Recommend April 2011 - (Page 74)

LITTLE PALM ISLAnD & ocean key resort Over at the adjacent Stage Door Lounge, guests can sip on a yummy selection of themed signature cocktails like the Liquid Jelly Monkey Luv and a variety of draught poured beers. Another alluring spot for a more casual dining experience is Sunset Pier restaurant. With dozens of green umbrellas speckled across the boardwalk, Sunset Pier is an ideal place to enjoy sunset margaritas, juicy cheeseburgers and a wide selection of fresh sandwiches. Sunset Pier also offers live music nightly, as well as the best seat on which to watch Key West’s famous sunsets. During Recommend’s visit, we even spotted some starry-eyed newlyweds taking advantage of the picture-perfect backdrop right after a ceremony at the hotel. pool overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, a full-service marina and watersports rental area including kayaking, water-skiing and sailing. Just a short stroll from the resort, guests will find a wealth of museums and attractions, restaurants and boutiques. Recommend going on one of Key West’s famous ghost tours or taking a tour of legendary writer Ernest Hemingway’s former Key West residence. Through Sept. 30, Ocean Key Resort has a H2Ocean Key package starting from $667 per night. With this package, guests receive a Vichy shower experience for two at SpaTerre, an island jet ski tour for two, two tropical cocktails pp each day at the poolside Liquid Lounge and an oceanfront dinner for two at Hot Tin Roof. n an oasis close to all the action Archived related articles (available on recommend.com): Ocean Key Resort features 100 bright and spacious suites decorated Hawks Cay Resort, Florida Keys (October 2010) with hand-painted armoires and color island-style furnishings, separate living spaces, bathrooms with oversized jacuzzi tubs and patios boastcontact information ing spectacular ocean views. Little Palm Island Resort & Spa: (800) 343-8567; littlepalmisland.com Onsite, guests will also find the SpaTerre and fitness center, a heated Ocean Key Resort: (800) 328-9815; oceankey.com key west fun pass carla hunt onsite review february 2011 For first-timers to Key West, a “city tour” is the first priority, made easy with an open-air ride aboard the Conch Tour Train, which offers a 90minute wander, narrating en-route the island’s rich and raunchy history of the days of Indians, pirates, rumrunners, wreck-divers, presidents, artists and intellectuals. Also available is the Old Town Trolley ticket, permitting sightseers to get on and off all day at a dozen different stops. Public art in Key West. Favorite stops include: n The Harry S. Truman Little White House, fully restored and full of memorabilia from the days when Truman escaped from Washington, D.C. to the tranquility of Key West. n The quirky Key West Cemetery whose epitaphs—such as “I told you I was sick”—reveal the early settlers’ lighthearted attitudes toward life and death. Follow-ups to a motor tour include: n Guided walking tours of Old Town and/or bike riding on one’s own just about anywhere. Both point up the big surprise—at least to this editor—the fabulous melange of buildings and lifestyles: a $5 million mansion sitting next to a beat-up Bahamian conch shack or an evangelical church with chickens wandering about, and roosters crowing at daybreak. As one guide tells it, “Old Town alone offers a dizzying array of architectural styles—Queen Anne, American Foursquare, and Classical Revival work—that make up an authentic neighborhood, not a theme park, more Caribbean than American.” n Offshore looking in, one explores the flora and fauna of back-country Key West by kayak. Head out for a couple of hours into the wildlife refuge with an environmentally attuned guide to paddle about islands of red mangroves, tidal creeks and sandy shallows brimming with colored 74 april 2011 carla hunt coral, sponges, starfish anemones and tropical fish. Consider making this excursion in a see-through, transparent kayak. the munchies Clients can work up an appetite getting acquainted with Key West, which also offers its guests a slew of dining choices, from sunup to sundown. Not to miss: n Legendary crepes at the Banana Cafe n Lemon-ricotta pancakes at Sarabeth’s n A slice at Upper Crust Pizza n The Eaton Street Seafood Market n Michaels, with indoor/outdoor seating, is a perfect steak experience, although fish is everyone’s favorite dish n The Seven Fish Restaurant n Blue Heaven, a place of roaming roosters and dense banana bread, come in the evening for the fresh-caught fish, curried soups and Jamaican jerk chicken accommodation options n Pier House Resort & Spa, which has its own sunset perch restaurant, One Duval, serves up excellent fried calamari. Recently renovated, the property paid a great deal of attention to its big new spa and Harbor Room suites, which are light, airy and have balconies overlooking the water. The majority of the rooms, including the Lanai-class room at $359 per night, are dark, with matching dark and heavy furnishings. n The boutique, 17-room, plantation-style Gardens Hotel (from $295 dbl including breakfast) set on the historic estate of the Peggy Mills Botanical Key West Gardens. n contact information Florida Keys & Key West: (800) FLA-KEYS; fla-keys.com/traveltrade Gardens Hotel: (800) 526-2664; gardenshotel.com Pier House Resort & Spa: (800) 723-2791; pierhouse.com recommend.com http://www.recommend.com http://www.littlepalmisland.com http://www.oceankey.com http://www.fla-keys.com/traveltrade http://www.gardenshotel.com http://www.pierhouse.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend April 2011

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk
Tour Talk
Hurtigruten's Trollfjord
Savoring Adventure on Small Ship Cruises
Turkey Beyond Istanbul
Stepping Out in Eastern Europe: Go Escorted
2011 Guide to The Caribbean, The Bahamas & Bermuda
Heading Down Under
India's New Gems
Show-Stoppers on Stage—and on the Plate
Two Sides of a Hawaiian Vacation
Little Palm Island & Ocean Key Resort, Florida
Key West Fun Pass
RIU Panama
Tea Time for Swingers

Recommend April 2011