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#4 of 4 resorts in Marathon
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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tranquility Bay is a place like no other, apart from the crowds. Nestled in the heart of the Florida Keys’ palm-lined paradise, in warm and welcoming Marathon, you’ll find a tropical oasis that’s easy to get to, but hard to leave. Because here you’ll make the memories that matter. Wake up to the glistening waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Stay in a private, standalone beach house right on the ocean or surround yourself in the tropical sanctuary of more intimate garden guest rooms. With no hallways, three pools, onsite watersports and plenty of room to just space out--you can do everything to nothing at all. At the end of the day, let powder-soft sand sift through your sun-kissed toes as you relax on a 2.5-acre private beach. Relax,*sigh*… you’ve arrived.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Family
Family Resort
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Location
2600 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050-2243
Tranquility Bay Beachfront Resort
6,133 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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Tranquility Bay Beachfront Resort is often celebrated for its prime location and the vibrant atmosphere, especially the live music at the Tiki Bar. While some guests have called out the resort for high prices and the need for more beach equipment, many rave about the range of on-site amenities, including multiple pools.
The rooms, noted for their spaciousness and views, sometimes receive mixed reviews regarding decor and cleanliness. Service quality is generally high, though there are occasional mentions of slow or unresponsive service.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Dated
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Well-appointed
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The rooms were very well decorated with a definite beach feel. The staff could be friendlier at check in and seemed to just want to process you out of the lobby as quickly as possible even though there wasn't anyone else waiting. The beds were comfortable but the pillows were really thick. If you like a pillow that is over 5 inches thick and won't compress at all then these would be perfect for you. They made my neck hurt and my younger daughter didn't use any at all. The beach bar doesn't serve food any more apparently due to some new state law. It's unfortunate that they can't at least have sandwiches and chips or something like that prepared in the morning and served throughout the day. The drinks were pretty decent and the bartenders were friendly. We ate at the restaurant one night and they were very accommodating. They called my cell as soon as they could fit us in since they were booked pretty solid that night. The wine list was decent and much better than any of the other restaurants we went to in Marathon. The only other real negative was the housekeeping staff. They actually made a mess of our kitchen and didn't restock coffee. They also took the kitchen towels and didn't replace them. They did take out the trash although I'm not sure if they separate the recycling at all on the property. We separated it even though there was not a separate recycling bin but my guess is that most people didn't since there was not a designated place to put it. They took our pool towels every day and didn't leave new ones. You have to go up to the lobby and ask for new ones which is not a difficult process except they take your room number and log them into the system like you lost them or something when the cleaning people are actually taking them. They don't have any rugs at the doors which makes it almost impossible to not track sand all over the house. The kayak and jet ski rentals are run independently from the resort. The free kayak included with the room is only for one hour with a single person kayak. If you want to use a two person kayak, it is not included. Two out of the four jet skis are broken so if you don't book ahead of time, you won't be using a jet ski. Overall, we had a great stay at Tranquility Bay but I can't give them more than 4 stars with the housekeeping issues and the fat pillows.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed in a 2-bedroom townhome for 3 nights. The grounds are beautiful. Palm and coconut trees, pools, beach, walkways and winding paths through buildings. The lagoon pool is a great size. Plus there's a quieter adults pool. As others have said and all travelers should know by research, the keys are not like regular beaches. The beach here is shallow water, no waves. Warm. The sand is nice though, especially if you go near the water sports (but that is the non-swimming beach). I got a pina colada at the tiki bar and it was way too expensive and tasted nothing like a pina colada. Our unit (56 in dolphin) was great. Very clean. Everything in great shape except the master bath will eventually need another coat of paint. Tiny stuff like that which shouldn't ruin a trip. The laundry is a godsend. They give you 2 packets of detergent, plus dishwasher detergent and kitchen dish soap. We chose not to use housekeeping but requested extra towels and toiletries on the third day and a really nice man dropped them off. Stay here!
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Overall, we had a very nice stay here. The beach area was very nice and typically quiet, we had no issues finding chairs even if we came out around noon. It was a very beautiful and peaceful place, and for the most part you would never know if you were in a fairly run down beach town. This resort had mostly everything we needed. The bartenders, especially Steve - gave some really good recommendations for local dining and even a great snorkeling trip with "better than most" watersports. The food and drinks at the tiki bar were very good, the smoked fish dip was the best I've ever had.
Cons:
Physical security. Does it exist here? I'd like to see secondary locks on the doors, as bare minimum budget hotels have them. It would be nice to see a physical guard making some rounds here, reinforcing rules like "no kids in the adult pool". What system exists to prevent locals or pool hoppers from enjoying all the amenities on our dime?
