Cheeca Lodge & Spa

Cheeca Lodge is an oasis from all of the kitschy, themed touristy spots on islamorada. The grounds are beautiful and inviting, and the spa, golf course (pitch and putt), beachfront and main lodge are all tastefully appointed and nicely equipped.
They have recently moved the sushi themed restaurant from the main level of the main lodge up to the top floor, and it seems to work quite nicely because the new space flows out onto a rooftop lounge. The food is excellent! We tried several different items and everything was exceptional. They have a very nice wine list and an ample selection of items by the glass including a Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay.
You can find everything you need at this full-​service resort. The shop carries everything from Tommy Bahama to forgotten sundries. The store is staffed by locals who can also help you with all sorts of questions.
The main lodge is elegant Keysian architecture and there seems to be a constant presence of concierge staff at hand to point you in the right direction.
The million-​dollar views are where it’s all at here… so take a seat on the beach looking out over Morada Bay and you just cannot be unhappy here!
By the way I know someone posted photos here comparing them to photos taken prior to when Cheeca Lodge was rebuilt but that is why certain amenities look different now than they did years ago when the original photographs were taken…
All the locals know this is the place to recommend for guests coming to visit Islamorada.

We just returned from spending a few days at the Cheeca Lodge and had a wonderful time. The grounds were very peaceful and quiet and perfectly manicured during our stay. The service was incredible everywhere we turned from the person at the front gate to the staff at the restaurants. We had an oceanside bungalow and the views were incredible. The room décor was excellent and the bed was very comfortable. Unlike some other reviewers, we had no problem with bugs or shoddy housekeeping as they did a great job. The only problem was that the doors needed some maintenance. They worked but looked as if they should be replaced on both the entryway and the doors leading to the balcony. However, if you would like a peaceful relaxing vacation with incredible views, this is your place. But its not an inexpensive place so bring your wallet.

Brought a group of 28 people to this hotel for my wedding weekend. All I can say is I’m glad I chose to have my wedding off premises. The front desk crew is completely disorganized. They charged me to deliver welcome bags to my guests but I had to remind them after every guest checked in that they did not receive a bag. A lot of our rooms had the same last name since we have a large family and it was such a disaster. They had completely mixed up our bills and had no idea how to fix it. We spent 3 – 4 hours at the desk trying to understand why I was getting charged for my sisters breakfast and my fathers gift shop purchases. The rooms are ok– the food is ok. Nothing special. No one was impressed.

Cheeca lodge is quite simply, my favorite resort in the Florida Keys. It’s right on the beach, on the Atlantic side, and the property is a beautiful example of an upscale tropical resort. You are greeted at check in with glasses of champagne, inscribed with the Cheeca lodge logo, which you can keep. The service has always been excellent. There is a great circular bar on the beach, where you can have drinks, and meals while watching sports on multiple TVs or just enjoying the view. There is an iconic long dock, and they offer multiple water activities including boat and kayak rentals. The restaurants at Cheeca are all excellent and the resort is also close to Pierre’s and Morada bay, which are on the Gulf side and have amazing sunset views. One of my favorite activities is watching the sunset on one of the Adirondack chairs at Morada Bay with a cocktail, and then having dinner at Pierre’s. The rooms are spacious and elegant, some have tubs on the balcony. Cheeca has a pool right by the beach, and also a more private adult pool with cabanas right by the spa/​gym. The gym is decent, adequate for one or two workouts during your stay. We have stayed here multiple times over the last several years, and look forward to going back. The resort has a wonderful relaxing feel, and overall, it’s a great experience which I highly recommend. Check it out and enjoy.

I was really concerned about staying at this hotel after reading some of the not-​so-​great reviews, but my experience (as well as my family’s) was fantastic.
From the moment we arrived at Cheeca — we were greeted with excellent service and a wonderful resort experience. We were given champagne when we arrived and the staff was always nice and accommodating throughout our stay. Our room overlooked the ocean, was very clean, and was very large.
All of the suggestions the front desk gave us for restaurants in the area were great.
My one complaint is with the fitness area — sometimes they hold yoga and fitness classes in the gym and dim the lights. I think the lodge would make more money if they had a separate fitness studio.
I am not sure if the other reviews have to do with rooms by the golf course, but the main lodge was wonderful and we did not experience any problems with our room.

