The service at the hotel pools is amazing. Free drink of the day, free popsicles, iced towels scented with eucalyptus! And, they come around and clean your sunglasses!!!! Mark, Constantine, Austin, and Bob are the BEST. Thanks guys.

Very nicely appointed older hotel. It has the elegance of style and all the modern amenities. We would definately stay here again. The pools are wonderful and the beach outstanding. The staff is very friendly and helpful.

My husband and I debated on which hotel to stay for our honeymoon to the keys and we're glad we chose the Casa Marina. Great location, outside of the busy Duval Street (just a 5 minute bike ride away) with it's own private beach. Upon arrival, we were greeted by valet - 25$ a night, pretty standard for valet parking. We only did it one night as there was FREE street parking right across the street.

The hotel was built in the 1930s, it's been renovated to keep up with the times but hasn't lost its charm. Dark hardwood floors, white curtains, neutral tones when it came to furniture. Beautiful yet small lobby, had a small bar, computer station with internet, and seats to lounge.

The hotel staff is very friendly, the concierge, very accommodating, helpful and very knowledgeable. I wanted to surprise my husband as his birthday was on the 3rd day of our visit and they helped me in picking chocolate covered strawberries, and hand wrote a card for me as we did this over the phone. We were out on a tour of the Dry Tortugas and they timed the surprise perfectly, so when we got back to the hotel it was waiting for him.

Our first room was a bit of a disappointment.. corner room with a measly view of the beach. When we got in, we immediately looked at each other and said, let's move to another room. My husband went and spoke to the front desk and they switched our room to a slightly bigger one with a better view of the beach.

The beach was a small, man made and the beach service was OK. If you can snag a hammock, do it!

The room was simple, king size bed, rather small TV with very few channels. The bathroom was quite small, and the fixtures seemed old.. Although overall the room was nice, it was not what I was expecting of a Waldorf 4 Diamond hotel, or any 4 Diamond hotel for that matter.

We stayed for 10 days, spent time at the outside bar in the late afternoon before heading to dinner. Ate breakfast a few mornings at the hotel restaurant which had great outdoor seating. Tried dinner at the hotel but the hostess didn't seem very inviting, knowledgeable or helpful, so we ate out. The hotel was a great retreat from the busy Duval street scene (day or night) and from all of the fun activities and exploring of the quaint island.

It was easy to part ways with the hotel, but hard to part ways with the island.

There were definitely plusses and minuses to our recent stay at Casa Marina, and a couple of the minuses are controllable and would be just changes I make if we go back:

The Suite
We stayed in a one-bedroom ocean vista suite. Quite simply, it's not worth the additional expense as we spent almost no time in the suite. It truly was a one-bedroom suite but the bedroom was dark, the ceililng was low, and was hardly the ocean front vista I expected to wake up to each morning. When your initial reaction when walking into a suite at a Waldorf is, "oh, this is all it is," not a great sign in my book It felt more like a little apartment than a modern suite. This might just be a personal preference but it just didn't feel like it was worth the cost.

Room Cleaning
We were always wondering when we went back to our room whether it would be cleaned or not. We came back at 4pm one day and it still wasn't clean. When we called to complain and have someone come up after we were ready (in like 30 minutes), they sent someone immediately, only adding to our frustration.

The "Spa"
I wasn't terribly surprised by the high prices at the spa when I booked in advance. It's what I expect at a hotel of this level; however, for that price, I expect an actual spa with some level of overhead (steam room, hot tub, locker room etc.) rather than a converted hotel room. Pretty inappopriate in my opinion. There's also an option for a massage on the beach, but it's not secluded and right next to where the jet skis leave from. The massage itself was actually pretty good; however, it killed the experience a bit that I was paying a premium simply because I was at a nice property but not actually in a spa. The hotel does a nice job trying to make the room an inviting spot, but it's not a spa - it has more the feel of a temporary arrangement.

The Beach
Now this is the reason to come back to Casa Marina. It's one of the better beach/pool setups I've seen at a hotel. The beach is easily accessible, close to the hotel, has the right level of waitstaff taking orders (and not being pushy about it), and has some of the more comfortable hammocks I've seen. It was a perfect place to relax.

Location
It's far enough removed from the craziness of Duval Street but close enough to where you can easily get there (we drove and paid to park - was an easier decision with a pregnant wife) and experience what you want to experience while knowing you have the ability to quickly retreat to the quiet and luxury of the hotel.

Breakfast
The buffet breakfast was excellent, especially for a buffet. While it was expensive (as I would expect), it actually seemed like a decent value. I also liked that there was a coffee shop in the hotel's store that was an easy option if you just wanted a coffee and bagel or muffin.

Overall, I'd go back but I'd do it differently - I'd save my money and just get a regular room and take a pass on the massage while still enjoying the amenities the hotel has to offer. While I think it's silly that they charge a daily resort fee (just add it to the price of the room so guests don't see it - it's like a checked bag fee except there's no option not to check a bag - I'd rather pay $485 and get free towel service, free internet, free fitness center, etc. rather than $460 for the room w/ a $25 kicker, but again that's just me - I get why they do it and it's not a deal breaker).