We reserved our room through Hotwire and I thought we overpaid at $220 a night when we checked into our room. We were in Bldg. 3, which faced the public beach and although we had a nice view of the water, my son wondered who the "strange" people were that frequented the beach below. The only thing we heard over the extremely loud air conditioner unit was the dumpster being emptied. The air conditioner barely cooled the place off even at the high setting on a 90 degree day. We found it difficult to sleep in this hotel.

When you check in, do yourself a favor and let the bellman take you to your room. If you don't, you may never find it. Took us 15 minutes to get from our car to the correct building, etc! The room number system is not typical.

We had a handicap unit, which had an opener that made it a hassle to shut the door! There is no counter space in the bathroom either. If you don't need a handicapped room, I would reguest that you don't get one.

They say the place is a "suite" but if you have double beds as we did, there is no privacy from your kids. We had no key available for the security safe and there is no refrigerator, microwave, etc. other than the mini bar with a hefty price tag.

On the plus side, like the other reviews state, the Hyatt is close to everything. We did eat at the Nicola restaraunt on site and the food was great and sunset view awesome, but the our waiter was stuffy.

The pool and beach area, although nice, are small! If you want to sunbathe around the pool then get there early! There are also places oceanside and dockside.

Looking through these reviews after our recent stay makes me believe that your experience depends on the season and the price you pay. We enjoyed our brief stay in Key West, but even our kids enjoyed the Embassy Suites hotel more in Boca Raton and the amenities we received at a 2 star hotel we stayed in to make up for this overpriced place far surpassed the Hyatts. Of the course the quality of the few amenities we did receive at the Hyatt were luxurious.

It's interesting to read the other reviews of this hotel because it makes the place seem like at least two entirely different hotels. The only thing that I can conclude is that what it offers is exactly what some people wanted and seriously lacking in what others wanted. Personally, I would only stay there again if I wanted to stay somewhere with a pool in that area that was fairly nice and, most importantly, if I could get it at a reasonable rate. In our case, they charged the maximum number of points, so I really expected a lot from the place, which they never really gave. That said, here's my list of plusses and minuses:

POSITIVES:

Location- You can walk to a lot of the interesting sights of Key West, and driving and parking there is a bit of a hassle, so it's nice to be able to leave the car there and forget about it. As an aside, make sure that you get to the boardwalk area for dinner- we liked the A&B Lobster House.

Poolside Bar- Very nice area; typical bar menu.

NEGATIVES:

Pool- Way, waaaaay too small for the number of people staying in the hotel. It looked like a watering hole full of rhinos- there was just barely any space in it in the daytime. To swim, wait until dinnertime when the crowd clears... if you want to swim in there after so many people all day.

"Beach"- the "beach" area is positively tiny, and to swim beyond it is to risk getting run over by jetskiers.

Service- Front desk staff seemed harried, likely because so few people have to deal with so many guests coming and going all the time.

Other guests- The crowd here is a really weird mix. I can only guess that maybe it's a result of how the rooms are sold: Cheap rooms from online websites, vacation packages in Europe and a few suckers paying rack rate and expecting a world-class resort.


AVERAGE:

Room- The room is fairly typical of a 3 star hotel. It's amenities are OK, but not earth-shattering. And whoever said that the air conditioner is loud is right. The views from Building 1 are better than Bldg 3, and the sunset is better from the 4th floor of the hotel than over at Mallory Square (which really seemed like an excuse to lure out the tourists and make them buy drinks from the nearby bar).


BONUS:

Odie, the resident parrot! When he gets talking, he's fun! The trainer is nice too.

We stayed at the Hyatt for one night. My husband picked it because of the location - wanted to be close to the action in town, but not too close so that the noise was disturbing at night. Well, the location of the hotel WAS really great. It was a very short walk to Duval Street and Mallory Square (BTW, I felt Mallory Square was extremely cheesy and overrated), and we had a beautiful view of the water from our 4th floor balcony. We only ate breakfast at the restaurant, but the fruit bowl we ordered had some of the most beautiful and freshest fruit I've received in a hotel.

Turns out it was the noise IN the room and in the MORNING, which ruined our stay. The room had one of the loudest in-window air conditioners I've ever heard. It was so horribly loud at its high setting that we elected to turn it to Low cool (only 2 settings avalable - Low was also terribly loud) and be uncomfortably warm, which made it hard to fall asleep and the noise woke us up often. Then, we were awakened at 7AM to the sound of dumpsters being emptied in the parking lot next to our balcony.

The pool was very crowded during the day, but it was nice that it was open so late so we could go in after the crowds were gone. The poolside bar was nice and the bartender was friendly, although it seemed to take forever to be served and get our check.

The front desk was reluctant to acknowledge that we had a special AAA discount package, but apologized when finally convinced. The concierge was very friendly and helpful with information.

All in all, location was great, service and room not so much. I probably wouldn't stay again, especially at the price we paid.

This is a very picturesque place. I love that it's only four stories and the architecture is quite appropriate for the location. I also found the grounds to be very lush, tropical and lovely.

The rooms and balconies are small, but clean. We had a gulf-view corner room, which - I believe - is a bit bigger than standard size.

We were originally told (by someone at the hotel) that the sunset could be seen from this hotel. If it could - we didn't see it.

The location of the Hyatt is great, though. Close to everything - but not too close.

The pool is nice - small, but nice. And there is no beach to speak of. None.

On our first night in town, after we'd gotten home late from Duvall Street, we went out on to the balcony to lay on the lounge chairs and take in the atmosphere. That didn't turn out so well.

We wound up falling asleep and waking up to a bottle breaking and people slurring and yelling and cursing. The "beach" that's right next to the Hyatt is apparently populated by the homeless people in Key West at night. The weather was such that we could have turned on the ceiling fan and left the balcony door open, but we couldn't because of the noise.

Down in the bar area - and in the rest of the hotel - we didn't find the staff to be overly friendly or inviting. The bar itself was lovely and relaxing and the drinks were delicious. (If not overpriced.)

When I go back to Key West, I'm going to spend my money at The Ocean Key.