The Marker Hotel Key West Review
This is our 5th visit to Key west in 13 months.
Previously we’ve stayed at Parrot Key, Margritaville (formally Barbary) H20 suites, Opal Key, Hyatt Windward and now we checked out the Marker hotel!
All of those reviews can be found under my travel tab on this blog along with lots of other travel tips and things to do!
We spent 5 days and booked at the very last minute, literally 36 hours before we wanted to arrive.
We’ve come to Key West in January, Feb/march, April, August and now May.
Other than August being really hot, we have yet to find a month we didn’t like.
This trip we did encounter our first time with rain.
We booked a 2 Queen bed room with a balcony since we were traveling with our 10 year old. We picked this over Opal Key (our 1st choice) because of the balcony even though it was a little bit more money. I love to have a balcony even if it does just overlook some lush trees and a parking garage! Booking at the last minute meant Opal Key only had non balcony rooms left for our length of stay. I’ve had some health issues and was concerned I might be resting more than usual back in the room, so a Balcony was a must.
We arrived prior to check-in at 3pm, check-in is 4pm but our room was ready so they allowed us in early, YAY!
Our room was 231, located on the 2nd floor (There are only 2 floors) and pretty much at the end of a very long hallway. Hallways were clean and simple.
Our room was very clean, and I could smell a faint scent of bleach in the bathroom.
We always check the sheets and draws to make sure there are no bedbugs from previous guests and make sure the sheets are clean.
We also Clorox wipe all surfaces, door knobs, light switches, handles etc. I always like to look at the wipes after to see if they are dirty, but they were mostly pretty clean.
AC works great, they have a coffee maker and fridge in the room.
No microwave.
Bathroom is large and very well lite which I always appreciate to do my hair and makeup in!
In a room that sleeps 4, you get 3 bath towels? Little weird and I’m sure we could call down for more.
They also provided 2 bottles of complementary water which were not replaced after we used them, nor did the housekeeping even know what we were talking about when we asked for more.
Pro tip – If a hotel has a gym on property, check there for bottles of water, they usually have them for free! This hotel did not have a gym, but something to keep in mind for the future!
They also had the option to purchase Evian water and 2 yeti type cups for very inflated prices. There are no vending machines in the hotel to purchase anything but there were ice machines.
They provide in shower shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and body wash in wall pumps, as well as a bath bomb for the tub which was a nice touch, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a bath bomb!! They also have q-tips and cotton balls at the sink.
There is also a hair dryer, makeup mirror, iron in the closet, 2 luggage racks and a decent draw storage for your clothes if you like to unpack like we do. The alarm clock on the nightstand had 2 usb ports to charge your devices. A desk and desk chair for working is provided, no desk outlet though.
They have 3 pools, one is adults only in a secluded area of the hotel grounds.
Traveling with our 10 year old, we couldn’t try this one out.
The other 2 are right next to each other and very small. Max depth of 5 feet. This is the smallest we’ve seen at any of the places we’ve stayed.
It’s only slightly larger than the private plunge pools H20 suites provides for each of their rooms, if that gives you an idea and those are deeper. They did have live music which was nice.
There limited menu restaurant is located at the bar next to the pool. We only got nachos and they were decent, a bit overpriced and that’s saying a lot, we are from NY where prices are some of the highest in the country.
We do have a few complaints.
Our mattresses are extremely uncomfortable.
It’s old spring type mattresses that really needs to be replaced.
No box spring, these were placed on top of a wood base that was only the height of my knees,
I’m 5’3 so you can imagine how low to the ground that is. If you have neck, back or any mobility issues I would Absolutely skip this resort due to the beds.
When I travel I like to sleep in and relax and a good mattress is a must! This one has seen a lot of travelers and just wasn’t comfortable at all.
(update- The beds are HORRIBLE, we are all waking up with terrible neck and back pain. It seems like based on the website these are the only mattresses they have so changing rooms may not fix this, although I messaged them via Instagram which was my main communication with them, asking about newer mattresses and they told me they aren’t on property to assist – not helpful!) Front desk said these are the only mattresses they have.
An even bigger issue – our balcony doesn’t lock and since they are connected to the neighbor with no privacy at all, someone could easily climb over and enter our room.
We will be talking to our front desk to see if they can fix this. (update – we called and they fixed this)
My other small finds –
mold in and outside the shower. I have such a pet peeve with this.
With cleaning crews coming in daily, how does mold build up? It’s not a ton of mold but it’s there and toxic. There are no excuses for this.
The shower head also has a lot of green on it, and again I question why it’s not cleaned daily.
The tops of the tiles in the bathroom had a lot of dust and lastly probably one of the grossest things is there appears to be someone’s blood on one of the provided bottles in the shower.
The balcony has zero privacy from your neighbors.
It’s literally one big balcony shared with them, with just a deck railing between you.
If they are outside talking, smoking etc you are sharing it all with them. I’d prefer to have a little more privacy and certainly not smell the smoke from other balconies.
I’d also like to see them impose a non smoking policy on the balconies like other hotels offer.
Since we are SHARING it with their neighbors, leave your door open and smoke just comes right into the room.
I read a lot of trip advisor reviews before booking and some were saying you could hear noise from outside and others inside their rooms.
That wasn’t an issues for us, although we face nothing so it’s a quitter location.
The rooms with balcony’s facing the water also overlook Schooners Warf which is sometimes a loud bar (and totally fun when you’re there!)
with live music a lot of the time so I could see how that may be an issue for some, although I’d probably love being able to hear live music from my balcony!
The hotel itself is clean but hallways are blah and a bit dated with beat down rugs.
Some of the fabric lounge chairs at the pool have some sunscreen stains and oil marks
It’s sort of to be expected when you stay at a property that doesn’t maintain the grounds, but this was surprisingly really bad.
Overall, the hotel was just ok, fairly clean but for the price I think Opal key is your better bet.
Opal has a better location, true waterfront rooms and more comfortable beds.
For me these are my top priorities when booking a hotel. Out of 6 places we’ve stayed this ranks low at number 5 out 6.
Only thing lower was Parrot Key. I would not consider this place again if I was traveling to key west.
Be sure to check my Travel tab for more reviews of hotels, things to do and also my IG account for more in stories and my highlights saved on Key West!
PS- want discounted tickets to some amazing Key West Attractions? Here’s where I buy mine See all discounted attraction tickets here
Follow me in all the places! click the image below
Heather Rose Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for any reproduction anywhere without prior written authorization.
If you like what has been posted, please feel free to share the post and link directly to this site.
This post may contain affiliate links to the products mentioned. See our disclosure policy Here
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.