My husband and I love to stay in Key West and when we do we stay away from the chain hotels. I would have to say for the money, conveinence and wonderful hosts you can not beat the Southern Cross on Duval Street. We had a small room and the shower and toilet area is very small (not a place for larger people but maybe they have other rooms) but it is exactly what we needed. The rooms were recently renovated and adorable. The air conditioning worked beautiful and the ceiling fan was perfect at night We were not in Key West to sit in our room, we wanted to be out and have a place to sleep and wash up. I would suggest taking a portable radio with you as they do not have tv's or radios. Ask for a cooler and they will provide one for you so you can keep some cold bottles of water on hand.
Southern Cross is in the middle of everything good on Duval and a very short walking distance to Mallory Square. We saved a ton of money because we didn't need a car, moped or taxi at all on this trip since we walked every where. Last time we stayed by the southern most point and spent easily $80 in 2 1/2 days on transportation.
Lots of personal attention by the hosts and not to forget Daisey the 24 year old cat.

In April 2005, my husband and I had a mini suite and my mother and aunt had a small room with two single beds in it.

I researched Key West inside and out before making a decision about where we should stay for our first Key West visit.

We needed to be close to the usual tourist haunts in Old Town, on & near Duval so my 70 something mother and aunt could reasonably walk around. The Southern Cross Hotel location fit that bill well. However, parking to unload upon arrival and leaving was a bit stressful due to the lack of parking space in front of the hotel, but we managed. You cannot park at or generally near the hotel and locating parking was an adventure ;-)

When investigating Key West and hotels, I found that locating a basic room with twin beds (for my mother and aunt) was nearly impossible outside the big resorts. We also stayed only one night, making reservations very difficult, even for Wed. & Thurs as others I spoke to refused me one night stays .... but the Southern Cross Hotel graciously accommodated us.

Yes, the rooms are small - but we all had air conditioner units that worked great & private bathrooms. Both rooms (i.e. my mother & and aunts room as well as my husbands and mine) had a private bathroom with a door. *Maybe you need to ask for that when making reservations as I saw some of the reviews noted theirs only had a shower curtain for privacy.

We found the rooms to be very clean as were items in the room. I asked for another pillow and I got it with a smile. We had a small, clean refrigerator and kitchen area and there was a cute nook by the windows with extra seating and a table. The hurricane shutters disrupted most of our view of Duval Street, but I could still recognize the last of the drunk, left over spring breakers stumbling down the street through the small window opening.

You must bring an alarm clock or clock radio with you as they do not have that... however Renner told us they were going to obtain them in the future. I don't know when the future is, so check. We actually liked not having a TV, but we were hardly there, enjoyed our quiet time to talk ... and, as I said, we were there only one night.

We basically needed a clean room to sleep in. I mean for COL, we were in KEY WEST! We didn't spend much time in our room. I didn't miss a phone, we all had cell phones. We didn't need a pool, we had water sports.

We rented one of those cute little electric cars (check around for good rates, they vary) and we had a blast driving to all the sites the second day and exploring the Old Town area!

We hope to return next year and we will stay at the Southern Cross Hotel unless we stay more than two nights. If we stay longer, I would seek a hotel with basic amenities and a parking lot on site. If you need and want a large scale resort hotel with amenities out the kazoo, this is not the place for you. But, if you just need the basics in a great location, it is a winner.

BTW, if you don't have any hang-ups and you could use a GREAT show with tons of fun and humor, check out Sushi and the Girls at the 801 Bourbon on Duval. They put on a FANTASTIC cabaret show and it's free! Just bring lots of $$ to donate to their efforts during the show...it is more than worth it!

Terri
New Hope, PA
...the little northeast Key West!

The management here was super friendly, and the room was clean. We got the king bed room - I guess there's only one of those so maybe we were lucky. Being on Duval Street is the way to go, so good enough price for the loctation for us. No a place for honeymooners, just folks going to enjoy the Key west experience!

I am writting to let everyone know that this place takes the cake. My wife and I planned out trip but decided to take a chance on a room and just show up. The night before the trip, she said go ahead and make a reservation somewhere. I made the mistake of picking this place. I made my reservation and away we went. We arrived to find a cramped office that left much to be desired, but we went on with the transaction. During the early morning hours, we received a phone call from our cat sitter because our cat of 3 years was acting ill and she thought we should come back. I wrote a nice note to the manager (the office was closed at 8 am) and we left after only 1 night. Unfortunately our cat did not make it. To make matters worse the hotel charged us for all three nights of our planned stay (that was an extra $265 on top of our first night.) I called the hotel to find a person that couldn't really help me. He said that I had to speak to Renner (ah the elusive Renner) I called this guy about 50 times (seriously), left numerous messages, and finally got to speak with him this week (2nd week of May '05) He said that the hotel had a no refund policy and that I was basically out of luck. (Even though he and I both know that I could have walked into just about ANY hotel and got a room for those nights because of low occ. rates.) He offered to give us one night in the future, but no chance of a partial refund. Long story short I paid @ $400 for 1 night in Key West in a seedy motel, lost the pet that I loved for 3 years, and found that people really don't have a kind/caring bone in their body at the Beautiful Southern Cross Hotel (tongue firmly pressed in cheak.) Take my advice, Spend the extra $50 and stay at a motel 6 before you stay here. Doug- Orlando, Florida