This place has an amazing view of the ocean and great restaurants as well. The room was nice and comfortable, I loved the bathroom it was nice, airy and big. The best part was you shower looking out to the ocean and there is a huge round tub out on the balcony with a water spout coming from the ceiling to fill it up that was a very nice touch. I Highly recommend this place, in my opinion it’s the best place to stay on the island. Anywhere else is a dump compared to here. The only reason I did not give this place 5 Stars is because they did not deliver the wine opener that we called and asked for twice. We ended finding one in our own.

(+) A large family place with lots of activities. Several restaurants, complimentary bikes, kayaks, catamarans, golf, and fishing pier. We rode bikes around the grounds (about a mile) and down the old highway. Food was excellent and expensive. Ground were well cared for, everything was clean, and the staff helpful. Fastest wireless internet I have ever seen at a resort, about 100mb/​s.
(-) We had some initial repair/​tech issues, no internet, broken shower door, opened the window and its glass pane fell out. Called the front desk and they promised repairs that never occurred. Next morning we had a face to face with the assistant manager and everything was fixed 10-​minutes later. When we checked out someone else’s $ 450 dinner charge was on our bill and we could not leave until the manager came to correct the error. A 40-​minute delay.
Travel; The Islamorada bridge opens for boating every hour at the top of the hour beginning at 8AM until 6PM. This backs up traffic and it took us 5-​hours to go from Miami to the resort. I suggest arriving after 6-​PM or before 8AM to avoid this traffic.

We stayed at the Cheeca Lodge for 4 days over Christmas 2015 while making our way down the Keys and then to the Bahamas. It was one of four places we stayed at during our vacation, and was by far our favorite (family of five with three young kids). Our only regret was that we did not stay at Cheeca longer.
We loved every part of it, from check in, to the room, amenities, food, everything. Our favorites included:
* Room was awesome — room in the main building overlooking the ocean with a very large bathroom and a spectacular tub on the deck overlooking the ocean.
* Staff were friendly, helpful, professional and worked hard and efficiently when we had requests for assistance.
* Kids pool was great… large and fun and overlooking the ocean, with good pool service (excellent food and drinks)
* We had fun checking out gear including tennis rackets, golf clubs, and loved easily playing golf and tennis on the property… great for kids.
* Dinners at the resort (we tried sushi and Italian) were great… a bit expensive… but great food and service. Just make reservations in advance!
The beach is beautiful and quiet with an impressive number of lounge chairs available. We could have taken advantage of a ton of beach/​water activities including snorkeling, wave runners, parasailing, etc… but we never took advantage of it. But should have! The cost of the resort fee includes use of water equipment such as paddleboards, kayaks, fishing poles, etc.
Cheeca was our favorite place to stay during our entire vacation and we would certainly come back. Great resort… and highly recommend.

We stayed at the Cheeca 12−6−15 thru 12−12−15. Let me start by saying this really is the premium resort in the keys. Check in fast and smooth. We did have an small issue with our room. Due to record rainfall we developed a small leak in the window. We were moved to another room no questions or arguments. I have stayed at 5 star plus resorts all over the world. For me it doesn’t matter how nice the place or how perfectly planned the vacation hiccups will happen, it is how they are dealt with. It has an amazing view awesome amenities, amazing food. What else is there! The staff was very attentive and friendly. I cannot wait to go back!!! I will stay again and again I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS RESORT!!! I KNOW if there is an issue take a breath have a drink and the folks running the resort will fix it while you work on your tan!!!

Overpriced and the customer service was lacking. I asked several questions to the front desk and received no answers. We were celebrating my engagement and revived no extra perks. The overall resort was beautiful and had great views of the ocean.

