Isla Bella Beach Resort

We had an absolutely spectacular stay, and a huge part of that was thanks to Alan and the exceptional service he provided. My girlfriend, my mom, and I had booked two rooms through Expedia. The night before our arrival, my girlfriend called the hotel to make sure everything was in order, only to discover that the hotel had only received a reservation for one room, despite us having paid for two. It turned out that Expedia had sent us a confirmation email without actually confirming the second room with the hotel. Thankfully, my girlfriend was able to speak with Alan, the receptionist supervisor, and he immediately went above and beyond to help us. He was able to arrange both rooms for us at the same rate we had originally booked, turning what could have been a very stressful situation into a smooth and worry-free experience. But Alan’s exceptional service didn’t stop there. Throughout our stay, he continued to make sure we were taken care of and went above and beyond to make our experience special. He even provided us with a $100 complimentary credit toward dinner at the resort, which was such a generous and unexpected gesture. The resort itself was beautiful, and we had a wonderful stay, but Alan truly made the experience memorable. His professionalism, kindness, and willingness to go the extra mile are a perfect example of what outstanding hospitality looks like. We would absolutely love to come back, and especially hope Alan is still working there when we do. He deserves recognition for the incredible service he provides to guests. Thank you, Alan, for making our stay so special!

This resort is absolutely beautiful and exceptionally well-kept. Alan went above and beyond to accommodate us throughout our stay, and you could genuinely tell how much pride he took in his new role and in representing the resort well. He was attentive, thoughtful, and made a real effort to ensure we had a wonderful experience, which truly made our stay one to remember. The entire staff was warm and welcoming from the moment we arrived—we were greeted with champagne and enjoyed the most beautiful sunsets, along with thoughtfully curated daytime activities. I only wish we could have stayed longer, but we’ll definitely be back!

We visited to celebrate my son's birthday, and he had an amazing time. The adults enjoyed ourselves just as much! I would especially like to recognize Alex, our breakfast server at Mahina, who was outstanding. His service was exceptional throughout our stay and truly made our mornings enjoyable. I'd also like to give a shoutout to Eric at the Burger Bar, who did a fantastic job and provided excellent service as well. Both team members went above and beyond to make our experience memorable. The property is beautiful, well maintained, and clearly cared for with great attention to detail. The hospitality from the entire team was remarkable and made us feel welcomed from the moment we arrived. Thank you for such a wonderful stay and for helping make my son's birthday celebration so special.

MY FAVORITE place to stay in the Keys! Love everything single thing about it. I've stayed with my husband, fiends - a total of 5 trips so far. Always so happy to be there!

This was, without exaggeration, the most disappointing stay I have ever experienced at a resort. We came here for our anniversary genuinely excited to relax, have cocktails, tan, enjoy good food, and spend the weekend together somewhere that was supposed to feel special. Instead, our first day was basically spent repeating the same thought to each other: “Surely it isn’t actually this bad. The next thing will be better. This has to be a fluke.” It was not a fluke. Nearly every experience that followed was equally disappointing. We started at the beach bar, where the cocktails were shockingly bad. I have genuinely had better drinks at dive bars. Between the two of us, we had maybe three drinks each over the course of several hours and somehow both ended up with headaches. The drinks tasted cheap, poorly made, and nowhere near what you would expect from a resort at this price point. We were still trying to stay optimistic and were especially excited to have dinner at Mahina. We convinced ourselves that maybe the beach bar was simply more casual and that the actual restaurant would redeem the experience. It did the opposite. The cocktail menu was disappointing just to look at, and the actual drinks were no better than what we had already experienced. Seriously—how do you mess up a margarita or a mojito? At a resort in the Keys, of all places? The food was horrible. The lobster bisque was probably the best thing we ordered, and even that was a mediocre bisque at best. Almost everything else completely lacked flavor. The crab cake somehow had the opposite problem—it tasted like someone threw together a bunch of seasonings that did not complement one another, leaving it with an unpleasant, strange flavor. Even dessert was bad. The key lime pie cheesecake had a crust with a texture that literally felt and tasted like sand in our mouths. Across the board, the food tasted like it was being made with cheap, low-quality ingredients while being sold at resort prices. The service at Mahina was also painfully slow—some of the slowest restaurant service I have ever experienced. Every course seemed to take forever to arrive, and what made it even more frustrating was that the restaurant was not busy. We spent an unreasonable amount of our anniversary dinner simply sitting around waiting for food. I work in hospitality, so I am usually very understanding when restaurants are busy, understaffed, or something goes wrong. But for a resort that is presented as a five-star property, the standard should be anticipatory service. That was completely lacking. Basic details were repeatedly overlooked. We did not receive sharing plates until we asked for them. When the lobster bisque came out, our server knew we were sharing it, yet only one spoon was provided. We then had to wait to receive another spoon. When our sushi roll came out, we were given one pair of chopsticks and actually had to share them until we could get another set. These are incredibly small details, but that is exactly the point. At a luxury resort, guests should not have to repeatedly ask for basic things that should already be anticipated. Our server himself was enthusiastic and personable, which we did appreciate, but he also aggressively oversold everything. Every dish seemed to be “THE BEST.” We understand sales techniques—we both work around hospitality—but constantly hyping up mediocre food only makes the disappointment worse when the restaurant cannot come remotely close to the expectations being set. By the end of our first night, we were so disappointed with the food and drinks that we agreed we were not going to drink for the rest of our anniversary weekend. We jokingly decided to treat the resort like a “health retreat” because everything we ate or drank felt like a complete waste of calories. That is not something you should ever be saying during an anniversary vacation at an expensive resort. The beach area was another disappointment. It is extremely small, you cannot really venture very far into the water, and there were jellyfish while we were there. This is definitely much more of a pool-centered property than somewhere I would recommend for anyone specifically wanting a beautiful beach experience. We also tried the Burger Shack, thinking surely a simple burger would be difficult to mess up. Again, mediocre. The bun and overall burger quality once again tasted inexpensive and low quality. Even the coffee at the Marketplace was bad. At that point we were genuinely laughing because we could not understand how EVERYTHING could be disappointing. How do you mess up a latte? Luckily, we booked our stay through Amex, so a decent portion of the trip was covered through credits and benefits. Even then, it was frustrating knowing that rewards we worked to accumulate were being wasted on an experience this poor. In fact, the quality of the resort was so disappointing that we did not even bother using all of the credits and benefits available to us. We were also considering booking additional services and water activities through the resort, but after everything else we experienced, we decided against it. We had completely lost confidence in the property and did not want to spend even more money just to potentially receive another mediocre experience. Instead, we left and spent our time on Duval Street. That ended up being the highlight of our trip and, aside from simply enjoying each other’s company, was honestly what saved our anniversary weekend. What makes this stay especially disappointing is that we did not come in looking for things to complain about. We arrived excited. We repeatedly gave the resort another chance. Every time something was bad, we told ourselves the next drink, meal, restaurant, or experience would make up for it. It never did. For the price, reputation, and supposed five-star level of this resort, I expected dramatically better food, better drinks, better service, better attention to detail, and an overall experience that actually felt luxurious. Instead, this was the most consistently disappointing resort experience I have ever had. I cannot remember another trip where I felt this repeatedly let down by practically every food and beverage experience on the property. We will absolutely stay somewhere else the next time we visit the Keys.