Marina Del Mar Resort and Marina - Key Largo, FL (June 2021)

Part of my recent 50th birthday trip to the Florida Keys was a one night stay at Marina Del Mar Resort in Key Largo, Florida. We decided to break up the drive with a one night stay in Key Largo. We should have kept driving. I will break this review out into these sub sections: Location, Staff, Room, Food, Amenities and Final Thoughts.

photo by Marina Del Mar

Location: Rating - 5 out of 10

Marina Del Mar is pretty easy to find even though it is tucked back off the main road in a residential area along the marina. There is not much around but it is Key Largo so not like anything is really far. But if you do not have a car, that could be an issue. The marina was pretty and I got some nice shots there. Much nicer and more picturesque locations to stay in Key Largo than here.

El kiddo and I

Staff: Rating - 6 out of 10

Staff was nice enough and reasonably friendly. Noone went above and beyond but they did their job. Minimal interactions so not much to say here

Room: Rating -  2 out of 10

I am not sure where to begin here. The room door opens out, which I always dislike due to safety, and it did not really fit int he door frame, as there was a gap on the side so we did not feel totally secure. Also the windows had build in metal hurricane shutters that didn't particularly want to be cranked open so it was like sitting in a cave. The bedroom part was ok. Neat and decent space. Though there were some weird stains on the ceiling, 

The bathroom was an abomination and stayed wet. When we checked in, the walls in the shower were wet and they stayed that way until check out, even though we decided not to shower here due to the mold around the tub. The bathroom itself was grimy and just seemed dirty. There was a gap by the base of the tub that kinda gave a bit if you stepped near it. The floor in the room with the tub and toilet (sink was outside of that room) had water build up sometime in the night for no apparent reason and it stayed that way. My daughter found out when she got up in middle of the night to use the bathroom and her socks got wet. Really gross. Just overall not well maintained.

Even the ice maker by the elevator had some mold around it and they put towels down as it was leaking. The elevator had pieces of wood nailed in to close the gap by the doors. We were going to have the key lime pie for breakfast but it was all melted and liquidy even after being in the frighted all night. So that was a pass. Place needs an overhaul.

It just was not a comfortable experience but we figured for 1 night, we could rough it especially since rates at surrounding hotels had gone up so much since we originally booked. In the night, we heard someone screaming and not in a fun way. It was very suddenly cut off. I woke up around 4am for no reason and just felt like someone was peeking in the hurricane shutters at us. It seems farfetched and not possible to move the shutters from outside like that and I had no reason to feel this way. It was so strange. I could not go back to sleep as I couldn't shake it. Well when we went to leave, we found 2 cigarette butts, that had not been there the night before, right at the base of that same window. Creeped us out. Could not leave this place fast enough.

    

Food: Rating - 8 out of 10

This really should not be attributed to the hotel as it is a separate business but since they are on the same marina dock and we had to park at that restaurant due to lack of parking at our hotel (they have an agreement with them), I am including it. Skipper's Dockside is the name and good food and drinks are the game. We were seated quickly and decided to eat inside as it was so humid and muggy outside on the large deck overlooking the marina. Service was quick and friendly. We tried the Blackberry Margaritas and got a few appetizers to share - Dockside Nachos with Jerk Chicken and Angus Beef Sliders plus of course Key Lime Pie to bring back to the room. Everything was very tasty. 

Blackberry Margarita

Angus Sliders

Jerk Chicken Nachos

Amenities: Rating - 5 out of 10

The pool was about the nicest thing at this place. It really didn't seem to go with the rest of the buildings. 

The marina is quant and charming. There are many fishing and boat charters for hire that leave from here (i.e deep sea fishing, African Queen Boat Tours ( rom the movie), snorkel and dive trips and so on). A friend came through the week after me and they hired a fishing charter from here and had a good time.

Hotel serves a complimentary continental breakfast but we skipped it in favor of hightailing it out of this place as soon as possible.

Parking was a joke. We read reviews online ahead of time that parking could be tight but we did not expect this. They had nowhere near enough parking for the number of rooms. Marina Del Mar actually has an agreement for guests to be able to park next door at the Skipper's Dockside. So basically had to drive to building our room was in, unload (we could not find a cart so several trips up to the room as one of us sat in car in case it had to be moved if someone needed to get out) and then move car next door and walk back to hotel. Reverse on check-out, though we were able to find a luggage cart to use.

Final Thoughts: 3 out of 10 

(yeah, yeah, I know. the average is higher but I just could don't give it higher than a 3)

All I can say is that I would never stay here again. It was especially a poor value for the price - $242 including tax for a parking lot view room, not marina view. I need to add this as a category in my review - Price vs Value. I will pass in the future. But... I would swing back by neighboring Skippers for a bite to eat.