As a first time visitor to Key West due solely to the opportunity to book Best Western hotel reward nights at 10,000 points Nov 1, 2017-Jan 31, 2018, my choice for which of the two Best Western hotels on Key West was based on TripAdvisor reviews.
Best Western Hibiscus Motel Key West was the right choice for my trip. The hotel is not a Plus or Premier property and that is probably due in large part to no on-site restaurant. The location near the south end of Simonton Street is definitely a premier location for Key West.
Waldorf-Astoria The Reach, Key West is at the south end of Simonton Street on the beach, two blocks from BW Hibiscus.
Key West is the end of the road in the Florida Keys. The island of Key West is about 5 miles east to west and 1.25 miles north to south. Best Western has two hotel properties with Best Western Key Ambassador Resort Inn at the east end of the island and Best Western Hibiscus Motel 3.5 miles west, about 5 minutes walk to the Southernmost Point Continental USA landmark. The area two blocks west of Best Western Hibiscus is restricted access to Key West Naval Station. The actual southernmost point of Key West is Whitehead Spit on the Navy base.
Best Western Hibiscus Key West
Best Western Hibiscus is a simple two-story structure on Simonton Street, two blocks from the south end of the island and one street east of Duval Street, the main entertainment and party street of the city. The north end of Duval is the main area for bars and Key West party life, but there are bars all along Duval Street from north to south.
The south part of Key West around Whitehead, Duval and Simonton streets is Old Key West with beautiful Queen Anne Victorian houses, many operating as B&B resorts.
Key West Tip – Duval Loop Free Bus: One of the great features of Best Western Hibiscus is free parking. Key West parking is extremely limited and $4 per hour in many places. Much of the street parking is residential permit only. Nearby Waldorf-Astoria The Reach charges $35 per day for parking.
Duval Loop is a free shuttle bus running every 15 minutes 10am-midnight with a stop on Simonton Street only 150 yards from BW Hibiscus, across the street from Camille’s Restaurant.
The bus runs 7 days a week from 6am-midnight Christmas to Easter and Thursday-Sunday in off-season.
Best Western Hibiscus rooms wrap around a central pool area.
My pool photo was taken just after sunrise. Guests lounged around the pool most of the day and into the night. The breakfast area indoors is too small to accommodate more than about 12 people and much of the breakfast dining happens outdoors around the pool.
Breakfast buffet is basic with eggs, sausage and/or bacon, make-your-own waffles, cereal, bananas and oranges, yogurt and breads/muffins. Coffee was available all day.
There is no restaurant on site for other meals.
We ate dinner one evening at Camille’s two blocks (450 feet) away on Simonton Street. It was a fantastic deal with the restaurant offering 2-for-1 entree dinner meals as a January special 3-11pm and all day half price drinks. The limited item dinner menu entrees were priced at $25 to $30. Our meals were excellent with a seafood pasta filled with scallops, shrimp and mussels and a 1/2 rack BBQ ribs and 1/2 BBQ chicken.
 
 
BW Hibiscus Room 102
Wifi, air conditioner, shower, TV and refrigerator all worked well.
No photos of the small lobby space. There was a computer and one couch inside. The breakfast space was so cramped that the attendant working the room in the morning acted as a traffic director at times to keep guests from walking into each other as they carried their trays of food and drink.
The pool was definitely the center of activity for the hotel. Here is a 360 photo view of the space.
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While the hotel is not at the beach, there is South Beach, a small public beach between resort hotel properties and South Beach pier less than 5 minutes walk from the hotel.
South Beach pier is an excellent location for watching a winter sunset. I spent time there every evening watching pelicans crash dive into the water and shrimp boats fishing.
Best Western Hibiscus had a normal reward rate of 36,000 points for January 2018 until the Best Western Rewards promotion offer for 10,000 points reward nights in North America for stays Nov 1, 2017-Jan 31, 2018.
This hotel has room rates at $385 after tax next week for Wednesday Feb 7, 2018 or 36,000 points per night.
Loyalty Traveler – Best Western North America 10,000 points reward nights to Jan 31, 2018
This was a fantastic redemption value for Key West in peak season. I loved the location for my first time visiting Key West.
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