Most hotels and resorts in Florida's Lower Keys will be
closed until at least the beginning of October, repairing Hurricane Irma damage
while complying with evacuation orders from local authorities.
Key West's DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Grand Key-Key
West will reopen Sept. 30, while the Hilton Garden Inn Key West, the Hyatt
Residence Club Key West, Sunset Harbor. The Hyatt Residence Club Key West Beach House reopens Oct.
2. La Concha Key West is open.
The Reach Key West and Casa Marina Key West, which both
operate within Hilton's Waldorf Astoria portfolio, will resume operations Oct.
13, as will the Hyatt Centric Key West. And while DiamondRock said that its
Sheraton Suites Key West reopened with "limited operations" on Sept.
16, it won't remain fully operational until further notice, and its website isn't
showing availability until Nov. 1. DiamondRock's Inn at Key West will remain
closed until further notice.
Hotels in Marathon also remain closed. The Hyatt Place
Marathon/Florida Keys reopens Oct. 1, while the Tranquility Bay and Hawks Cay
resorts won't reopen until at least mid-October. Bluegreen Vacations Hammocks
at Marathon, an Ascend Collection hotel, won't resume operations until Nov. 17.
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Marathon shows no availability until Nov.
27 on its website.
Sixty-five miles south of Miami, Key Largo hotels have
predominantly reopened. Marriott and Hilton, which each oversee five properties
in Key Largo, show all properties bookable on their websites. The Quality Inn Florida
City-Homestead reopens Sept. 24, while Dove Creek Lodge, an Ascend Collection
hotel, resumes operations Oct. 9.
Florida's Monroe County, which includes most the Keys and is
home to about 78,000 residents, had a mandatory evacuation on Sept. 6, four
days before Irma made landfall. As of Wednesday, some Key West hotels,
including the Hilton Garden Inn Key West, noted that they remained closed on
orders from local officials. All of Monroe County remains under a
nighttime-to-sunrise curfew, though power was restored to almost all residents
of the Upper Keys and about three-quarters of the Lower Keys.
Key West International Airport resumed service on Wednesday,
though noted on its website that "only Monroe County residents or those
assisting in the Hurricane Irma recovery effort should be traveling to the
Keys."