We booked Casa Thorn after a lot of searching; we didn't want a big hotel chain, we couldn't afford a small luxury resort, and we didn't like the ruggedness of a lot of the smaller hotels aimed at divers and such. The price was high for where we're from but reasonable for the area; we stayed in one of their "middle" range rooms, suite 3.

Positives:
-Beautiful garden and eclectic decor; NOT cookie cutter by any means!
-Quiet and peaceful (except the schnauzers!)
-Good location (kind of in between Tavernier and Islamorada in a residential area, about a 15 m walk to the public beach)
-Owner and staff members were friendly and willing to help you with "where to go" advice or special requests; were generally flexible and nice people
-Tasty breakfast
-Have their own (indoor) dog who is very cute as well as an outside cat who will come and visit you- a nice treat!

Negatives:
-Not a whole lot of privacy; our window faced into the owner's living room and our door faced the "main" part of the patio (usually no one there, but people walked through when coming and going). Very dark in our room since we had to keep shades pulled most of the time.
-Breakfast is only 8:30 to 9:30; not good if you're planning on diving or fishing since those trips usually leave earlier.
-Some of the furniture and fixtures had seen better days; one dresser drawer and several nightstand drawers wouldn't open, the handle was coming off the kitchenette sink, the microwave still worked but the door was broken...
-They apparently do allow guests to bring pets which was a negative for a brief while because the woman next door to us had two schnauzers that barked all the time and were very annoying (I could hear them in our room with all the windows and doors closed.)
-Bed is very uncomfortable; if one person attempts to move the whole thing moves so much it wakes the other one up. Seems to be two twins pushed together.