Key West, Florida
The Marker Waterfront Resort
Sun-Swept Stunner
What it is
A 96-room ode to barefoot luxury on two manicured acres abutting a twinkling marina.
What it isn't
On “Island Time.” You’ll find excellent service here, including a ‘Conchierge’ (their joke, not ours) to assist in planning your Key West exploits.
What we think
Reportedly the newest Key West hotel in Old Town, The Marker is also one of its most stylish. Rooms are outfitted in seawater blues and pure, crisp whites—an appropriate palette for this town—and dotted with restrained seashell art and resplendent leafy palms. (For those that like to spread out, you’re in luck: most rooms start at a whopping 400-square-feet and have an 85-square-foot balcony that’s yours alone, and ideal for cocktail hour.). Request a harbor view to overlook yachts bobbing in the surf at all hours.
You're here because
There’s a happy hour every day at 4 p.m. at their poolside bar, where tequilas are a specialty. Enough said.
The Moment
Settled into your waterfront perch at Cero Bodega, the hotel’s California-meets-Mexico restaurant, you let down your hair (literally) and feel it dance in the afternoon breeze. You think you might be healthy and order the Key West Avocado Salad—served with grilled pineapple in a garlic citrus vinaigrette—but then you realize you’re on Vacay, with a capital V. Fresh-caught (and fried) fish tacos with mango and avocado for the win—with a pineapple Markers Martini Mimosa. Paradise.
Restaurants & Bars
Cero Bodega - Enjoy inspired Cal-Mex cuisine and handcrafted cocktails.
Poolside Bar - Creative handcrafted cocktails.
Location
Fronting Lazy Way—yes, that’s the real street name—in the heart of Key West, just footsteps from all the over-the-top fun, whether that means crossing the street for a painkiller cocktail at Schooner Wharf Bar or strolling a mile to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum (it’s worth it).