The shrimp salad was so good I ordered it twice. The food at Southernmost Beach Resort was one of the things we loved about staying at this resort. We also loved the two private beaches, three pools and our elegantly appointed room with a balcony overlooking the beach in one of the newly renovated guesthouses.
In addition to lounging on the beach and by the pool, there are dozens of activities. We rode bikes around the island, greeted the sunrise with a yoga class on the beach and took a salsa class.
The location was perfect for exploring Key West.
Why you should plan a getaway to Key West
So many ways to describe Key West: quirky, funky, colorful, independent, walkable, historic, lively, tropical. Once the richest city in the U.S. from the lucrative ship salvaging business, the city now thrives on tourism. People come to the 4.2-square-mile island for water recreation and to visit the attractions. Duval Street, the main drag, has dozens of shops, restaurants and art galleries.
Roaming roosters are protected by law and depicted on many souvenirs in gift shops, key lime pie comes on a stick dipped in chocolate and six-toed cats wander the former home of a famous novelist.
Perhaps it’s no big surprise that the pastel-colored homes nestled behind palm trees look more like they belong on a Caribbean island that one off the coast of Florida when you consider that the city is closer to Cuba (90 miles) than it is to Miami (160 miles).
More reasons to love Southernmost Beach Resort
Located at the southern end of Duval Street, Southernmost Beach Resort is within walking distance of everything we did in Key West. In addition to its prime location, here are other things we loved about the resort.
Staying in La Mer Guesthouse
Guests at SBR have their choice of a room with an island, beach or pool view or a stay at The Residence, a three-bedroom, three-bath suite. Another option is to stay in one of two luxury Guesthouses, La Mer House and Dewey House.
These two-story Guesthouses have decks or patios overlooking the beach, and a buffet breakfast at Dewey House is included with your stay. I loved the convenience of walking next door and sitting on the deck overlooking the beach for breakfast. Options included an omelet or egg station and several other items such as flatbreads, smoked salmon, avocado toast and an oatmeal station.
Our room was spacious and decorated in soothing shades with hardwood floors and a wrap-around balcony. We had a mini-fridge, coffee maker, table and chairs and a large bathroom. The entrance to La Mer included a small cozy living area where we hung out on our last day as we had a late flight back home.
I loved the wristband we got when we checked in that had our room key on it so no need to worry about losing or demagnetizing it.
The food at Beach Café
We ate one dinner and a few lunches here and enjoyed every meal. The lunch menu includes items like conch fritters, tuna avocado, Cuban sandwich and Maine lobster roll. The black cherry salad with shrimp on top was so delicious, I ordered it two days in a row.
Dinner items included peel ‘n eat shrimp, grilled octopus, steaks and seafood prepared grilled, blackened or panko fried. The Beach Café also serves breakfast.
The variety of activities
The resort has three pools – an adults-only pool, one just outside the reception area and the largest one by the beach where the Shore Bar is, just outside La Mer Guesthouse.
I rarely hit the fitness room on a trip to the beach, but if you are so inclined there is a nicely equipped one. The Spa offers massages and facials.
Umbrellas and lounge chairs line the small beach and are free for resort guests.
Complimentary activities at the resort include live entertainment by the pools, poolside games like Pictionary, aqua yoga, cocktail, wine and beer samplings, sip and paint events, conch shell blowing contests and pool golf.
We opted to take a beach yoga class one morning, a wonderful way to start the day. The sounds of the waves and the calls of the birds added a relaxing element to the class.
One evening we joined several other people for a fun salsa dance class where our instructor John patiently showed us some moves. Our hips got a little looser after a margarita break from the Beach Café bar.
Bikes are available to rent from the front desk, so we hopped on a couple one day and toured the island, heading down side streets to view the charming homes in the quieter residential areas off Duval Street.
Named for its location, Southernmost Beach Resort is just down the street from one of Key West’s main attractions, the Southernmost Point Buoy. Day or night, no matter when we passed by it, people were lined up to take a photo with the large painted concrete buoy that marks the southernmost point of the U.S.
Other Things to Do in Key West
I love getting out on the water and we lucked out with fabulous weather for our Sunset Dinner Cruise with Sunset Water Sports. We got a kick out of the guitarist on board who would sing a song, then say to himself, “Nailed it.” I’ve adopted that as a self-help feature in my life. I cook a good dinner or perform a tricky dance move then say to myself, “Nailed it.”
No visit to Key West is complete without going to the Green Parrot, an iconic dive bar that opened in 1890 as a grocery store before morphing into, as it calls itself, “a jury of non-judging peers, a rugged and ragged council of friends. It is a place of hi-jinks and misadventures, of understated kindnesses, and everyday miracles.”
It’s the kind of place where drinks come in small plastic cups, you forgo the notion of personal space, the only food comes from a popcorn machine, and you can hear live music from musicians on a miniscule stage starting almost every night at 5:30 p.m. Thankfully, I never had to use the ladies’ room, as the door is about two inches from the musicians. As its slogan says, “It’s a sunny place for shady people.”
I’d been before but wanted to take Chris to see the Harry S. Truman Little White House. It was constructed as housing for naval officers in 1890 and President Truman used it as a winter White House from 1946 to 1952.
I loved seeing some of the original furniture in the home and got a kick out of the octagonal folding poker table. Our 33rd president was known for his love of the game.
Speaking of famous men, Ernest Hemingway loved Key West and wrote many of his novels here. You can tour the home where he lived in the 1930s, which is now The Hemingway Home & Museum. My favorite part was the writing studio in a small building in the back of the home. Cat-lovers will have fun spotting the descendants of his 6-toed cats.
The visit inspired me to read one of the novels he wrote here, “To Have and Have Not,” which is about a fisherman struggling to survive in Key West during the Great Depression. Confession: I didn’t get too far into the novel, quitting after the first murder.
I’m a fan of Hop On, Hop Off Trolley Tours and had a great time taking the one in Key West, where I could jump off and explore the island as I wished. One stop you have to make – Kermit’s Key Lime Pie Shop for a slice of the island’s famous pie.