First off, i must say that i live in South Florida and i go to the Keys quite often. After reading a couple of the other reviews, i just have to laugh because i'm not quite sure what some people are expecting driving south of the Last Chance Saloon. The Ritz, The Omni??? Give me a break. People go to the Keys because they are the Keys. Everything is old, everything is plain and simple. You aren't supposed to sit in your hotel room and watch tv...you are in the Keys. You are supposed to be outside all day long, with a drink in one hand and a camera in the other (because you never know what kind of stuff you might see) having fun. The place you stay is supposed to be a place to lay your head down at the end of the night. That is what i expect when i go to the Keys.

With that said, i looked online, called about 20 different places trying to find availability and finally ended up booking Kon Tiki over the phone about a week prior to Memorial Day and i spoke to a very nice gentleman who gave me their last 2 rooms, #18 was mine and #17 was our friends. They were all the way in the back, up against the road...which i was a little worried about. We arrived late at night (11PM) and picked up our keys in the office mailbox and went in search of our house which we found without a problem. We opened the door to the screened patio and to our surprise, the place was very spacious and clean. Furniture was older (which i expected) but very comfy. The bathroom had been redone. Our friend's room turned out to be adjoining. Both places were 1 bedrooms which worked out just perfect. The only complaint were these "black slugs" as we liked to call them in various places on the floor inside and on the outside patio...but again, you are in the Keys, where there are many bugs.

The next morning we woke up and took a walk of the grounds and i must admit, it was beautiful. Very clean, very well kept. We trailered our boat, so we put that in the water with ease. When booking the gentleman told me there was no assigned boat slips to keep your boat overnight, but that it was first come first serve-which again made me worry. But after returning later on, we found the dockage to be ample and had no problems, especially during one of the busiest weekends around.

Kon Tiki has a very nice lagoon with lots of different fish-even a little shark, they have a pool-granted it wasn't fancy, but very clean, there was shuffleboard and hammocks and ample parking for trailers.

The location is on the Bay side which again i would have prefered the Ocean side since the purpose of the weekend was to go to the sandbar. But just a simple drive north and you arrive at the sandbar within 20 minutes. Our friends brought their jet skis and i was told at check-in that they don't allow jet skis on property, but that wasn't a problem either as there are other places close by that you can launch them as well. If you are looking for some good eats, be sure to check out Bentley's (my favorite) or Uncle's, both within a couple miles. Conveniently located down the street is the Trading Post which is where we stocked up on food and drinks for the weekend. And it turned out that we couldn't hear any road noise at night-so that made me very happy. One cool thing i found in each room is multiple diaries of the past people that have stayed in your room and their experiences. Pretty neat to sit down and read it for a little while.

Personally, if i go to the Keys again, i would definitely stay at Kon Tiki. Like i said before, i don't know what people expect when they hit the Keys, but maybe those people who complain should turn their car around and go home and stop clogging up US 1.

Thanks Kon Tiki...we will be back again soon.