We just got back from our wonderful stay at Hawks Cay Resort, We were in Key West for a family wedding and spent several days post wedding ready for some chilling out before heading back to our home state of Montana. We had a suite by the adult pool and enjoyed the quite surroundings. It was great to have the beachside bar/dining around the corner. The bartenders and staff were friendly and the tropical drinks were great. The views were stunning and the sandy cove is like nothing I've ever seen before. Our room was stunning with great furniture and amenities. Nice flat screen tv, comfy bed, private balcony. Will definitely return!

I will preface this by saying that we are not high maintenance travelers. All we need to be happy with a hotel or resort is a room that is clean and functional. After all, how much time do you really spend in your room anyway. The Marina Villa we just returned from at Hawks Cay was neither clean nor fully functional. The carpeting was stained and smelled moldy. The tile floors were so filthy that the bottoms of your feet or socks were black after walking around for 20 minutes. Dirt and dust hung out of all of the air registers. Even the walls were dirty as if someone walked around rubbing the walls with dirty hands. My favorite was the toilet paper holder in our bathroom that had literally been torn out of the drywall and was hanging on by one corner, leaving a gaping hole in the wall for lord knows what to crawl in from. Housekeeping replaces the toilet paper so how can they not have noticed this? I reported this one to the front desk shortly after we checked in and we were told maintenance would fix it but they never showed up. We knew going in that we would have limited housekeeping service but they were supposed to collect garbage daily and we only saw them once in 6 days. I would say that our experience might be an isolated experience but my sister and her family stayed in a Harbor Villa with its own set of maintenance and cleanliness issues. The bottom line is, I have stayed at far better properties for far less then than what I paid for this resort. As for the resort overall, the grounds are beautiful and the location is great. We only used the main pool and that was fine every time we used it. We didn't eat at any of the restaurants as there are so many other great restaurant options nearby. In general, I would be very hard pressed to recommend this resort or stay here again in the future.

Great resort.The rooms were very nice and clean. The pools are great and the staff was very friendly. My only complaint is that there are not a lot of options for dinner with young children after the beach grill closes at 5. The pizza is terrible. Try the sunset cruise very entertaining.

In summary: A 5 star location, 4 star amenities and 3 star service. We visited over Thanksgiving weekend with our kids (both under 8 years old). Overall we enjoyed the weekend and while we would not likely return we would suggest you try it at least once.

Pro’s
- A great property well maintained and very conveniently located with excellent views.
- Large rooms even in the hotel section, with nice and modern bathrooms.
- Alma Restaurant which served an amazing dinner (try the skirt steak) and a high quality breakfast buffet.
- Kids activities (games at the lagoon, kid’s area).
- Very good tennis facilities including 4 “clay-like” courts.
- The lagoon and dolphin centre are great.

Con’s
- Food choices outside of Alma are of very poor quality, specifically the Beach Grill and even worse Tio’s which is to be avoided at all costs.
- Spa is horribly overpriced for the services received ($340 for 2 one hour massages)
- Gym equipment is in need of a serious refresh including the cardio machines and free weights
- Maid service in the room is not thorough (no face towels available for 2 days we were there) or speedy (front desk said the rooms are only cleaned before 5pm).
- While the rooms are nice overall, the beds and specifically the mattresses need replacing.
- I am going to share more info below on the two biggest issues that plague the resort. Firstly, the overall staff service levels and secondly the daily resort fee.

I want to cover my final point in more detail. I can explain it most easily by saying that I really wanted to love Hawk’s Cay. Again, the location was great and while the other reviews that referenced the high cost of the resort are true (our 3 nights in a standard room with a couple of meals, 1 spa treatment and a few drinks = $2000) I am perfectly comfortable spending this kind of money for quality.

The issue we really had was that the service from staff was at best a 3 star level with 5 star prices. I want to note some exceptions, specifically Garfield at the valet, Craig at the lagoon, Nicole our waitress at Alma were all really fantastic. However, they were the exception and it really felt like the automatic 18% gratuity on everything + the $30 resort fee resulted in many of the staff just not caring.

There were some really specific cases, a bartender at the Beach Grill from Montauk or Roger the host at Alma who were just plain grumpy. The baristas at the Starbucks – where you have to prepare your own food when you buy it – and the phone operators at guest services were also just not easy to deal with. The overriding feeling is that as a guest you are an annoyance. A perfect example was our dinner on Thanksgiving night. We called Tio’s for a last minute table at 6pm. We were told the restaurant was fully booked and that there would be no room. They then said if we could come right away we would be accommodated. When we arrived and until 8:00pm when we left the restaurant was never more that 50% full. Yet the host acted as though we were lucky to find a spot with them.

Lastly, there is the $30 daily resort fee. This is positioned by the management as a convenience fee to for the fitness and kids centre, wireless + valet parking and most importantly so that you don’t have to tip staff. In my opinion, it is a way for the resort to post a rate on line and then tack on 10%-15% more through the fee. I used the valet twice, the bellman twice and that’s it. I would have been happy to pay them directly so that I could recognize those that really did a good job. The resort fee is unnecessary and should instead be built into the price. If you are going to be a 5 star resort then paying for wireless and a fitness centre is just not right.

To close, in my opinion you’ll enjoy the resort and probably like me be frustrated at the price versus service equation. However, if the management starts by eliminating the $30 resort fee and the automatic 18% tip I believe that an immediate improvement in service can be had. The stars (like Garfield, Craig or Nicole) that must be frustrated by some of their colleagues can get the recognition and pay they deserve. The others will probably just leave once the tips dry up.

Get it together and this could be a great Keys resort. For now, Hawk’s Kay is just average.