The bathrooms. First of all, there are no bathrooms near the beach - you have to go back to your room or the lobby area. The bathrooms in your room are no frills, builder grade quality with the cheapest shower heads that money can buy. I'd expect more out of a luxury resort. I understand that this is likely the nicest resort in marathon, but it's certainly not the nicest resort in the keys.
Even with these cons, we had a great trip, I would just like to see a little more effort put in, a little paint and TLC on the properties. Having said that, I would likely return as marathon has great snorkeling and fishing nearby, and I do see this as a great family resort.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Value
Rooms
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We looked forward to our stay here based on the location and description of the property. Our actual experience was very disappointing. We came back to our room around late afternoon and it was not yet cleaned. We then read (pic attached) that they targeted to have rooms cleaned by 5pm. We also noticed that the safe was locked and did not open for us to actually use it and there was a leftover pack of hot dogs in the refrigerator. We went to the front desk to remind them about the room needing cleaning and issue with the safe. The room got cleaned but the issue with the safe did not get addressed. They did not seem concerned or apologetic when we talked to them. In addition, they tack on a "resort fee." This "resort fee" includes a one hour rental of a single person kayak. Unfortunately, we never got to use it because they were closing for the day just after we checked in and the following day was forecasted to have bad weather so they expected to be closed. They have multiple pools, including one steps from our room, but it opened later in the morning (well past sunrise). We talked to the staff and this is basically a condo (individual owner) type of property where owners can rent out their units. Once again, this place is not run like a hotel. If you know and are tolerant of these sort of things, then you might be fine here. We did not know or expect them.
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Booked at Tranquility Bay after our Alaskan Cruise was cancelled. We took four teenagers with us, so booked the three bedroom ocean front little townhome. I would say most of the reviews are spot on, so read them carefully so you know what you are getting for the cost.
PROs: Resort is in a great location, with a private beach, bay, and two pools. The family pool is huge and easily allowed us to have our own space and the kids to throw a ball around and not disturb anyone. Loved the Tiki Bar on the beach and ate dinner there the first night. They really let you linger so we were able to play beach volleyball and a few other games they had out while we slowly ate and drink while watching the sunset. They have a great water sport company on property with jet skis, paddle boards, kayaks, and more. Very friendly and well cared for equipment. White sand beach is there and lots of lounge chairs they allow you to take into the water and use. Plenty of room in the house for us and kitchen made it nice to eat there and save money. Great view, but you are attached on both sides to other units and balconies are close. So if you want privacy on your back deck or balcony don’t book here.
CONs: the rooms/houses are not kept up well. We had small flying bugs in all the rooms, under the beds and in the ends. Most were dead and looked to have been there for some time. There was rotten limes in the disposal, so clearly no one had cleaned that in a while. Mildew in the showers, and towels were very thin. Pull out bed in family room is very uncomfortable. Kitchen was not well stocked, missing a toaster and half the utensils. The back door that lead from the master bedroom to the upper dec, the door nob and lock was rusted out so it wouldn’t stay shut without deadbolting. There was water stains around the air vents in each room. The back porch lights were out and needed to be replaced. A lot of rust around the exterior of the place. Not many employees coming around during the day to clean up the grounds, but each morning the grounds seemed to be cleaned.
When I voiced my concerns at checkout about the issues they did keep notes but didn’t apologize, offer a manager to speak to, or anything really. If this place had better management and was better cared for it could be an amazing resort. But before you pay the $700+ a night read this and the other reviews so you know what you are getting for that money and your expectations in line.
Overall we enjoyed our time but won’t come back until they update the houses or we see better reviews.
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
So we stayed here the week leading up to the mini lobster season (end of July). I will start with the negatives because these are the most important in my mind.
1. Our place was not clean. If you read any of my other reviews of hotels/resorts, cleanliness is always important to us. I will not get into the specifics but this place was as dirty as any we have stayed. 2. We were told that due to covid, the rooms were vacant for 48 hours in between guests being allowed in because of the thorough cleaning. I didnt see that actually happening. On one side of us, it may have been 24 hours between guests and on the other side of us, a family checked out in the morning and a new family checked in that same afternoon...or so it seemed. 3. We were told that there was a strict 6 person per unit policy....that did not appear to be enforced as we saw several units that appeared to be well over that number. 4. Privacy can be an issue on patios as they are so close together. We were lucky with our neighbors as they were all respectful around us but I could see other units where there were more partiers that were loud and not as respectful of their neighbors.
Positives 1. The layout of the resort was really nice. Lots of green grass and palm trees - pools were nice, but could get crowded. The lagoon/beach was nice and we snorkeled there. Its hard to find a good beach in the keys and this was the best beach area I have found down there. 2. The staff was really nice and mostly helpful. There was no housekeeping service due to covid so we would just set the garbage out on the front porch and it was gone generally quickly. We had no issues with any bugs or spiders during our trip. We did have a few iguanas on our porch that the kids loved to see but they can make a mess so be careful. 3. Food was really good. Butterfly cafe was outstanding! Tiki bar was what you would expect and all were nice.
