Tranquility Bay Beach House Resort

We booked 3 bedroom cottage with ocean view. The walls in the resort seem to be paper thin because I could hear the neighbors. We woke up early due to the noise next door (some government place). We were were for 2 nights in May 2015. I loved the grounds and the layout of the cottage. It was truly beautiful. There is a restaurant and a beach bar on the resorts grounds. Rooms were clean. The outdoor space was very nice and you could relax. Plenty of nature around you. Little lizards and iguanas everywhere and three cats who patrol the grounds. It was a nice stay on our way to Key West. There are plenty of places to eat around the resort, some walking and some driving distance.

We booked a one bedroom and they put us in a three bedroom villa because of a computer clinch, but then the next day, they moved us to a two bedroom where we stayed for two nights. The property is beautiful. They have quiet pool for adults and a kids pool.
The location is in the middle of the Keys which was great for exploring.

There were clear pluses and minuses with this resort. Starting on the positive — the grounds are exceptional, well maintained (except for the beach) and beautiful. When the big pool was filled with kids and noisy, we headed to the medium-​sized pool and enjoyed that, although the heater was only on approximately half the time. The interior of the beachfront condo was clean, roomy and well maintained, though the bathrooms were quite small. When we arrived, one of the towel racks was almost totally pulled from the wall. When I told the front desk about it, they had someone out to fix it within 15 minutes. We had a great Gulf view out the master bedroom. Lounging out on the sand in the evening was a real treat. And Marathon is a wonderful location.
At the top of the negatives list is value. When you’re paying $ 240 per person per night, you’d expect more. We searched for a way to expedite taking in our luggage 500 feet to our condo when we arrived but no such luck. So a lot of trips to the parking lot for check-​in and check-​out. Yes, they make up the beds and clean your condo daily, but we were frequently without enough towels. Most of the time the existing towels were taken (even if they were hanging), and not replaced. So we had to frequently catch a maid or go to the front desk to get a new supply. There are settings for 6 in the kitchen (in the 3-​bedroom condo), but it was somewhat difficult to do all the cooking we wanted to, e.g. pot holders and strainer would be nice. Whereas the sand in front of the condos was nice, the actual beach and Gulf swimming area were disappointing. Lots of seaweed which was not cleared (even a pathway to the water would be nice) and a swimming area that was very shallow and even above water at low tide. We found the Sombrero beach (on Atlantic side) much more to our liking. The person at the front desk was pleasant when we arrived, but don’t count on them picking up the phone. We tried to rental some paddleboards, but they were locked up and staff was gone by 2pm. So service was generally inconsistent. And we took a look at the prices in the restaurant and quickly headed elsewhere.
TB is basically a maintained property. Individual condos are owned by non-​resident persons, and the staff is paid to service the persons vacationing there. Aside from keeping up the grounds, it doesn’t seem to work very well. We looked at other options in the area, e.g. Coco Plum area, and found much better values.

We booked a two night stay during a Florida road trip. To be honest we were a little disappointed with the Keys as we travelled to Marathon… but we loved this hotel.
The room was nicely decorated and of a generous size. As we explored we found an excellent large pool which my youngest son loved. Best of all was the beach and Tiki Bar. The staff were very friendly and were expert at deploying the wind breaks around the bar area, as the wind was quite brisk during our visit. The food was great and pretty reasonably priced.
We would certainly visit again.
If you are there and it happens to rain check out the turtle hospital next door… that is awesome too!!!

Beautiful beautiful beautiful! Reminded us very much of the Sandals hotels in Jamaica. So very relaxing. Staff was extremely friendly. Rooms are huge! Everything was so clean and well maintained. A lovely place for a family vacation or reunion. Bring card games /​board games /​a good book and your swim suit!

We honey mooned here and loved it! We got a 2 bedroom townhouse and since it was the off season, we got a BOMB deal on the rate. The tiki bar food and drinks are decent, but very expensive. The butterfly café is also pretty expensive, but it’s justifiable bc the food was great!

Went in late September and it there were very few people around. The rooms were great and a good size. The property was well kept, with the exception of the lizard poop. I would also recommend at least one meal at the restaurant. This isn’t Key West… but it is certainly peaceful.

Do you want a tranquil stay? Don’t stay here. Loud large groups.
If you are a couple and looking for a quiet peaceful stay this is not the place.
Beautiful resort and accommodations and great for large groups.
Service is good, staff accommodating but there is only so much they can do when there are loud large groups nearby.

A very relaxing place, all amenities in the resort. If you rent the beachfront house, the ambiance is so calm and peaceful. You don’t want to leave. I feel we stayed too short, will be back soon. iguanas everywhere especially it’s the key west area but they have adopted cats in the area to scare them away. pools are warm and we’ll maintained. Beds and the house features are practical too. the swimming area is not that great compared to Fort Zachary park but good enough for those who have kids. Will come back again.

