This New Luxury Suite Lets You Experience The Best of Key West

The Flamingo Royale suite at Ocean Key Resort & Spa is a decadent Hemingway-esque retreat.

The Southernmost Point of the contiguous United States, Key West is easily one of the country’s most exotic of tropical escape hatches. Travel the bridge-bedecked 110 miles from Miami along the Overseas Highway, Route U.S. 1, and at its end is Zero Duvall Street, the address of the easy-breezy Ocean Key Resort & Spa. If Key West is on your bucket list—and it should be—this is ground zero for having a signature laidback experience and a sense of place that mirrors all that the island is known for.

Decadent splendor, the breathtaking balconies of the 100 rooms and suites look out upon the surrounding waters, the bustling party-hearty scene of Duval Street, as well as Sunset Pier, with its colorful characters gathering for the nightly ritual of watching the tangerine orb slide into the sea. Entering the airy lobby, laced with vines and its hallway ceilings adorned with wire birdcages, visitors feel the island-like atmosphere. And now guests can indulge in an uber-panoramic view of it all in the resort’s colorful and expansive new suite, the Flamingo Royale, which is gift-wrapped with a spacious balcony.

Favorite sons Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Jimmy Buffett and Harry S. Truman would give it their seals of approval, kicking back within its vaulted ceilings, teak and tiled floors, full dining room, and two airy bedrooms both with en-suite marble baths. While the natural lighting is all, the teal walls, local artwork, and bespoke wall coverings, mixing it up with one-of-kind furnishings, will put a Cheshire Cat-like smile on guests’ faces.

Measuring an impressive 1,200 square feet, this suite is worthy of a Pulitzer prizewinner or swashbuckling superyacht captain. The designers call the whimsical décor “Tropical Camp,” but it stops just short of kitsch, staying on the tasteful side of the equation. The hues mirror Key West’s surroundings: pinks, turquoises, limes, golds, and pops of accent pillows. Of course, there is a sizable built-in bar too. Salty dog, anyone?

Laureled with Travel + Leisure World’s Best Award-winning resorts honors, Ocean Key features a Gulf-facing expansive pool (and tiki bar cantina Liquid), and a AAA Four-Diamond Award rooftop restaurant named Hot Tin Roof (after the Tennessee Williams play). Walk out its doors, and guests can take in the Hemingway House and Museum, the Key West Aquarium, Mallory Square, Truman’s Little White House, Old Town, and all those restaurants and watering holes that “Papa” and Jimmy Buffett whiled away the hours in. Hydrate and detox in the SpaTerre, which features Balinese spa treatments and Thai body rituals, as well as facials and body scrubs.

The resort is well known for Hot Tin Roof, one of Key West’s top-rated restaurants, where executive chef Scott Maurer calls his locally motivated cuisine “conch-fusion,” a nod to Key West’s love of conch fritters and chowder and its blend of Florida and Caribbean fare. Fish comes from the Gulf waters, and includes sumptuous shellfish specialties such as a warm-water lobster cocktail with avocado in a cilantro dipping sauce. Top of the list is the seared black grouper swimming in a chorizo-coconut curry.

Split two entrees and go surf-and-turf, as one of the tastiest preparations is a spice-rubbed bone-in New York strip steak with potato gratin, and cabernet butter. The restaurant’s Key lime pie rivals many seasoned outposts and is a sure contender for best in town. Dining is either indoors or out as you prefer. And the cozy, colonial-inspired bar is often the setting for unforgettable nights.

The resort’s iconic Sunset Pier bar hangs over the waters. Live bands play at night, where visitors can dance and enjoy a light-fare seafood-dominant menu. The bar is epic and justly famous for meticulously made drinks. It’s the ultimate spot to watch the sunset, gaze at yachts cruising by, and dream of making the 90-mile run to Cuba—after a couple more cocktails, of course.

The pool, which features a sizable hot tub, may just be the most privileged perch in Key West. And there is no shortage of things to do surrounding the hotel on this intimate 4-mile island, from the saucy annual Fantasy Fest to the Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest. Water sports abound, including parasailing and jet skiing, as well as snorkeling and simply beach combing. Do what the local “conchs” do, and get yourself a bicycle. Or rent a pedi-cab and let someone else do the work.

Next to the lobby bar where rum drinks are proffered upon arrival, the hotel boutique Madda Fella showcases local artisan readymades and paintings, as well as necessary sundries and some of the suites’ little touches. A Noble House Resorts property, when the luxury hospitality group acquired Ocean Key in 1998, the hoteliers said they made a “commitment to transform it into Key West’s top destination… assuring that it would “constantly evolves as the island’s top luxury resort, while maintaining a careful nod to all that makes Key West unique.” Mission accomplished.

“It’s the best place I’ve been anytime, anywhere,” said Hemingway of Key West. Ocean Key aspires to that standard. Before leaving, however, make sure you take a photo by the legendary mile marker—and stop by the Green Parrot, which Papa did rather often, for a drink en route.