Sitting at the La Marea Steakhouse in the new Playa Largo Resort & Spa, a Marriott Autograph Collection property, I couldn't help but feel a small surge of pride.
As a travel writer who calls Key Largo home, I'd spent years observing the slow development of what in September had finally become the first full service resort to open in the Upper Keys in 21 years. And there I was, finally, sitting in one of the resort's three restaurants, watching with interest as a server carefully filled a carafe with smoke, and then infused that smoke into a pour of Woodford Reserve.
Such details, I thought to myself, are indeed a sign that my adopted hometown finally has a resort worthy of the town's potential.
Only an hour from Miami but a world away in terms atmosphere, Key Largo is exceedingly well positioned to capture tourists. And it hasn't been without its lodging charms. The boutique Kona Kai Resort is excellent. The Jules Undersea Lodge, which has just two rooms, actually gives divers a chance to sleep below the surface.
Meanwhile, the Hilton Key Largo and the Key Largo Bay Marriott Beach Resort have long been the town's two full-service offerings.
Nevertheless, Key Largo has long lacked a luxury, full-service product and has therefore ceded that market to the swankier Islamorada, 20 miles farther down the Overseas Highway, or to Key West beyond that.
Two days as an invited guest at Playa Largo in early December has convinced me it will be a game-changer.
Set on 14 acres alongside Florida Bay, the resort offers plenty of class but little pretense. Standard rooms, like the one I stayed in, are each 432 square feet. A partial wall, with shutters that can be opened, separates the bedroom from a living area that features a couch and lounge chairs; there are TVs in both areas. Wood-washed porcelain floors and other soft colors help give the rooms a relaxed, chic feel. Resting on the living area's couch, I felt very much like I was in a spacious suite.
There are suites, as well, not to mention 10 private bungalows and the Beach House, which rents for $4,500 per night.
The dinner set-up at La Marea, Playa Largo Resort & Spa's steak house that features dry-aged beef.
As far as dining is concerned, La Marea, where I enjoyed that smoke-infused bourbon, offers steaks, dry-aged for 24 to 48 days, as well as a selection of original sauces. Those in search of the quintessential Keys casual experience can instead go to the open-air Sol by the Sea, where they can eat seafood as they look out over the bay.
As a Key Largo resident, however, I'm likely to most frequently go to the hotel's ceviche bar, Las Olas, off the lobby. The octopus ceviche I ordered there had just the right combination of spice and acidity and left me wanting more.
During my two days at Playa Largo conditions were mostly rainy and overcast, so I didn't get to take much advantage of the zero entry pool, which spreads toward the property's man-made but attractive beach. However, I spent plenty of time in the whirlpool, looking out over that beach and the water.
Playa Largo's zero-entry pool overlooks Florida Bay.
I also availed myself of the 6,000-square-foot Ocean Spa, where I enjoyed the 90-minute Key Largo Signature Massage, in which my masseuse augmented her work with salt stones that she told me detoxify the body.
Other Playa Largo amenities include a 24-hour, 1,500-square-foot fitness center and 6,000 square feet of meetings space. Weddings are held on a central lawn that fronts the water and offers sunset views. Catamaran rides, fishing excursions and ecotours onto the Florida Bay estuary, most of which is part of Everglades National Park, are offered out of the resort's marina.
As of early December, Playa Largo was still going through a few growing pains. The two lighted clay tennis courts, while having much potential, had a few bare patches and still needed seats and water coolers. Meanwhile, construction on the Reef Tower, one of the four lodging buildings on the property, was ongoing and expected to continue until January. Once finished, the resort will expand from its current 155 rooms to 178 rooms.
Overall, though, Playa Largo has already taken the mantle as Key Largo's best full-scale resort, and it's also the most easy to reach high-end resort in the Keys for anyone coming from Miami or the mainland in general.
For more information, visit playalargoresort.com.