We stayed in a two bedroom 'Villa' on the sunset side of the property for five nights. There are many things to say about this vacation resort, so here are my many impressions -

The Villas -
While attractive from the outside, the inside had the feeling of 'great aunt Maude's place' in FL. Furnishings and fixtures are dated but functional. However the worst part of our villa, villa 5024 is a VERY rusty and corroded refrigerator. It actually is probably an environmental hazard, and whoever owns this villa - it is a timeshare - should be ashamed. It was disgusting and looked as if it had been picked up on the side of the road. Ironically it actually worked and kept things cold. Some of the furniture on the upper deck was rusty as well. The closet in the second bedroom was unfinished. The bathroom was tiny and unmemorable and the door fell off the vanity one morning. The sink in the kitchen had no water pressure. TVs are older and there are a lot of scuff marks everywhere.
That said, the place is cheerily painted, there are ceiling fans in every room, and the views of the sunset from the upstairs deck are truly beautiful. Note, the decks are not private, but luckily our neighbors never made a guest appearance. The unit itself overlooks a grassy space and a short distance to the right is a sandy patch that was great for our toddler to play in. Hot water is plentiful.

Things to note: while the book on the table stated 'daily housekeeping is included with your villa rental' that is not the case. On our third day I finally called to ask if anyone would be cleaning (I really only cared about the trash getting taken away) and I was told by a nice woman that housekeeping in the villas is only done every 3rd day. Fine, but would have been nice to know. Also, you can throw your own trash away in some covered bins behind the parking lot, but again, this would have been nice to know. Also, the book clearly states 'no pets allowed' and two villas away the occupants had 2 dogs running around without leashes and doing their business everywhere. Even when I went out with our daughter the owners did not leash their pets. Not the end of the world, but not a bonus either.

The Pools -
We loved the pools and the lagoon in general. The lagoon had JUST opened and was beautiful. Unfortunately it was cold and even more unfortunately the 'sand' around it is hard white chalky pebbles, not suitable for small children or for walking on in any kind of bare feet. However, if I didn't have a small child I would have LIVED around that lagoon it was so darn pretty. Above the lagoon is a large family pool that was beautifully maintained and very pleasant. A hot tub was adjacent to the pool. Everything in this area was in excellent condition. The pool staff was super friendly and accommodating, anything you wished for they would do or get info on. I've never ever met such pleasant pool staff. Prompt drink service and lunch service was available as well. Watching the dolphins from the side of the lagoon was a pure delight as well. This pool lagoon area was very much like the paradise I was expecting.

The pirate pool area, for little kids was pretty great as well, though not perfect. While the ship and wading pool offered loads of fun for all the children there, one of the slides coming off the side of the ship, the place you slid into - the liner was half missing and was exposed with concrete and debris. One child I saw came out on it and he went 'ew', but he was ok. I think that chute should either be closed off or repaired, but otherwise the area was nice and fun. Behind the pirate pool there is a large family pool. There is no drink/food/towel service here, but it was well maintained here and very relaxing. A big beautiful tree hovered over a small setting of comfy outdoor furniture and it was wonderful to lounge under there with a drink (there is a grill you can get food/drinks from). There are equal amounts of shade and sun, though some might want more sun, but overall we really, really enjoyed this area in particular and spent most of our time here.

There is also a mini golf behind this pool, but we never saw anyone on it. It had a rather forgotten look to it, wasn't really appealing, but not a big deal. Most interesting was the giant iguana walking around, now that was neat.

The Main Hotel -
Was unfortunately still undergoing renovation. We had to walk through much construction outside, and then some more construction inside, to get to the main pool and lagoon, however, the hotel interior is SWANK. If I were to ever come back here, I would skip the outdated villas and stay here in a heartbeat. The lobby was gorgeous, wonderful music playing, a gorgeous, almost completed bar in the far corner, just the feel, vibe, everything was great and I can only imagine how nice it will be when it is truly finished. It reminded me of a W lobby. I can't speak for the rooms, actually they will probably outprice us in the end, but if you want posh, that is the place to stay.

Food -
We ate one night at the Watersedge, which actually was no longer called that. Unable to sit outside due to high wind, we ate inside and were quite surprised by our delicious meal. I had pinks to start and the grouper which was very well seasoned and encrusted with crab meat on top and sat with vegetables in a key lime butter broth. Very tasty. We got dessert to go and I enjoyed the chocolate cake back in the room. My husband had I believe the mutton fish and enjoyed that as well. We never had breakfast here. The atmosphere is laid back, nothing to write home about, but I was really surprised at how good the meal was.
The Indies Grill, which is located next to the pirate and family pool was good as well. We had lunch there 2 days. A made to order burger and fries was $10 which I didn't think was awful and it was very tasty. We were not disappointed and enjoyed the convenience of being able to eat without leaving the area. I think the cost includes the convenience of having something made to order right at your fingertips, which was fine with us.

Overall -
Hawks Cay still has some way to go before the renovations are complete. There were still many construction vehicles around, it was difficult to get to the lagoon area because of it, there is a lot of dust and things don't look quite 'right' yet. That said, I think if you want to be in the Keys, and want to stay someplace nice, this is a relatively good choice because of the facilities. If you want posh, choose the hotel, if you want mediocre and extra space, choose the villas, I think this place has something for everyone and I have to say, compared to Tranquility Bay, which I understand is timeshares as well, Hawks Cay was much cheaper. And rightfully so, HC is larger and more sprawling than TBay, so it doesn't have the high polished look when you are driving around. Although we did have dinner at the Butterfly Cafe at Tranquility Bay and it was excellent. Very friendly service, great food, good time. Also, back to Hawks Cay - there is a sundries store called Dockside, which literally had everything we needed, it was very well stocked and very handy, we picked up coffee there each morning.

The Keys in general is probably not the paradise I pictured. I had no idea how many RV parks exist between the start of the keys and Marathon. Let alone construction on US1 that took a while to get through. I was a bit disappointed in the overall condition of the area itself. I think if you are able to do the water sports, have children of age, etc. it would be fine, but if you are looking for 'paradise' and that whole getaway feeling, which I think valuable vacation dollars should be spent on if that is your taste, then I would continue on and go to the Caribbean. But that's just my two cents. Good luck!