or more people. Wonder if you are looking strictly at B&B's or boutique guest houses.

There are the usual Sheraton/Hilton/Marriott chains on the west end of the island. They're nice but if you are looking to stay closer to the Historic District, take a look at the Maragitaville Key West Resort, Ocean Key Resort, Hyatt Residence Club Sunset Harbor and Simonton Court. On the quieter end of Upper Duval, there's the Southernmost Point and the affordable Blue Marlin. All of them have two bed rooms - the Hyatt has 2 BR suites if that works better for you. Duval Street is a tad over a mile long - you can walk from one end to the other in 20-25-ish minutes at a normal walking pace

Thanks! I was searching on Booking , Orbitz etc. Places seem to pop up one day and then are gone, then the next day they are back. Seems like they were mostly showing me the boutique hotels. I did find the Blue Marlin last time I checked, I will try going directly to the hotel site instead of a 3rd party. Thanks again for the suggestions.

We are planning on doing something similar in May right after our cruise. We disembark on May 5, so I thought we would rent a car and drive down that day. Then stay the night of the 5th and 6th, drive to Miami on the 6th to fly home (we would book late flights), does it sound doable? If not then we would just spend one night in Key West and one night in Miami.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to stay that accommodates 3 ppl? Most of what I find is for 2ppl. There are actually 5 of us, but it is 2 couples and a child (well, she is 16 ;))

I'm definitely not an expert on Key West, but since I started this thread, and have been researching Key West heavily, figured it would throw my thoughts in! Will be able to provide more feed back after February, but don't think you want to wait that long.

Personally, we are trying to spend as much time out of Miami as possible, so I would recommend two nights.

For places to stay with multiple folks, I usually start my search on AirBnb. I didn't find a lot available in old town Key West for my visit, but since you are starting earlier, and if you are willing to look into new Key West (near the airport), you should have more options. As you get further south, it seems like the places got smaller, more expensive, and parking becomes difficult. With five folks total, I'd also suggest looking for a place with a kitchen.

FWIW, we ended up renting a room with a pool front patio area at a small hotel on Duval street and are paying over $400 a night. We relied heavily on reviews from Trip advisor (and other sources) and decided that location was the most important thing...blowing our budget in the process:D.

Good luck with your search, and hopefully to locals can give you some better advise.

Cheers,

Thanks. This has been a great thread to read through. We decided a number of weeks ago that instead of staying in Miami for two nights before our cruise that we would try the Florida Keys. We are staying at the Hampton Inn in Key Largo. Should arrive Thursday evening around 7 p.m. in Key Largo and then the next day plan to start early and drive down to Key West, explore for 3-4 hours and then drive back and make stops along the way like Robbie's and have dinner in Key Largo that night (probably Key Largo Conch House). Leaving Key Largo for Miami early that next Saturday morning.

Though you have me tempted to spend one night, that first night, in Key West and the second in Key Largo! Thanks for all the tips.

I'm definitely not an expert on Key West, but since I started this thread, and have been researching Key West heavily, figured it would throw my thoughts in! Will be able to provide more feed back after February, but don't think you want to wait that long.

 

Personally, we are trying to spend as much time out of Miami as possible, so I would recommend two nights.

 

For places to stay with multiple folks, I usually start my search on AirBnb. I didn't find a lot available in old town Key West for my visit, but since you are starting earlier, and if you are willing to look into new Key West (near the airport), you should have more options. As you get further south, it seems like the places got smaller, more expensive, and parking becomes difficult. With five folks total, I'd also suggest looking for a place with a kitchen.

 

FWIW, we ended up renting a room with a pool front patio area at a small hotel on Duval street and are paying over $400 a night. We relied heavily on reviews from Trip advisor (and other sources) and decided that location was the most important thing...blowing our budget in the process:D.

 

Good luck with your search, and hopefully to locals can give you some better advise.

 

Cheers,

Kind of surprised. We can always find rooms during high season cheaper than that but we prefer to stay on the Upper Duval end - quieter but only a 20-ish minute walk to Mallory Square

Thanks. This has been a great thread to read through. We decided a number of weeks ago that instead of staying in Miami for two nights before our cruise that we would try the Florida Keys. We are staying at the Hampton Inn in Key Largo. Should arrive Thursday evening around 7 p.m. in Key Largo and then the next day plan to start early and drive down to Key West, explore for 3-4 hours and then drive back and make stops along the way like Robbie's and have dinner in Key Largo that night (probably Key Largo Conch House). Leaving Key Largo for Miami early that next Saturday morning.

We have stayed at the Hampton Inn Key Largo a couple of times, and loved it. Just up the North side of the highway is

The Fish House and we love their dinners. Have a great time!

View behind Hampton Inn.

Thanks. Looks great. Yes. Have read good reviews and seen cool videos of the Hampton Inn online. Looking forward to staying there!

I'm definitely not an expert on Key West, but since I started this thread, and have been researching Key West heavily, figured it would throw my thoughts in! Will be able to provide more feed back after February, but don't think you want to wait that long.

 

Personally, we are trying to spend as much time out of Miami as possible, so I would recommend two nights.

