We stayed at the Hyatt Beach House Resort from 6/23 - 6/30/07. It is a great place to stay if you want a "home away from home"--two bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, dining area, living room, nice screened porch with wicker furniture (glass table and four chairs for dining, wicker couch and table and rocking chair). The kitchen was well stocked with dishes, glassware, silverware, pots, pans, towels, pot holders, paper towel, dish soap, dishwasher detergent...the list goes on. Very comfortable dining area and living room spaces. The second bedroom was great for our 16 year old daughter--gave her space with a TV, which she loved. My 13 year old son slept on the queen sleeper sofa, with his own TV in the living room area. We had the huge master bed/bathroom, which had a great glassed in shower, double sinks, jacuzzi tub, separate toilet area, good closet. Drawer space in each bedroom was not an issue with a built-in set of four drawers per room. Each room also has an apartment-sized washer/dryer combo, which was a great convenience--it was nice to go home with clean clothes, even supplied with two individual-wash sized containers of Tide!
The pool is shallow (not more than 4 feet deep) but very nice for families with small children, which a nice sandy area with sand toys for the kids to play in, plenty of comfortable beach chairs and cabana-style double chaises with pads. There are picnic tables with grills available to grill food (the front desk is helpful to provide grilling tools, charcoal, lighter fluid and matches in a shed where the grills are).
Don't go to Key West expecting gorgeous, sand beaches because that is not what the Keys are about. Higgs, Smathers and the other beaches along the southern side of the island are sandy and nice with very calm, warm water--parking can be expensive. We went to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, where there is a nice beach with breakwaters that are great for snorkeling--has a nice snack bar with chair, umbrella and other types of rentals, plus plenty of shaded picnic tables--nice place to spend a day for less than $10 per car with 4 people.
The waterfront area is a "waterfront area" not especially a beach but a great place to sit on the dock and watch the sunset. Although it is sandy and there is a nice dock to fish from with water equipment rentals, there is a big sign warning people about the current in front of the property. The property sits on the corner of the Gulf and a channel that has a strong current and not a safe place to swim or snorkel--nice for kayaking, jet skis, etc.
The concierge in the front lobby was very helpful in booking trips and activities and with moped rentals--definitely a great, less expensive way of getting around when parking is $10-12 per day down by Duval Street. Our kids loved skooting around the island on the mopeds for the week--we just parked our car in the parking provided under the buildings that was free and shaded at the hotel.
I know there have been notes about the cleanliness of this hotel however, we found it clean with the exception of the tile floor-it was not 100% clean but tile floors with heavy traffic will get dirty, even if they are clean and maintained.
Overall, we would stay at this hotel again and highly recommend it to couples or families that are looking for a condo-type atmosphere, in a quieter area that is very comfortable and well-maintained.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
absolutely!
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Other