Heed the bad reviews– it’s all true!
Overview: your unit may not be what you pay for. Pool was crowded and dirty with lizard poop on walkways. Front desk staff is extremely rude and argumentative. Restaurants are overpriced rip off.
This place is for sheeple. Heed the bad reviews– they are honest and I found to be pretty much on point with my experience.
Details: The best thing about our stay was that we just stayed for the night. At check in the lady seemed very curt, overworked, overwhelmed and stressed. «How can I help you» in a voice that read «great– more people to deal with» Not a welcoming atmosphere or a good start to a vacation. Things got worse when a disgruntled guest called… the lady smart talked him TIL he got mad and then she hung up on his face. we were then told to wait Til 4pm check in– no one gave us any info of where we could go or area things to do in the heat of the day with a baby. By the time we got back the disgruntled guest on the phone was now a disgruntled guest in a full on screaming match with the manager and the mans wife in the lobby. I have truly never seen anything like this in my life– especially not at a «beach resort».
Our «unobstructed ocean front» unit was so overgrown outside that you could barely see the ocean through the trees. (See photo) The deck had rusty nails sticking up and leaves and dead Palm rubbish everywhere (tetanus anyone?)
The unit interior was clean enough for the night– I guess that’s a positive.
The vibe here is like sheep herding scam chic– if that’s your thing– you will love it here. When im paying a premium at a vacation destination I expect a welcoming cheerful atmosphere– I felt like I needed a xanax by the time we left.

I’d call this a «light 4» because of the service. We recently stayed for a second time and this time we were there for an entire week. I understand it is not like a hotel where you are getting full room service everyday, but what we did get was still not very good in terms of cleaning. Beach towels were there on day one, but never refilled so we had to use our bath towels. Took 3 days to get a new light bulb for one of the rooms. Another day, the primary garbage can was left without a bag. At least twice, we had to call and request dishwasher detergent because the packages were not refilled each day. One day, a bag of replacement toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, etc. was left in the hallway instead of actually being put away. Singularly, nothing would have been a big deal, but everyday there seemed to be another item.
The resort itself is nice, but I think next time we go we’ll probably try another property due to the service issues.

This «resort» is a 3 start hotel at its best. The cleaning crew does a great job, but the service, the amenities and the accommodations are not very impressive. Most condos face the garden, but they are all labeled as water front.

Perfect location. Beautiful scenery. Excellent service !! Tiki bar had amazing selections — Josh and Amanda were friendly and courteous. Ryan was attentive and welcoming. Great experience ! Thank you to all :)

Beautiful sunsets! Tiki bar is a great place for family to relax and enjoy casual dining. Our 3 bedroom beach house was spotless, spacious and comfortable. It was ready for check-​in 4 hours early! Large pool was great. I removed 1 star because staffing was very light — eg. no bellman, no valet, pool towel service, etc) Perhaps they were short staffed due to off season? Overall, a beautiful place that lives up to its name.

Perfect place to stay in the Keys! Quiet and clean. We stayed in a beachfront 2 bd beach house. Great place for families. The staff was friendly and accommodating. I would definitely take a trip to the tiki bar, it’s a little expensive but it’s worth it to watch the sunset with a tropical drink on the beach! So nice I’m sad to be leaving. But we will be back.

I’ve been a traveler since I was young, and I can wholeheartedly say this was the best place I’ve ever stayed. My boyfriend and I were planning a trip to Key West, and after finding pretty bad hotels for way more money we decided to «settle» for Marathon. At least at the time we thought we were settling but we ended up hating Key West and loving Marathon.
This town is a cute little island town, and everywhere we went we felt like we were at home including the resort. Check in was very smooth. The hold on the credit card was a little bit of a surprise since we did prepay, but we found that almost every place you travel in Florida has the same process. We rented a tropical garden king room for four days, and the price was extremely reasonable. The room was very clean and in great condition, and right outside our door was a little pool that we called our «private pool». I don’t think a ton of people knew about it since two much larger pools are also at the resort, but we loved relaxing there by ourselves. Housekeeping was very nice and came everyday to give us fresh towels, take out our trash and make our bed.
There were a ton of people staying here, but I never felt crowded or overwhelmed. It seemed like everyone just wanted to relax. We watched the sunset by TJ’s every night. And I want to praise the staff there for a minute-​nicest group of people I’ve ever met. Michelle was our absolute favorite, she gave us all the tips and tricks and took really good care of us. My mom was recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and has decided to live out her life without treatment so before her health deteriorates she begged my boyfriend and I to take a break from caring for her. She wanted me to go to Florida since it has always been the place she loves the most. The people here had no idea what I was going through at home, but their kindness helped tremendously.
The prices at TJ’s were a little high, but it honestly didn’t stop us because we went there everyday. Don’t be scared to try the daily drink either-​the price is cheaper and they’re always very good. My boyfriend said the best thing he ate the entire trip was the fish tacos from here, I took this pretty seriously since he loves food and tends to be a hard critic.
We rented a jet ski one afternoon, and the guy working the rental tent was super nice and friendly as well. We had an absolute blast. The rental price was comparable to everywhere else around us.
The complaints about the sea grass are a little ridiculous. The keys aren’t known for their beaches and to have one at the resort was amazing. The sea grass is a part of nature, and there’s nothing the resort can do to stop it. We learned that when we took the jet ski out. The sea grass goes out for miles. It’s the gulfs fault. not tranquility bay. lol
This place is honestly everything. We plan on making it a yearly trip. The only thing we’d do different next time is upgrade to an ocean front view.

