Key Largo, Fl -- Holiday Inn

Since I stated in my review of the Hilton that I was unhappy at the Holiday Inn, and I want to be fair, I am providing some facts about our stay in December 2008.

Status perks

As a Platinum member, I did not receive a room upgrade. I heard a guest before me who was complaining receive an upgraded room; however, the agent told me he could not give upgrades. This hotel did not offer complimentary coffee in the lobby, like most Holiday Inns, and I received two coupons for coffee. I do not recall for sure if we received coupons for breakfast the next morning, although I do not think it was complimentary. We checked in for two nights and departed after one, and I did not have any extra coupons when we checked out.

Room

We received a second (top) floor room with two double beds (there were three of us) facing the parking lot. There was no elevator or interior hall. This is an old building, and the rooms had not been remodeled at the time of our stay. The tiny bathroom included a tub/shower combination and toilet. There was barely enough room to step behind the door in order to shut it and use the toilet--and we are small people! The vanity/sink area was outside the bathroom along the wall. There was a small round table with two chairs next to the entrance door. The HVAC unit was the old noisy style on the outside wall under the window.

Pool

The pool area was the one thing we liked about this property. There were two pools in a tropical setting with a Tiki bar in between them. There were an ample amount of comfortable lounge chairs. We sat at the Tiki bar for Happy Hour that afternoon.

Overall

There are marina view rooms at this hotel, which are in a different building, with more floors. From the outside, the rooms looked nicer than the room we had. I had hoped to receive that type of room when we checked in, although I probably would have been happy with a pool view room. Our room overlooking the parking lot was dingy and old. We could have reserved a marina view room; however, since we could stay at the upscale Hilton resort for less, I don't understand why anyone would want to do that. I had made a huge mistake by not comparing the rates more closely before this stay.