The Capitana Key West ★★★★

A Gulf-Facing Balcony, and Somewhere to Put the Car

Most visitors arrive in Key West determined to stay inside the historic grid, and then spend the week negotiating with it over parking. North Roosevelt Boulevard runs along the Gulf shore on the other side of the island, and The Capitana takes the waterfront side of it. The building turns its back on the road and opens onto the water: furnished balconies on every room, a landscaped pool below, a tiki bar at the edge of it and a strip of sand beyond. The trade is a drive into Old Town in exchange for a view and a parking space. For a lot of trips that is the right way round.

Why It Works

We kept this one because it does the practical things properly. Every room faces the water and has its own balcony, which is not true of most hotels on this island at any price. Parking is free and on site. Dogs are accepted and so are children, which removes two constraints that rule out much of the good accommodation in Key West. And the property is run at a level of service you can predict, with a full front desk, a fitness room and a restaurant, without losing the coastal, low-rise character that makes it worth choosing over a highway hotel.

Why This Location

North Roosevelt is the boulevard every visitor drives in on, and the stretch The Capitana occupies faces open water to the north and west. That orientation is what delivers the sunsets from the room rather than from a crowd at Mallory Square. Old Town, Duval Street, the Hemingway Home and the harbour are a short drive or a bike ride away, and the airport is closer still, which makes this an easy first or last night. The Overseas Highway starts here too: everything north, from the Islamorada docks to the Key Largo reef, is a straight run up US-1.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Coastal, low-rise, easygoing, family and dog friendly

• Rooms: Seventy-five rooms, suites and private cottages, all with furnished balconies over the Gulf, some with kitchenettes

• Best For: Families, travellers arriving by car, dog owners, anyone who wants a water view rather than a courtyard

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: That every single room looks at the water, balcony included, which is the rarest thing on this island

• Dining: An on-site restaurant, the Beach Market Cafe for morning coffee and acai bowls, and McKee Tiki Bar at the pool for island cooking and cocktails

• Amenities: Waterfront pool, tiki bar, private sand lounge beach, fitness centre, hot tub, free on-site parking, twenty-four-hour front desk, dogs accepted

• Attractions: Old Town and Duval Street, the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, Mallory Square, Key West International Airport, the Overseas Highway north to Islamorada and Key Largo

Rooms, Suites and Cottages on the Water

The accommodation runs from guestrooms to suites to freestanding cottages, and the balcony is the constant. Rooms are generous by island standards, furnished in a breezy coastal register rather than a themed one, and several layouts add a kitchenette, which changes the arithmetic of a family week. Family rooms are available. The cottages are the ones to ask about for a longer stay or a group, since they give the separation a hotel corridor cannot. Check-in is at four in the afternoon and check-out at eleven, with a front desk staffed around the clock for late arrivals off the last flight.

The Pool, the Tiki Bar and the Beach Market

The centre of gravity here is the pool deck. It is landscaped rather than paved, it sits between the building and the water, and McKee Tiki Bar runs along one side of it with island cooking and cocktails through the afternoon. The Beach Market Cafe handles the other end of the day, coffee and acai bowls in the morning, which is a useful thing to have on site when Old Town is a drive away. A private sandy lounge beach edges the property, and a fitness room and hot tub round out what the resort keeps in-house.