A little slice of unassuming paradise. Upon check-​in we were upgraded to a two story room complete with a full kitchen free of charge! Talk about a nice welcome. There are so many spots to relax and unwind, from our porch to the beach and adult pool, the resort truly lives up to its tranquility name. Gorgeous beach and would highly recommend to any going to the Keys — ignore the bad reviews, this resort is fabulous. Just make sure you don’t stay on the side near the turtle rescue center — so stinky.

Let’s go to the Tiki bar…
This is a catchphrase my boyfriend and I have been using post vacation to the Keys for the last week. That is to say it was a memorable experience. We were in the area for 4 days and ended up at this hidden gem 3 times. Our first and second time was on Christmas day and it was not only exciting to find a place open to eat out, but even more exciting that we had such delicious food and such a pleasant time.
We were not staying at the hotel/​resort but it was easy enough to walk through the main lobby and outside to the oceanfront tiki bar. The first time, it was midday and we had the fish dip which came with crackers in the shape of butterflies and shrimp cocktail. Both of these dishes were fresh and tastey as can be. We drank Pina coladas too, which were great. Bonus: Everything was half off (happy hour or maybe for the holiday?)
We made this place our pit stop coming back from our day trip to Key West from Islamorada, late night. We had Pina coladas once again and finally got our dessert on with a classic key lime pie. I have had better, but it was still pretty good and it hit the spot.
The 3^rd time we were there was for some apps again in the afternoon prior to our adventure into touring the nooks and cranies of Marathon for potential vacation rental properties. We ordered the shrimp cocktail once again, the fish tacos which had a very tastey sauce and fresh Mahi Mahi in them and finally, the pretzel with cheese. My boyfriend claimed it was one of the best he had ever had. It was ginormous and the texture of the dough was just perfect. I personally prefer white cheese instead of yellow, but you can hardly get that anywhere. The pretzel was so good by itself it didn’t need any dipping sauce.
Overall, every time we were there the service was very friendly and attentive. The only caveat to this experience is that they add gratuity to the bill, but it was really a minor drawback since we would have left at least what they added anyway.
What added to this yummy food experience was the beautiful atmosphere of this place. We would love to stay at the hotel in the near future and be regulars at this memorable tiki bar.

Some dangerous unwelcomed visitors, and high prices…
Nothing special. Lots of beach houses with nice rooms. First night I stayed here, i was greeted with a little suprise at about 1am, tired, going to the bathroom i almost stepped on a scorpion. That kind of turned me off completely on the resort in the first place. Then the struggle we had trying to contact the hotel to do something about this unwelcomed visitor was even worse. No one was present, and calling the hotel over-​night manager was horrible, pretty much she said nothing could be done about it until morning. So we were for ed to spend the night in a hotel room with god know what else could be lurking around. Mind you, we are not from an area that has scorpion, or creatures of any such kind. In my mind i believe, besides the scorpion, the hotel wasnt worth the prrice, and a tad bit over rated…

One of the worst values in the FL Keys. I recently did a week and half long trip to the Fl keys and stayed at Tranquility Bay for 3 days. I was quite disappointed in what the «resort» had to offer for the price. Many hotel/​resorts in the area will offer guest equipment and activities such as paddle boars, fishing poles, sea kayaks at no additional cost during their stay. Tranquility Bay charges for anything extra. The swim beach was in such poor condition that no one in our party would step foot on it and I didn’t see one other guest try it either.
I thought for the extra cost that the amenities and appointments of the «Beach House» would be a step above what other locations in the area offer, not so. The linens were poor quality, the kitchen was sparsely stocked with equipment, and the bathrooms are tiny.
They Keys can be such a great vacation spot but also expensive. I would just recommend lodging in the area that doesn’t have such a feeling of corporate ownership.