My husband and I have been staying at the Pier House once or twice per year for 7 years. We always get the same room, a two bedroom suite which rents for $1300-$1600 a night. Obviously, we like this hotel: the location, the garden and beach, the peacefulness, and the view from the balcony.

Unfortunately, we like this place almost in spite of itself. The quality has been inconsistent over the years, but we adjust to the laid-back Key West style. Our latest visit, however, was very disappointing.

When we booked our trip 3 months' ago, we were told that new construction next to our suite would be finished except for minor interior trim work. When we arrived, we found an active construction site surrounding our room. The circular saw station next to our balcony was non-stop noisy, sawdust covered all the balcony furniture and blew around in the breeze. Deconstruction and nailing were incessant. Sometimes the workmen had to inch along our balcony rail to avoid falling off the torn up deck. The workmen were very nice and apologetic for the mess; I don't blame them for doing what they had to do. Hotel management was less concerned, however.

If construction was in such a state, couldn't they have called and told us before we arrived? We are going again in 6 weeks for a vacation with our grown daughters. Questioning two managers, the front desk personnel, and guest relations manager about the construction status in 6 weeks only got a "call us before you come" response. Okay. One more time. The next time might be the last. If you are going soon, and Pier House does have a lot to recommend it, I'd suggest you be very specific in questioning the status of construction when you make your reservation.

I stayed at the Pier House Resort and Spa from March 31 until April 1. I usually stay at the Westin when visiting Key West, however, I decided to try something different. I booked an Oceanview room at the Pier House to my mistake. The Oceanview rooms are in a building that is terribly outdated. You first have to enter each room from the outside just like a motel. Once inside, the furniture and carpet should be replaced as both are quite worn. The air conditioner is very old as well and sits on the outside of the room. I turned the air conditioner off after 8 p.m. and heard it dripping for the rest of the night. My room was on the second floor in a building with five floors. Whenever someone went to the bathroom and flushed or whenever someone took a shower, I could hear the water running. The Oceanview really wasn't an oceanview that you'd expect to see so it's not worth the hassle of being put in an old room with a higher price may I add. The balcony was just big enough for one person to stand although they had two chairs and a small table. It was so small, you couldn't hear yourself think. I did ask on the first day if they had any Oceanview rooms without carpet as advertised and I was told "No, all of the Oceanview rooms have carpet". I slept with a chair under the door knob because of the entrance to the room being on the outside which made me afraid.
On the second day, I voiced my concerns and asked to be moved to the Spa Building. What a difference! You actually entered the rooms from the inside of the bulding! Once inside the building, the room was absolutely the most beautiful and spacious room I've seen. It was well equipped with new and updated furniture, a wooden floor, surround sound system with DVD/CD player , a fireplace, a very large balcony, and a huge hot tub/shower with a timer in the bath area which sat behind the bed. There were custom shutters on the short wall that sepearted the bed from the hot tub. You could open the shutters and see the T.V. from the hot tub/shower! The bathroom area also included double sinks. It was soooooooooo nice, I hated to leave today!
I would definitely stay there again. The front desk clerks and manager were very helpful and nice. Lisa even showed me the new room before I confirmed that I'd take it.
Again, don't pay extra for the Oceanview room. Stick to the Spa rooms in the Spa building and you will be well pleased.

We stayed for 3 nights in mid March 2008. The hotel is in a perfect location. The restaurant staff was great, but the front desk staff was not very friendly. We had a pleasant stay, since the room was clean and functional, and we were close to all the main points of interest. However, we definitely have had better rooms for the same price. The hotel definitely needs to be updated. You will have a great time as long as you have reasonable expectations.

While we were checking in, our front desk clerk quit taking care of us to answer the phone and did not get back to us. We did not know where our room was located. So we wondered around looking for it, thinking foolishly that a 400 number would be on the fourth floor. A house keeper finally told us were our room was. Then none of the door keys worked. I had to find my way back to the front desk and ask for room keys that worked and a map. They were quite snooty and rude.
Our room was nice enough, no carpets,and newer tile and wood floors.
BUT it was the noisiest air conditioner I ever had. It vibrated the room and went on and off multiple times during the night waking us up. We had to put pillows and the lamp against it to stop some of the vibrations.
The bed was not very comfortable. The pool area was quiet and nice, the beach was small, and ok except for the construction taking place on the addition.