I will start with the positives that prevented this from being only 1 star. The exterior views and amenities offered are very nice. The tiki bar staff were all extremely friendly, as well as the employees who worked outside to maintain the hotel grounds. Now, the negatives. My fiancée and I arrived for check-in around 2:30 on a Monday understanding that we were there about 2 hours before check-in. We were greeted by a very friendly employee who informed us their systems were down and they had no access to provide keys or process any paperwork on the computer, so any part of check-in would need to be completed on paper. She asked my fiancée and I where we were from and why we were visiting and we informed her we were here to celebrate our engagement. She was very sweet and congratulated us, told us she wish they knew that so they could surprise us with something for our first night but that she’d arrange for a special surprise in our room the next night. I completed the paperwork and we were informed our room wasn’t ready yet - no problem, we understood we were early and just wanted them to know we were there when ready. They informed us we could walk around the hotel and go to the tiki bar and enjoy the outside amenities and we’d get a call when the room was ready. We started to walk around, found the tiki bar and sat down when we received a call the room was ready - great! We go to our car, grab all of our bags, go inside and they informed us since they can’t give us a key, they had a staff member open our door for us. We go up to the room and it’s a double bed room, not a king like we reserved. We call down to the front desk so we didn’t have to go back with all of our bags and were on hold for some time before someone picked up and told us they can’t verify we reserved a king because their systems are down and that they don’t have a room for us right now but that we need to leave that room because it isn’t ours. OK. So we go back downstairs with all of our bags and talk to them in person and we tell them we have our reservation information printed and they tell us it didn’t matter, they can’t verify anything and they wouldn’t be able to until their systems came back up. That we could go (back) to the tiki bar and they’d call us when they knew more. My fiancée and I went back to the tiki bar; sat back down. A moment after, I get a call telling me the room is ready and staff would open the door for us. I said we just sat back down at the bar, we aren’t going to be there immediately and I confirmed it was a king room. She confirmed it was a king and told me she’d have the staff close the room and hung up while I was still speaking. It wasn’t a great start to what was meant to be a relaxing vacation. After being told to go to the tiki bar twice and then being interrupted twice I really would’ve expected some consideration for a comped drink, or someone at least to assist with the bags since we went back and forth several times; but nothing was offered. As for the surprise that we were told we’d get the second day in the room to celebrate our engagement, nothing was left. This was never mentioned again. On top of that; we left the hotel room in the morning the next day at 8 am and left the please service card outside on the door. When we left we saw housekeepers outside prepping their carts to service rooms. We came back at 4 pm and our room wasn’t serviced. We went downstairs to the front desk to inform them and were told sorry, we will send someone. We went back up at 6 pm and it was just starting to get serviced. Lastly; we ordered room service by using their texting service (no number to call). Texted in our order, never received a response. Had to track down someone 15 min later to make sure they got our order. They told us they didn’t see it until we had them look. A frustrating experience all around. Doesn’t feel like a vacation when you have to go out of your way to achieve minimum expectations. We are sympathetic that not everything will go smoothly and sometimes we have no control over computer systems going down. But the entire experience left much to be desired with no offers of remedy or genuine apology.…
From front desk welcome to check out this was fabulous. Always tricky making bookings with no knowledge and tons of choice but Amara Cay looked great on all the booking sites and was better in the real We were welcomed and immediately nothing was a problem for the team. The hotel, rooms and waterfront pool, bar and facilities were excellent and kept spotless and well staffed We had a few cocktails and drinks as well as several of the bar snacks all of which were excellent and the pool and water side facilities were superb Some great live entertainment, great evening fire pits and garden games make this a fabulous Keys location and we will definitely recommend it and return if we come back, thanks to all at Amara Cay for an awesome stay
We had a great stay. We chose Islamorada as semi-central location for our Key's adventures. Amara Cay was a nice relaxing spot to chill. The pool was nice, we were thankful it was heated during the windy days of our stay. The big gas firepits were nice to sit around in the evening and socialize with others. Overall we had a great stay and liked our partial ocean view!
While Amara Cay is in a great location and has a beautiful lobby and outdoor area, the inside is a bit of a mess. The service was pretty bad. I wasn’t able to check in until almost an hour after check in time, my room was not clean (stains on the sheets and towels), I called down and walked down to ask for fresh towels and never got them (finally found someone in the hallway to get them for me), and just overall bad service. I have never written a review before and I have stayed at many 3 star hotels. I just felt I should warn people that while beautiful it’s not a great place to stay. Not to mention that food is very over priced— I would recommend going out to eat for better prices and better food.
Wonderful, chill resort! Comfortable room! Don’t miss the sunrises! Sunrises are stunning! My husband & I are both in the hotel/resort business so we tend to notice a lot of things! This place was lovely, quiet, friendly & clean! Good vibes all around! We had a wonderful front office manager Natalie check us in & she was fantastic! What a wonderful asset to your resort! Natalie was friendly, knowledgeable & really helped make our stay even better! We LOVE the breakfast here! Fast, reasonably priced & delicious! We had the GREAT pleasure of having Liz wait on us each morning! What a lovely person! So joyful, friendly & excellent server and fab people skills! LIZ is a true gem! We will definitely be back not only because of the resort itself but the talented staff like Liz & Natalie that made all the difference!🙌💚…
We loved this resort! The ocean front suite we had was gorgeous (sparsely decorated, but really comfortable and elegant). More than that, it was a great vibe. My daughter quickly made friends in the pool. The staff was very friendly. Tiki bar food was good, a great place to grab a quick lunch. The attention to details that mater was excellent, for example infused water at check in. An excellent value as well. We stayed at the Southernmost Beach Resort in Key West later in the trip (a four star) and we much preferred Amara Cay.
The service was top notch, we had a great time, everyone was courteous and friendly, from Tony the security guy, to Lynn in the restaurant and the manager I believe her name was Laura or Laurie, she was the best , any request or issue we had she took care of it,, we brought our little puppy there, and felt right at home,, can’t wait to return ,, Frank and Cindy Rao
We visited Amara Cay for four nights with our two little kids (1.5 and 4) and had the best time. The staff was all wonderful. The place was super family friendly. Our little kids loved the pool and all the lawn games. It was the perfect place that had enough for the kids to enjoy while the adults could still have fun. They also have a shuttle in the evenings that can take you anywhere within an X mile radius. We staid in a one bedroom suite that was perfect for a family with kids (spacious with small kitchenette). We ate lunch at the pool/tiki bar every day and the food was great. They are super accomodating and would make any kids food we requested. We plan to return next year!
Great location, great staff, great lobby and bar, very family friendly, grounds are neatly kept, free and friendly shuttle to any of the nearby restaurants - room was a big disappointment, especially at this price.
Staying with my wife at the Amara Cay in Islamorada for the week. Excellent facility with great staff. Especially appreciate Lynn who works at the bar, Liz (waitress) and Tony who is the security officer. Very welcoming and professional. They all took extra time to talk with us about the area restaurants and places to visit in the area. Very clear to me that the quality of our stay was important to them.
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim Your Listing