What’s New in the Florida Keys & Key West for Summer & Autumn 2024
June 2024: The Florida Keys & Key West, showcasing sustainability offerings, are welcoming visitors this summer with a roster of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Blue Star fishing and diving operators. Several resort properties in the Keys have been enhanced and rebranded, with changes including the full renovations of two hotels established during the 1920s.
Among what’s new:
Keys Accommodation & Dining
At Everglades National Park, an all-new 75-seat restaurant has opened at the 24-unit Flamingo Lodge and Restaurant, which was unveiled in late 2023 with studios and one- and two-bedroom suites, kitchenettes and balconies overlooking Florida Bay. Offering catch-and-cook options and casual fare, the restaurant is open to all park visitors. The park’s pink Guy Bradley Visitor Center - with a Florida National Parks Association bookstore, interactive nature and art exhibits, and expansive views overlooking Florida Bay - is open Fridays through Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 2,400-square-mile Everglades National Park is the continental United States' third-largest national park.
In Key Largo, the 200-room Baker’s Cay Resort is revitalising its rooftop garden with fresh herbs, tomatoes, edible flowers, cucumbers and other vegetables to enhance garden-to-table fare. Executive Chef Carolann Wheeler is developing the resort’s Chef’s Garden to seasonally enhance menus with fresh produce.
Islamorada Resort Collection is to offer 379 guestrooms and a world-class fishing fleet when its newest resort, the 214-room Three Waters Resort & Marina, a Tribute Portfolio Resort, is unveiled in Islamorada this autumn. Billed "as an unexpected oceanfront experience unlike any resort currently in the Florida Keys," the resort joins Tribute Portfolio, Marriott Bonvoy’s collection of independent hotels, as the brand's first in the Keys. The new resort is to offer The Cove, an adult-centric resort-within-a-resort with island-inspired rooms and suites with king beds, a private beach lagoon, and the resort's Wave Motion Studio, a fitness centre overlooking the beach. A rum library is to offer tastings on check-in. The property will feature nine dining concepts including an island-style pizza restaurant; two retail shops; a water taxi for guests; a full-service marina; and a renovated Tiki bar. Planned activities include fly-casting and kayak fishing; offshore and backcountry fishing; and ocean adventures by Spray Watersports, with a 26-mile personal watercraft tour of backcountry mangroves and wildlife preserves. The collection currently includes the 110-room Amara Cay Resort and the 55-unit La Siesta Resort & Villas. Visit islamoradaresortcollection.com
Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club, located in the heart of the Keys is to convert from 10 July to Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club, Curio Collection by Hilton. The property, known for its iconic 65-foot-tall Faro Blanco Lighthouse from the 1950s, is unveiling fully renovated guest rooms, the restored historic Parrish House featuring a private suite, and additional experiences throughout the resort by late this year. Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club and the adjacent Courtyard Faro Blanco Resort, combined, are to feature four pools, four dining options, a white sand beach, water sports and 250 guest rooms. Also new are one-story bungalows, a multilevel pool deck with bar and infinity pool, poolside cabanas, and a spa and fitness centre.
In Key West, the 39-unit Island House Resort is nearing the completion of its extensive property renovation of rooms and apartments, poolside bar, 24-hour café, expansive sundeck and indoor spa. Completion is slated for October before the island’s popular Fantasy Fest celebration. The clothing-optional resort, operational since 1976 with a unique longevity among men’s gay-owned and -operated properties, is billed as “the best gay resort in the world”.
Also in Key West, the downtown La Concha Key West hotel offers 160 freshly renovated rooms and 14 additional seventh-floor suites named Grande Dame Villas at the Rooftop. Suites feature textured furniture, diagonal square wooden tile patterns, gold and rattan details, floor-to-ceiling windows and Bose sound systems - as well as concierge services and amenities such as fresh flowers, stocked fridge, welcome gift, seasonal fruit, assorted beverages and a La Rubia Panama hat. Undergoing complete renovations are the property's public spaces including the lobby, exterior façade and rooftop pool. Food and libation venues include Tropicado with classic crafted cocktails; Perla and El Dom Coffee Shop with fine and casual Cuban cuisine; and Epicurean with gourmet grab-n-go items, gifts from Key West stores such as La Rubia Key West Authentic Panama Hats, Rodriguez cigars, handcrafted jewellery and sandals. La Concha originally opened in 1926 as a luxury hotel with marble floors, private baths and ocean views. The hotel is expected to join Marriott's Autograph Collection when renovations are completed.
Key West’s Pier House Resort & Spa is launching an educational Marine Science Eco Experience this July. The programme explores hands-on experience with sea urchins and cucumbers, decorator crabs and other sea life, loggerhead turtle nesting and the role of coral reefs, marine mammals and invasive species and mangrove and seagrass ecology.
The landmark 311-room Casa Marina Key West, Curio Collection by Hilton will open its newest beachfront restaurant Dorada, the resort’s outdoor oceanside dining outlet serving “Baja-Med” fare and cocktails, this summer. Additional food and beverage venues include the signature Flagler’s restaurant with outdoor patio, the Canary Room lobby bar and lounge, and Morrison's Market with takeaway provisions, goods and gifts. Casa Marina Key West’s renovation includes a new 5,000-square-foot oceanfront event lawn. All guest rooms - including 63 suites, many with large oceanfront balconies and patios – have been renovated. Two upgraded piers accommodate waters ports and group activities such as personal watercraft tours, sunset sails and private snorkelling trips on a luxury catamaran.
Keys Sustainability
It’s even easier for visitors to choose eco-friendly Keys accommodations, diving and fishing trips through the Florida Green Lodging and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Blue Star programmes, which are now highlighted through designated icons on the Florida Keys’ website.
World-renowned marine conservationist Sylvia Earle and her organisation Mission Blue have declared South Florida’s coastal area a Hope Spot, scientifically identified as critical to the health of the ocean. The new Florida Keys and Ten Thousand Island Hope Spot connects the waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary with the waters of the national parks of Everglades, Ten Thousand Islands and Biscayne Bay, forming a link between the established Florida Gulf Coast and Coastal South Florida Hope Spots.
In Key Largo, the new REEF Ocean Exploration Center for Marine Conservation at the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) is to be unveiled on 8 June 2025, on World Oceans Day. The $5 million, 4,000-square-foot two-story facility, with a second-floor balcony, is to feature an ocean exploration gallery and three centres for discovery science, ocean outreach and programme planning.
The Key West Wildlife Center is constructing a new wildlife rescue and rehabilitation clinic within the 7-acre Indigenous Park. The new avian clinic and a welcome centre is to feature a dedicated treatment area with 25% more interior space for patient care, 40% more exterior space for rehabilitation, and ample protected space for education and outreach. Some 1,500 native wildlife patients were rescued in 2023.
Three Waters Resort Photo Credit: Florida Keys News Bureau