Hawks Cay Resort

I would have left this commentary on the Hawks Cay site but couldn’t find a reviews/comments section, so reviewing here. Pretty disappointing experience, a four-day stay in August. - staff: pool and pool bar staff, and the doormen, were delightful. But the rest of the staff basically waiting for their shifts to end. Front desk won’t lift a finger; concierge overwhelmed perhaps but in practice simply unavailable; kids club staff just watching the time go by. Disengagement at its worst. - kids club: a paid unsupervised arcade (staff just stays behind the counter) with some coloring paper as the “activity”. Our 4-yr old grandson managed to go through $75 in about 30 mins - pool is nice, lagoon is not. “Beach” is thinly sand-covered rocks or coral - food is very expensive onsite, in particular avoid Salt and Ash — is one of those pseudo-chic pretentious places where the steak is $90 (before fees and taxes), the servers are holding a napkin (or whatever) with the one arm behind their backs but while wearing baggy khakis and grungy tennis shoes to go with their greasy hair. You’ll spend $50/head for breakfast at the Cafe (nice though). Pool bar has good food too, also expensive but you expect that at pool bars The highlight is Angler and Ale which is sort of offsite (at the marina) and has delightful food and much more reasonable pricing. - the villas though you need to be warned about, at least ours — they must be 3rd party owned and leased/managed by the resort. Ours was two queens at $1000/night+ after fees and taxes. Given the price, wasn’t prepared for the extremely low end build quality (at least in our villa): 1. Everything from the appliances to the bathroom fixtures to the cabinets to the beds literally the cheapest you can buy — think La Quinta/Red Roof Inn 2. They don’t keep up with the plates/glasses/cutlery, different amounts of everything, we had three knives for example (?) . Toaster didn’t work. No flipper for pancakes or a grilled cheese. Stuff like that. 3. Their TV’s are live TV only, and you can’t access your apps — staff told me I should’ve brought my Xfinity box with me (?, who packs that?) 4. Similarly be prepared for spotty and weak internet, one of the most frustrating experiences we’ve had at any hotel 5. The floors were filthy, they’re brown fake wood so you don’t realize it till you see the soles of your grandson’s feet. We asked for the room to be cleaned right away but in the 4-day stay we saw no evidence of a single thing cleaned or picked up. So bring bedroom slippers or flip flops or something, it’s pretty gross. 6. The “plantation” blinds are heavily used/abused and don’t adequately block sunlight, and no blackouts either, so bring those airline eye cover thingies if you wake up easily with daylight. 7. If you like coffee or tea, bring it. There’s a Mr Coffee coffeemaker but that’s it, not even those cheap prepackaged coffee kits you get at a Days Inn - August may not be the best month to visit this place. They have some interior mini lagoons or creeks or something near the kids club and on the path to the villas but in August the water gets real low and the stench in the heat isn’t good. Am rereading this review and I’m struck by how negative it is considering the first impression when we arrived — overall the resort looks much nicer than it turned out to be. So this probably just means it’s not managed well and the staff isn’t fully engaged — much of what I’m commenting could be improved with a little love and care. And yes, spending some of what we pay to improve the experience. Or, drop the price by half so expectations are better matched.

Kaplan is a great bartender! Made the end of our trip fantastic!

Let me start of by saying that this place is very unique. They are building a waterpark which is awesome. Typical keys issues with waits. Be prepared for that. But the staff is genuine. We talked to Honor in the lobby for 20 minutes about the resort. He was very informative and sincere. Hard to find nowadays. Truly enjoyed our conversation. We have a friend who owns a villa in the marina area. But we stayed at the resort this time. Had a great time. The new DJ by the pool was also awesome.

First off I LOVE Hawks Cay! The atmosphere the rooms and of course the Florida keys! The townhouses are amazing! Your stress just melts away! But who I love most is Magda she is the director of catering! She is the sweetest person and she has the most amazing work ethic! If you are looking to host an event there Magda will put all your worries at ease! Thank you Magda! 🥰

A mixed experience, beautiful hotel and location but VERY limited food options - do not have a drink at the pool bar in the afternoon if you are looking for evening dining, we have learnt that everything is a drive away! As a British traveller it’s a mind shift, driving is essential apart from 2 food outlets on site - one of which is fine dining. Uber eats can deliver for a very high fee as the nearest outlets are a 10 mile drive. We would stay again but in a villa with a place to prepare our own meals rather than the hotel.