 

For places to stay with multiple folks, I usually start my search on AirBnb. I didn't find a lot available in old town Key West for my visit, but since you are starting earlier, and if you are willing to look into new Key West (near the airport), you should have more options. As you get further south, it seems like the places got smaller, more expensive, and parking becomes difficult. With five folks total, I'd also suggest looking for a place with a kitchen.

 

FWIW, we ended up renting a room with a pool front patio area at a small hotel on Duval street and are paying over $400 a night. We relied heavily on reviews from Trip advisor (and other sources) and decided that location was the most important thing...blowing our budget in the process:D.

 

Good luck with your search, and hopefully to locals can give you some better advise.

 

Cheers,

Thanks for the suggestions. We want to stay in the historic area, we don't need a kitchen - no cooking while on vacation especially if we are only spending 2 days/ 1 night there. I booked 2 rooms at The Blue Marlin. Total is $322 and it has pretty good reviews. If I find something better I can cancel with no penalty. It does not seem like I will find anything in our price range, in the area we want that also allows a child.

Thanks for the suggestions. We want to stay in the historic area, we don't need a kitchen - no cooking while on vacation especially if we are only spending 2 days/ 1 night there. I booked 2 rooms at The Blue Marlin. Total is $322 and it has pretty good reviews. If I find something better I can cancel with no penalty. It does not seem like I will find anything in our price range, in the area we want that also allows a child.

You'll like the Blue Marlin - we stayed there the first time we went to KW. Has that 50's vibe from the outside but rooms are modern. Its only a block from Duval, a short walk to the Southernmost Point buoy and around the corner from stop #11 on the Old Time Trolley route. Nice walk down Duval to Mallory Square. Continental breakfast is served out by the pool but for something more substantial, go to the Southernmost Beach Café - neat to see the cruise ships sailing in. Louie's Backyard is one block east and serves great food with an even better view of the ocean.

Just confused again about your comment about finding a place that allows children......

You'll like the Blue Marlin - we stayed there the first time we went to KW. Has that 50's vibe from the outside but rooms are modern. Its only a block from Duval, a short walk to the Southernmost Point buoy and around the corner from stop #11 on the Old Time Trolley route. Nice walk down Duval to Mallory Square. Continental breakfast is served out by the pool but for something more substantial, go to the Southernmost Beach Café - neat to see the cruise ships sailing in. Louie's Backyard is one block east and serves great food with an even better view of the ocean.

 

Just confused again about your comment about finding a place that allows children......

re children - I keep looking at places in the historic area and a lot of them are a max of 2 people per room, and a big chunk are adults only.

The drive is amazing

Our trip is done - thanks for all the advice!  Thought I would add a summary of the trip with our thoughts in case others thinking of doing the same found this thread.

We landed in FLL at around 8:30 AM after a red eye and took two shuttles to pick up our car from Sixt. While the second shuttle was a pain, by watching sales, were able to rent a BMW 430i convertible for less than a standard convertible from the regular companies at the airport.  We opted for pre-paid tolls and were on our way in no time.

Traffic was surprising heavy for a Thursday morning and our phone navigation failed us as we missed a significant exit being that we were in an express lane and too slow to respond.  Then traffic picked up again once we got to Key Largo.  At this point we didn't really care as we were enjoying the scenery and sights.  Arrived at our first hotel, Ocean Pointe Suites at Key Largo (technically in Taverner) a little after noon. I'm glad we did the shorter drive as we were pretty tired after the flight. 

We were happy with the hotel; it is a gated property with large pool, bar/restaurant, and private beach.  Our unit was a bit dated but large with a kitchen and an ocean view.  We spent that day and the next visiting local restaurants, bars, breweries, and a distillery. Visited Key Largo but spent most of our time in Islamorada.  Again glad we stayed there as we would not have visited those places if we made a straight shot to Key West.

On Saturday we finished the trip to Key West with a great lunch stop in Marathon at Burdines.  Travel time was about two hours with moderate traffic.  Drive was beautiful, however I had expected more bridges on the drive and was surprised that most of the roads were on keys or causeways.

After a few stops along the way (for shopping and photos) we eventually made it to Key West and checked in to Marquesa Hotel.  Can't say enough about this hotel (but that is for another post): great service, location and amenities.  Will comment that our room was about half the size of the one in Taverner for almost twice the price.  No ocean view or kitchen (we were pool front).  Guess its true what they say about location, location, location.  But would stay there again in a heartbeat.

Enjoyed our time in Key West - it was everything we expected (and hoped) it to be - and again, a topic for another discussion.

We left on Tuesday around 11AM and with a few short stops, arrived in South Beach around 3:30.  We heard often that the drive would be quicker, and traffic was not that bad, but it still took us over four hours excluding stops.     

Sixt allowed us to return the car to a location on 5th in South Beach so we got rid of the car instead of paying to park it overnight and took an Uber to the cruise port the next morning.

In summary: very pleased with all aspects of this trip.  Glad we made the drive and glad we took the time to explore more of the keys instead of just staying in Key West.  However, now that we have done the trip, we would probably opt to spend the extra money next time to fly directly to Key West and avoid the drive - once was probably enough.

Cheers,