On my recent trip to Key West, Florida in January 2009 over superbowl weekend I stayed at the Reach Resort, which recently became a Hilton Property under the Waldorf Astoria Collection.

I put a video overview together here http://yelloww.net/blog/2009/02/the-...n-key-west-fl/ which covers most of what I have in the text of this review, so if you are a visual person, go ahead and skip to the video otherwise, read along, then watch the video afterwards

The Reach appears to have been recently renovated before becoming a Hilton Property as everything appeared to be sparkly and new. The Casa Marina — The Reach’s sister property 2 blocks away also became a Hilton property as well.

The check-in experience was good– I walked up to the counter fairly late in to the night, 10pm perhaps on a Thursday, told them my name and was greeted with a “We’ve been expecting you!’ — I’m thinking that I was the last person to check in that evening. It appeared the hotel had a pretty low occupancy during my visit as the parking garage was near empty. Parking is $12.

The Reach Resort has a pretty good location, one block off of Duval St and is located on Key West’s only natural sand beach. Some might say that the Reach is on the “wrong” end of Duval — but I would say it is the quiet end of Duval where you can actually get some sleep away from the bars . Being a resort property, there is a $20 a day “resort fee” which doesn’t really include anything that I would consider a perk, but the front desk will tell you that the resort fee covers the “Pool towels, fruit in the lobby, newpapers, and beach chairs.” Being a resort property that also means no concierge lounge. The hotel also has water sports rentals and rents Jet Skis, kayaks, snorkeling equipment, etc.

I booked the 1 bedroom boutique sweet with ocean view, and it was sweet indeed! My room was on the Fifth floor — which is the top floor — and was very airy/light with perhaps 12 foot ceilings. The room included a refrigerator, and a Nespresso coffee machine (the one that has the little coffee cartridges). There was a bar area with two bar stools for eating, a love-seat sofa, and an arm chair. The bed was a king size bed with very comfortable bedding and mattress.

The bathroom was clean — had a large shower, no bathtub. It sort of disturbed me that the bathroom also included a set of ear plugs. Turns out the hotel was very quiet and I didn’t need to ear plugs (thank goodness!). Perhaps during times of higher occupancy the hotel is noisier?

My favorite spot at the hotel was definitely the hammocks strung up on the beach — there is just something really cool about lying on a hammock that is suspended between two palm trees!

I’d definitely recommend the Reach Resort to anyone traveling to Key West Florida!

Reach Resort Video Review:
http://yelloww.net/blog/2009/02/the-...n-key-west-fl/