After staying at Little Palm Island in the keys and loving the personal attention and privacy, we decided to try the same caliber of hotel in Key West. When one spends 1000.00 per night you expect great service and some degree of exclusivity. We found Sunset Key to be indifferent at best. The Hilton landside allows "day tripping" to invade your "private beach" and take over the place. Our quiet and romantic sunset champagne toast was twice ruined by a boatload of kids running around us and screaming. Our romantic dinner was subject to the next table recieving more than a dozen cell phone calls which resulted in the offender standing next to our table loudly discussing his entire life for most of the evening. The staff was indifferent to most of our concerns. My concerns to the Hilton have been met with same degree of non-chalance. Save your money or spend it on Little Palm.

Just started using Trip Advisor recently but wanted to comment on our stay at Sunset Key in October of 2003. We were doing one week in the Florida Keys & then a cruise. We did a little planning for the Keys vacation including booking our stay at Sunset Key through an internet provider.

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon for a two-night stay. We checked in & were given a room key to the Hotel on Key West. Oblivous to that fact, we got on the boat to Sunset Key. The boat driver seemed confused but we were insistent that our reservations were for the Sunset island. The concierege met the boat & completely ignored us. We were confused at the time but hung-over & also both wearing "How many Pollacks does it take to make a family?" t-shirts.

We ended up at the pool bar trying to figure out what was going on. The manager was called & told us we had rooms at the Hilton on Key West. I was insistent that we had reservations at Sunset Key.

We ended up back at the Hotel where we found the confirmation from the Internet. It specifically stated Sunset Key. We went to the Front Desk & attempted to raise hell. My husband says that we played the part of crazy bride / sane groom very well. After about an hour we were back on Sunset Key in our insanely gorgeous three-bedroom cottage.

We ate at the restaurant that night & it was wonderful. Like a previous poster, I didn't see many other folks. We spent all day Friday on the beach & had great beach-side service.

All-in-all, well worth the Internet bargain. I can't imagine spending $700 per night but would love to return to the Sunset Key.

Cheers,

ag

We saw this resort featured on the travel channel a year ago & thought we would splurge a little more than usual for the "exclusive" feeling of being so close to the action of Key West, yet secluded. We traveled without our 5 & 6 year old, looking for a combination romantic mini Island getaway/party on the mainland, only to find that this resort is almost entirely made up of family guests. While this was not the adult destination we had expected, we found ourselves watching everyone else having a great time & desperately missing our children! There are many things about the property we ADORED...it is tranquil, beautiful, the cottages are too luxurious to be called a "cottage". The beach was small, yet, just the right size. One thing we could hardly figure out was where everyone was the whole time? The hotel was completely booked to capacity, we barely got our reservations...there are no activities on the island but a poolside restaurant/bar that closes at 6pm & a beachside restaurant. You could sit out on your front porch in your jammies & not see more than several people an hour, all while feeling the tropical breeze, and magnificence of the tranquility. As far as being close to the action of Duvall street , it was only a 5 minute ferry ride & 2 minute walk once debarking to get close to the bar attractions & shops. To us, this place has it pluses & minuses...we love our privacy...but for the $$$, we also would love a little more attention than the concierage/management had given us. Given the family friendly environment we saw, we would love to go back, yet cringe at the price..a little more service, a little more on-site recreational activities (ugh...gym, sauna???Calypso band??ANYTHING?) and we would we definately splurge to go back...and by the way...none of the cottages are 1 rooms....they simply label that as "by availability" we had to overpay for space we did not use because this time of year they can sell rooms at full price & did so...just an inside tip from a property employee we questioned....(uh, where extacly are the 1 room villas??..."well, there are none, they simply block off the additional bedroom")
Give or take, great place overall....would love to go back, but only with a group of family/friends the nextime...you need someting else to do there....

We stayed here in February 2005. We've been to Key West more than 25 times, so we were looking for something a little different this time. Liked the fact that it was it's 'own little world'... and seemed worlds away from the hustle and bustle of Duval Street. Our cottage was very nice, clean and the shower was great.
However, the service and management left a lot to be desired. You would think that a resort charging $700+ per night, would have basic upscale services, such as someone coming around to take your drink order at the pool, but this is not the case. Also, non-guests can pay $10 for access to the beach, which is a great deal for them, but not so great if you're staying on the resort and have to deal with loud, obnoxious (and drunk) people coming over.
Last, when we got home and checked our credit card bill, we found that we had been over charged $800+. They people who checked in after us apparently got a couple of free dinners and breakfast on us! Several calls into Sunset Key to get it straightened out didn't get the charges removed- in fact, we were told to call our credit card company to get it figured out. And the last straw was that a call to the General Manager of Sunset Key was never returned. And guess what- we're never returning here!

Stay at Cheeca Lodge at Islamorada... it's just as beautiful and the service is great!