LET’S BEGIN WITH THE GOOD:
Our hotel room was screwed up — though my booking said 1 type of room… their system had somehow assigned us to another. The front desk asked to see evidence, and upon viewing my confirmation email, they worked quickly to fix their error. They bumped us up to a suite, which was done immediately and available 2 hours prior to check-​in time. We knew we were early, and planned on just being at the pool until 3pm — so that was a nice surprise. The free champagne upon arrival is also a nice touch, and was appreciated.
The resort grounds are nice, and well-​kept. The natural ecology of the Florida Keys is such that all beaches are man-​made. You can’t expect a real «beach», even where they’ve put sand. These are areas that mangroves and seagrass grow, so I’m not taking any stars away for the fact that these are not the beaches of Bora Bora.
Every single staff member we encountered was amazing — friendly and helpful. The pools were clean, and the poolside cabanas in the spa area were great for seeking out shade and watching some TV. The suite was also beautiful.
THE BAD:
— The bedroom TV did not work.
— Our
reservation was apparently transferred to Orbitz, and though
charged us a «booking fee», apparently once we got to the hotel we were now responsible for an additional «resort fee». Between all of the unadvertised fees from both sources, this drove the already-​high per diem cost of the resort up by an additional $ 100 per night. Simply unacceptable. By comparison, the similarly priced Hilton charges a $ 25 resort fee per diem — and is UPFRONT about it.
— A mysterious two charges appeared on my credit card the next day after leaving the resort — each for over $ 100. I have called their accounting department twice to find out why, but no response yet. The front desk speculated that it might have been a «hold»… but both charges were for random amounts (i.e. $ 143.87) which seems odd. When I called, they also mistook me for somebody else and said «we’re looking into this for you»… so it seems this is a frequent enough occurrence that it happened to two people in one weekend.

I read all of these reviews before my stay and made a mental promise not to be affected by them — I really, really wanted to experience each detail for myself, unbiased. After all. I’ve been wanting to stay at the renowned Cheeca Lodge since I was a little girl…
Sadly, most of them are true.
My husband and I decided to treat ourselves to a mini moon after our wedding. Cheeca Lodge seemed perfect, balancing an ideal amount of relaxation with adventure. We arrived on a Friday around 4:30 PM and were ushered over to a check-​in desk by a young girl in her early 20’s. We made small talk, and I giddily explained that we were visiting for our mini honeymoon. With that, I asked if there might be any upgrades available. The check-​in girl then offered us a beautiful 800-​square-​foot oceanfront suite which sounded like a dream. She told us it would only be available for one of the two nights of our stay, but we happily accepted the offer and slight inconvenience to be able to spend a night in that special room. She then asked for her supervisor’s help in making the change, who seemed appalled that we weren’t aware of the rate difference… uhm, what? They ended up asking us to pay nearly 4x our regular room rate, which was super disappointing when we thought we were getting a complimentary upgrade for our honeymoon. The check-​in girl closed by saying, «Don’t worry. Your bungalow is oceanfront, too.» Big fat, unnecessary lie. We left with two glasses of champagne that are given to all guests at check-​in, but felt a little slighted.
The next morning, we woke up to a dead mouse outside of our bungalow and the same girl from check-​in handled my call when I contacted the front desk. There was no apology provided for this mortifying issue, and we were eventually offered a breakfast voucher for the inconvenience. Literally gross situation and awful handling of the issue. And then it occurred to me…
Cheeca Lodge is a luxury hotel that has all of the building blocks for success — really, the lush grounds, quaint and secluded atmosphere combined with endless water views are unparalleled. BUT, there is a serious disconnect with customer service. ⁹⁄₁₀ times, luxury leisure properties lure guests celebrating special occasions. My biggest piece of advice to this place is to feed into those special occasions — make people feel valued in whatever way you can. And when something inevitably goes wrong, show a little compassion. It is these human efforts that can elevate someone’s stay, and I wish Cheeca would have employed a little more of that.
All of that said, shout out to Richard and Travis at the restaurant and Chris at the front desk — these three gentlemen were truly impressive and deserve recognition. Best service we received all weekend!
For being a gorgeous destination with stunning rooms and bathrooms, our experience gets a solid 3.7 stars.

