Key Largo...Holiday Inn or Marriott ??

[Tuckster]

Both have decent specials for Sept. & Oct. & both have gotten nice reviews. Seems like the Marriott is a nicer property but 'Its A Dive' is a longer ride to the better sites. I'm guessing this is because they are on the bay side. 'Sea Dwellers' out of the Holiday Inn advertises shorter boat rides. The other question/consideration is the proximity of good restaurants. We will have a car & won't want to eat at the hotel more than once or twice.
All suggestions/comments are welcome & appreciated.

 

[Mrs.Prages]

Hubbie and I stayed at the Holiday Inn and went out with Sea Dwellers for a four day weekend in January. The Holiday Inn was very nice and Sea Dwellers was also very good. We enjoyed all of our dives with them. I am not sure why the boat rides would be different because the Holiday Inn and the Marriot were right next to each other, but maybe it's a dive is not as close to the hotel as Sea Dwellers was. We litereally walked out of our hotel room outinto the parking lot and down a little ramp and handed over our gear bags and stepped into the dive boat. It was very convenient to the boat. It didn't make for a great view or anything, but for us the view was going to be in the Ocean so we didn't care. Sea Dwellers was very accomodating and we got blown out a few times because of some very severe weather and they gave us no trouble with rescheduling or giving our money back.

IOf you have a car food is not a problem. We did not rent a car and this was a mistake, but there is food within miles of the hotel. Less than 5 miles or more your pick, many choices.

We will be there again at the end of August. Aug 27th - Sept 3rd. We rented a house on the bay this time, and we have a car.

I hope you have much fun.

Paula

 

[Doppler]

Stayed at the Marriott a few years back and was completely happy with hotel, local facilities and dive shop operation.

*my wife works for Marriott so I may be biased but the operator did a very good job of making me feel welcome and letting me "do my own dive."

 

[aquaholic901]

Just stayed at the HI about 2 weeks ago, it was very nice. Not sure about the boats you mentioned though. A great place for breakfast is Ganim's (now Doc's Cafe) right across the street (try the Blue Crab omelet!). Also good for dinner is Sundowners which is just a few miles back up toward the mainland and for more casual lunch type food try Hobo's if they are still open (it is being torn down soon for more million $ condos .

 

[KeyLargoBrent]

The Holiday Inn is at mile marker 100 oceanside, but it's not ocean-front. It's canal-front. The Ramada Limited and Marina Del Mar Resort are located next to the Holiday Inn, and several good restaurants are close by.

The Marriott is up the road a bit at mile marker 104 bayside. It's located on the shores of Blackwater Sound, and affords a decent sunset view. The boat rides to the dive sites take a little longer, but the hotel itself is more upscale.

For dining, my favorites include the Bayside Grill, Cafe Largo (Italian) the Fish House, Sundowners, and the Buzzard's Roost. Enjoy!

 

[Mrs.Prages]

Thanks Brent.

It's the Ramada that is next door to HI not the Marriot. That's where I was getting confused. That would account for the difference in time for getting to the dive site. Sorry about that.

Brent has good taste in the food category and he knows them all pretty well, so I would take his suggestions to heart.

 

[BIGSAGE136]

Thanks Brent.

It's the Ramada that is next door to HI not the Marriot. That's where I was getting confused. That would account for the difference in time for getting to the dive site. Sorry about that.

Brent has good taste in the food category and he knows them all pretty well, so I would take his suggestions to heart.

To heart, and to tummy. Brent is THE MAN!

 

[mike_s]

I've been to the Marriott in Key Largo but not stayed there, but have stayed at the Holiday Inn. The Marriott is a little nicer, but more expensive, than the Holiday Inn, but this is typical no matter what city you are in.

As the others said, neither is on the beach, but the Marriott does have a beach area on the sound/bay and is a good spot for sunsets. I didn't realize that Dive In didn't go to the "best" sites anymore, but it is a longer ride. To get to the ocean from the Marriott, the boat has to go south slightly and then "idle" down a passageway under the highway and into another sound. At the end of that sound they have to "idle" though another narrow passage. All in all, it takes I'd guess 20 minutes or so just
to get out to "open water" from the Marriott. So not that quick. It is much quicker from the Holiday Inn.

The wife did use the Spa services at the Marriott while there. She said the
massage was GREAT, but was unimpressed with the pedicure service. I'm no
pedicure expert by any means either, but I wasn't impressed at how "cheaply"
they had done her toenail "paint job" either.

The Holiday Inn is in more "central" part of Key Largo and has a lot of stores within walking distance (grocery, 2 drug stores, restaurants, dive shops, fast food, gas staions). It is however a Holiday Inn, so it's not as fancy as the Marriott, but also
doesn't cost as much. They do have a nice pool area with a TIKI bar between the
two pools. The onsite resturant was good also. It was also very nice being able to
walk next door to the dive boat instead of having to load up a car.

So I guess it depends on what you want to spend and what you expect out of a resort.

If you don't like the Marriott Dive In dive operator, Queissence diving services is
located next door to the Marriott and they have 3 boats onsite. They do a
GREAT job and they would go to any site we asked them to.

-Mike

 

[ScubaMarine]

I stayed at the Holiday Inn about a month ago and was very impressed. They represent the top of quality at a Holiday Inn. Staying in my room I didnt think I was at a Holiday Inn. Save some $$$ and do a night dive! Never stayed at the Marriott so my opinion is a little one sided. If you need any other dive opps try "Scuba-Do". They are right behind the Holiday Inn, youll still drive your gear over, and they run a super tight and professional ship.

 

[scubadad]

but 'Its A Dive' is a longer ride to the better sites. I'm guessing this is because they are on the bay side.

I dove with It's a Dive on Saturday. We did a double dip on SG. There were three of us on the boat. Great operation, but I used the one at their Ocean side marina, MM 97.5. They have a pretty fast 6 pack. It made it to the SG in 15 minutes.

To me it is worth driving down to 97.5 to go out on a fast six pack.