Key West Revisited

Interestingly enough I had visited Key West two times prior to ever making it to Mallory Square. Of course I know this is listed as a main tourist attraction and I should have done it the first time there, but I never seemed to make it past the shops on Duval Street during my free-time in the evenings; one of the perils of business travel to vacation destinations I suppose.

On my third trip I made a point to go down to the square one evening and I certainly did not regret it. There was quite the scene; street performers, food carts, souvenir stands, and tourists everywhere. Everyone comes here in eager anticipation of seeing the best view of the sunset from the land that lays claim to having the most beautiful ones in the world.

Mallory Square gets so jam-packed with people about an hour before the sunset that it is difficult to maneuver around the crowds. I went during Spring Break which I suppose is a popular time, but the density of the crowd reminded me of something I had only experienced at South Boston’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. The sobriety of the crowd in Mallory Square might have been likened to the St. Pat’s Day Parade as well; many rowdy folks, but mostly well-behaved.

The street performers that perform acts in Mallory Square are indeed sights to see themselves. There’s a fire-eater, a juggler, one that performs with domestic house cats, one that performs with dogs, and several magicians of various types. At any given time one or two acts are occurring, and usually one starts right up after another finishes. It is encouraged that you tip the performers at the end of their act- my favorite thing was when one of the performer’s dogs went around collecting the tips from the crowd by taking cash out of people’s hands and putting it in his bucket around his neck. I have never seen anything like it.

Food venders and several restaurants dot Mallory Square and make this an ideal place for tourists to grab dinner and take in the scene. It looked to me that all the restaurants in the area required some sort of reservation, but the vendors and stands were readily available to sell ice cream, hot dogs, fried dough, and various other snacking or dinner items.

Everyday is a party in Mallory Square centered around the greatest performance of all- the sunset. Around twenty or thirty minutes before the sun dips below the horizon it starts displaying fantastic color changes that light up the entire sky. The horizon beyond Mallory Square is just beautiful. Several islands dot the endless expanse of Gulf water and this makes for a beautiful backdrop for the ethereal colors of the sky. I really didn’t get why everybody made such a big deal about a Key West sunset until I saw it for myself firsthand. Pictures could never do this light show justice.

Travelling to Key West on business is an interesting venture indeed. Finding a hotel with business-travel-friendly amenities is nearly impossible on this resort and vacation-oriented island. Trying to keep costs down is yet another challenge as hotel rooms start at about $250/night during the tourist season. The Days Inn on Key West is on the lower end of the range in regards to price, but also is rather ‘barebones’ in terms of accommodation.

The Days Inn is located on the Gulf side of the island toward the end closest to the airport, in other words, the furthest point away from most of the Duval Street tourist attractions. Though the location of the hotel is not ideal for watching the famed Key West sunsets, it’s a mere two mile cab ride to the other (more-popular) end of the island. The hotel concierge is more than happy to arrange transportation or make dinner recommendations for guests. The Days Inn has a Waffle House attached to it, but the concierge did not try to force this option on any of the guests I overheard asking for choices.

The Days Inn advertised Wi-fi internet access on their website which is one of the things I look for when travelling for business. However, the hotel website failed to specify that this access could be obtained in the lobby-area only. I wouldn’t think that would be so terrible, but it was most annoying trying to do work in the raucous lobby area with hundreds of tourists filtering in and out asking the concierge for advice. It was not the most productive place for me to attempt to access the internet and email.

Rooms at the Days Inn were clean and as nice as one could expect from a two-star hotel. Upon checking in, the receptionist upgraded me to a room with a full-kitchen to accommodate my "non-smoking" request. Décor was pretty standard and boring, but my room had plenty of space to accommodate a vacationing family of four (though I was staying alone).

The pool area of the Days Inn is pretty standard as well; clean, but not innovative or interesting. The pool was often occupied by families with small children during the day and early evening hours during my stay.

The one extreme annoyance that I endured during my stay at the Days Inn was the irate rooster that would stand outside my door and crow at about 4 o’clock in the morning everyday. I would recommend staying on the second floor if given a choice; I never did see any roosters running around that level.

All-in-all, the Days Inn is cheap and clean and I wouldn’t mind staying here again for business purposes. However, for my own personal travel I would probably take my chances on one of the smaller tourist-centric hotels closer to the other end of the island.

Of all the "reasonably" priced hotels I stayed in over the course of several business trips to Key West, my favorite was the Radisson. The Radisson is conveniently located within a half-a-mile of the Key West airport towards the end of the island that is connected to other islands via Route 1. It is about three miles away from the popular tourist attractions of Mallory Square and Duval Street; which are easily reachable by taxi or rented moped.

The Radisson’s lobby reminds me of a typical island hotel; the guest check-in overlooks the pool and the staff greets patrons in nicely pressed white button-up short-sleeve shirts. The palm tree décor and marble flooring look elegant and understated. It did not seem like the lobby of a typical Key West budget hotel, though it was priced as such.