If I could do 0 stars– I would.
What started as a decent stay where I could justify a 3.0 star rating quickly derailed when I woke up on our last night to use the washroom at 11:30pm only to see a large ROACH scurry across the floor when I flipped the light on. I grabbed my shoes as it ran into the washroom under a vanity. I then noticed there were 5 – 6 little ones scattered in the bathroom floor. I grabbed my husband and he helped eliminate a few of the small ones.
Honestly feeling like it we didn’t want to be on the floor, we got back into the bed and I kid you not, put all the lights on hoping the rumor that roaches stay away in bright areas works so I could get two minutes of sleep. Thank goodness we check out tomorrow. I choose not to call the front desk because if anything, they will move us to another room where we will still be on guard for the same situation… Reputation tarnished. I’m just really disappointed that a «5 star» resort would have such issues. I have stayed at best westerns that I’ve had less issues with bugs. We plan to sleep with one eye open and check out much earlier then planned.
This hotel lost some credit for a few other reasons:
Upon purchase and check in, I let them know my husband has some limited mobility on his right side. He gets around, he does well, just takes a bit. So thanks «Chris» for upgrading up to a downgrade… A flight of stairs was «fun» every time we wanted to leave the room. By the way, a building across the way from us had elevators.
Also– the resorts adult pool does not have a staired entryway safe for anyone outside of a fit individual to access. So we were limited to the family pool so my husband could independently (so he could feel like he was on vacation from his cancer) get in and out of the pool. I guess I was just disappointed… Both pools by the way had chair hogs that threw towels on double the chairs they needed and so we were always fighting for chairs which was really annoying. They say chairs left unattended for 30 min would be cleaned, we never saw that once. Overall the pool was overcrowded for low season, I can only imagine what it would be like in high season.
The review that mentions how good the hotels PR is, is accurate. The chairs/​lounge areas were missing from the «spa lagoon» and there were no chairs on the pier either. I really don’t get the point of the spa lagoon if it doesn’t have a place to relax. its just a fountain.
The wifi was awful. They say that you get all these perks with the resort fee– wifi likely isn’t one of them. Websites took forever to load and text messages barely went through. If you’re going to ask for people to pay for it… Then provide it.
Lastly, it just felt like no one cared. I sat and watched the employees. Everyone looked like they were on autopilot. Not one person thanked us for our business, the only super kind people were the ones working the security post at the gate.
I wish I could say more positive things about this resort. Unfortunately they did not provide the experience they say they do on the website.

I feel like in order to be fair it needs to be pointed out that beaches in Key West are not sandy beaches.
I stayed here two nights in late summer/​early fall.
The view is absolutely stunning. I definitely took
advantage of the spacious outdoor tub (definitely not a jacuzzi). Its private and lovely during the night.
The staff is friendly and generally helpful. Room was spacious and clean. I didn’t really take advantage of the amenities as much as i maybe should have.
I like the location. Its about an hour and a half from Key West. So its nice and quiet here. There’s plenty of other dining options within close proximity. I generally make it a rule to avoid in house dining as I rarely find them to be worth the money.
So why this Is a middle of the road experience:
My boyfriend had originally booked a bungalow (liking the idea of being close to the water with added privacy). We came to find we had been «complimentarily upgraded» to an oceanview king suite in the main building. We’re not entirely sure it was an upgrade. We didn’t even get an email about this prior to check in. It was very weird.
Even if this was a real upgrade the staff should be trained to actually tell you more than one thing about the upgraded room and not just say «it has an outdoor tub.»
Then when he randomly checked his bank account the next morning. The resort had randomly charged him $ 200 upon check in. What is this random fee? I can only assume it is a deposit for incidentals. Which we were conveniently also not told about.
Also the lagoon sealed the deal for why we didn’t spend more time on site. It was disgusting. It looked more like a salty mud puddle. Who could go snorkeling in that?
Sigh. I doubt we will be returning. This was neither a good nor bad experience. But based on the cost this was so not worth it.