The concierge at the Radisson was very friendly and accommodated my request for a pool-view room without problem. She also had my packages that had arrived via Fedex prior to my arrival brought to my room instead of just handing them over to me at the desk which was very nice considering that I already would have the rest of my luggage to deal with. The bell-hops in front of the hotel were also very helpful and considerate in getting guests arranged and their baggage to the proper room without trouble.

The rooms at the Radisson are typical of what you would find at any 2.5-3 star hotel in the area. They were very clean, but did not have a lot of personality. The one perk that I was able to take advantage of was the free in-room wireless internet, which is not offered at many of the competing hotels in the area (they have this as a "lobby-only" option for those that want to bring their laptops to the public spaces).

The Radisson is an ideal place to stay if you have small children or need forms of entertainment readily available. The pool and tiki bar areas of this hotel were very nice and full of people during the days. There is also a Denny’s restaurant attached to this hotel which is convenient for family dining.

The Radisson’s website had several pre-purchase package deals available that made this hotel a good bargain for our business travel. However, during times of peak tourist travel (ie Spring Break) even this hotel can become exorbitantly pricey with rooms listed at about $300/night. If you are planning a trip to Key West and would like to stay here, I would recommend booking your hotel as soon as possible.

Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant chain feels like it got its start in Key West (even if that statement might be untrue). Nowhere else could I imagine someone longingly looking for "their lost shaker of salt" as the song lyrics dictate like I could in this island community. Fittingly, this restaurant is a very popular one on Key West’s Duval Street. Margaritaville blends in quite nicely with the other tourist traps along the main drag. Loud music, assorted tourist t-shirts and souvenir cups, and an overdone island theme might make patrons apt to forget that they came here to eat or drink.

Upon entering Margaritaville for dinner one Tuesday night during peak tourist season, I was surprised to find how empty it was. Only a few tables were in service at the time. I guess even tourists are put-off by how touristy this restaurant seems. Within no time, my party was escorted through the "gift-shop" area to the dimly lit dining room next to the loudly playing Tiki-band.

The menu at Margaritaville is primarily seafood and island-fare focused. Most of the dishes were under $30 with the higher prices being for the more exotic seafood. I thought it was a bit over-priced considering the casual ambiance and lack of sophisticated entrée choices. I guess elevated prices are yet another symptom of this restaurant being a tourist trap.

Our waiter was not very good at Margaritaville. I think the only time we saw him aside from when he took our food and drink orders was when he brought us the check for our overpriced meal. The service here in general seemed spotty at best. I was a little annoyed when they chose to intensely scrutinize my out-of-state ID when I ordered a margarita. Shouldn’t they be used to seeing identification from outside of Florida in this vacation destination?

Aside from the negatives, Margaritaville does serve some pretty delicious margaritas. Though these are also expensive ($10 for a small-size), the mango version was one of the best I had ever tried in my history of margarita-drinking. After only one, I was a little bit tipsy. My dining companion said the traditional margarita that she tried was also very good.

I would not recommend dining at Margaritaville in Key West as there are plenty of other restaurants more-deserving of your tourist dollars along Duval Street. This trap should be avoided by those searching for an authentic island-cuisine experience.

The Kyushu Japanese Restaurant on Truman Avenue in Key West is an easy-to-find location convenient to tourist traffic on Route One. The large black and white sign that is in front of the restaurant is hard not to notice. It was on my third trip to the Keys that I finally decided to stop in this prominent location for lunch.

Walking into the Kyushu Restaurant in the afternoon was a bit strange; they didn’t have a hostess to guide you to the seating area, but half the restaurant was evidently still closed until the evening hours. After poking my head around a rice-paper-screened corner, the bartender beckoned to me to have a seat in the area that was concealed from the evening dining room and entrance. There were about 10-15 tables in this area as well as seats at the bar which were occupied by area-based Navy personnel.

Kyushu’s lack of hostess aside; the service here was more-than-adequate. I was promptly given a menu as well as a list of specials by a very-efficient and friendly waitress. She returned promptly in two minutes with water for our table and to take orders. A short time later, our food arrived after watching our sushi orders being rolled behind the bar by an expert.

Kyushu had several nice lunch specials including a bento-box style entrée with sushi and vegetable mix-and-match options. I had an excellent plate consisting of edamame, avocado and cucumber rolls, and vegetable tempura. I was surprised at the amount of food that they gave you with the special since it was only $8.

Some local ingredients play a part in the menu at Kyushu. Conch Sushi? Check! Key West Roll? Check! There aren’t too many of these items that veer away from traditional sushi, but tourists especially will appreciate their inclusion on Kyushu’s menu.

Prices on Kyushu’s menu seemed pretty standard for sushi as I’ve seen at other restaurants before. Special entrees capped out at about $30 and individual rolls ranged between $4 and $10. The lunch special seemed to be the only exceptional deal this restaurant offered.


Unfortunately, the positive impression that was left on me by the quality of food and service here was all but undone with a visit to the establishment’s ladies room. Oh dear! I think an outhouse would have been nicer; you could not see your reflection in the dingy mirror and there was a proliferation of insects in a corner. The level of disgusting was completely unanticipated by me after enjoying a nice lunch here.

I would recommend Kyushu for the food and service, but just make sure you use the restrooms elsewhere before or after.