3.7 stars. Really nice resort! I expected more from the staff, especially the welcome desk. She seemed less then excited to welcome new guests. I thought maybe she was having a bad day until we checked out and acting the same way. There was champagne behind the desk to welcome guests, I was not offered any.
The room was nice but needed maintenance. Lights not working, shower leaked, and why there are no «shelves» in the shower to put soap and toiletries on is beyond me.
The food is good but very pricey. There are tons of places to eat just down the street, within walking distance. I would recommend those. Pool is nice. You can’t really get in the ocean. I mean, you could but I didn’t want to.
They offer fishing and kayaking and stuff which is awesome. Did yoga on the beach

This must be the worst run hotel in the keys. At 500 dollars a night, I would expect at least an average treatment. The check in process and staff are horrible. The front desk manager is asleep at the wheel. Everyone and everything is sub-​par. I am not sure who and how would rate this hotel anything more than 1 star.
I made reservations and requested a call from the hotel staff to make special arrangement for my partner’s birthday. No call back. After 2 days of calling, I finally got a hold of someone who secured an early check in for me. Excellent! Chris and Michelle clearly did not get the message. Not only we were not greeted with «champagne» like the rest of the guests, we were not accommodated for an early check in as promised, or made our BD celebration special in any way.
The grounds are run down, with smell of rotten eggs everywhere. This hotel is just disgusting. I would not stay here if it was free.

Very disappointed in this experience. This used to be a magical place with amazing service, spectacular views, and decent food.
Not what it used to be.

Wir waren im Oktober mit Freunden und Familie in der Cheeca Lodge. Es war einfach alles super. Die Lodge und das Gelände der Lodge, die Angestellten waren mehr als freundlich und sehr zuvorkommend. Die Preise der Cheeca Lodge sind zwar sehr hoch aber ich finde Sie für das gebotene gerechtfertigt. Viele Wasseraktivitäten sind in dem Preis direkt mit drin. Wer also mal ein paar Tage im Paradis verbringen will, der ist hier genau richtig!

This place is a true getaway! If you want to feel disconnected from the everyday hecticness of the city and work… Cheeca is the place to go and retreat :)
It was my first time going there after hearing great reviews from my friends so I just had to experience it for myself!!! And I’m so glad I did! I booked a luxury beach suite for my birthday and it was all that I could’ve wanted and more! They even sent me complimentary chocolate covered strawberries along with a gorgeous cheeca card: p
My stay was so relaxing and peaceful with fun/​cool amenities to enjoy… They had kayaks, bicycle, golf courses, a gorgeous spa, pool, beach and lagoon areas… And each area was just breathtaking!
It is on the pricey side but they made me feel like a god given princess throughout my stay!

I only wish I could have stayed here longer. Such a classy place. We stayed in a 1 bedroom suite with a resort view. The screened porch was very nice and the suite was beautiful. The bathroom had a huge soaking tub. The tub faucet didn’t shut off all the way and was a little annoying but easy enough to forgive. Our unit was on the third floor with covered parking underneath we were at the back of the property near the highway. There was virtually no noise.
This is a large property that includes a golf course. There is plenty of tropical foliage to provide shade and privacy. There is also a spa on site which I did not have time to investigate which includes a large lap pool. There are also tennis courts on site.
The beach is beautiful and quiet with an impressive number of lounge chairs available. They serve complimentary coffee on the patio in the morning. The cost of the resort fee includes use of water equipment such as paddleboards, kayaks, fishing poles, etc.
I fully intent to come back here again in the near future and stay for several days. I was thoroughly impressed.

When my husband and I go on vacation we like to treat ourselves for a day or two in a nice resort. The other days we spend in mediocre hotels but I’m sorry to say this resort didn’t deliver. The price didn’t measure up to the hype on their website. When we pay a high price for a resort we expect service. It felt more like we were at camp.
I know when you are on vacation you shouldn’t worry about things like WiFi and a working television. My husband and I think having these two things working are essential because we come from a 24 hour city we are up later than most. We need WiFi to keep up with our business and who doesn’t want to turn on the TV and relax after a long day? The staff tried to get these items fixed with no real success.
We decided to get 2 hour massages to pass time but sad to say it didn’t leave me relaxed. I told the masseuse to concentrate on my shoulder blades but kept going for my hips. It left me where it was more uncomfortable than anything. On a lighter note my husband enjoyed his massage.
The only positive thing about the trip was that the free amenities came with kayaking. We did have fun doing that and the beds were comfy.