So in a nutshell, we loved the resort itself. I will say the set up of 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths can be a challenge when you have teenagers. All 3 bedrooms upstairs and the 2 full bathrooms upstairs and half downstairs. Which means we (parents) had to allow kids to use our bathroom too but not the end of the world. The half bath downstairs was so filthy that we did not allow anyone in to use it so everyone had to go upstairs to use restroom. If there were a way to confirm a good deep cleaning, we could make this a yearly trip but unfortunately, due to the condition, I am pretty confident that we will not be back here, which is sad.
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Date of stay: July 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at Tranquility Bay for 6 nights over Thanksgiving 2019.
Pros It was quiet, where we were. The beach was nice and they did a good job of managing the seaweed The suite met our needs with 2 bedrooms, sitting area and kitchen. Turtle hospital is right next door for a great family activity Nice to have washer and dryer Nice location mid way on the keys
Cons The fees are not clear when you are reserving, they are high and do not get you anything The cleaners are not good and don't speak English. The stairs are carpet and they may never have been vacuumed. I don't even think the cleaners had access to a vacuum. The hour kayak single per day is so disappointing when you are a family of 4. The guys who worked this really tried to work with you. The iguana's in the pool freaked me out. There are iguana's everywhere. There were several large families using multiple suites, if you were near them it would have been very loud. There was no privacy between the porches. I tried to think of walking on the porch like walking in Starbucks with my coffee in my pjs.
Summary: We tried it but won't be back. We often go to the supermarket and like this style of room but it was too expensive. It was like it wanted to be a resort but only the cost was resort like. Investigate a VRBO and rent 2 kayaks for the family for the week. Much more cost effective. There are literally no 'hotel like' amenities in the lobby. Maybe for 1 night if I was headed to Key West.
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Date of stay: November 2019
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We just finished our stay at Tranquility Bay. Overall, the resort is overpriced for the quality of the rooms and grounds. Our room was musty and the shower in the bathroom had mold on the outside / floor. The carpet in our room was very dirty as well.
The grounds were average at best and not well maintained for the price point of the resort. Prior to arriving at the resort, we stayed a few nights at Playa Key Largo, which for a few extra hundred dollars a night, was much more upscale, clean grounds and had live music entertainment at the beach each afternoon which was really great and had a great vibe.
On the positive side, the Tiki Bar was great and there’s a small pool in the back of the property that was private, not busy and very warm.
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Date of stay: December 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a a great place for a family reunion. We had 16 of us for a week over Thanksgiving. They were very accommodating, putting the villas next to each other for each of the 3 families. The large back porches were the perfect place to sit for a morning coffee or an afternoon cocktail. The villa's are good sized, furnished nicely and came stocked with basic kitchen stuff. There are several large food and liquor stores close by as the food options are limited to the one restaurant and drinks were expensive. The villa's did overlook the pool, which got loud a few mornings with little kids in there a little too early. We were able to escape to the adult only pool which was very tranquil. When a family with kids showed up, one call to the front desk and they were asked to leave.
The only downside was we advised them the day before that we had 2 gluten free and 1 dairy allergy members of our party for Thanksgiving dinner. The one waitress that was assigned to our table really tried, but had a hard time keeping things straight on what they could and couldn't eat. We were disappointed that there weren't more offerings on the buffet or a special version couldn't have been made to accommodate their allergies. (ie Gluten Free rolls). They did provide sorbet which wasn't part of the dessert table for them, which was appreciated.
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Date of stay: November 2019
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:Â Rooms overlooking the main pool can get loud with little kids playing
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tranquility Bay is a large, well maintained resort midway down the Florida Keys. Most of the accommodation seemed to be houses for one or more families and this was very much what the resort is geared up to. As a couple, this was not a great choice for us. We had no catering facility in our (very spacious) room other than a coffee machine, and no breakfast facility exists on site, meaning that we had to take the car out to get anything. We dined in the Butterfly Cafe both evenings. Food was good although there were some glitches- pasta dishes that were barely lukewarm. The serving staff resolved problems quickly and courteously and amended our bill accordingly, but for a restaurant that was not very large we thought it disappointing. As mentioned, serving staff were very good - personable and professional. The same cannot be said of the front desk staff who were casual to the point of rudeness. Eg when we approached the desk and they were talking to a housekeeping staff member, they continued their conversation without even acknowledging our presence. This may all sound picky, and it clearly wasn’t the place for us as a couple, but it was a strong contrast to all our other experiences in the Keys.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place has a small area to swim but there was alot of sea grass this time. Sombrero Beach is close by. There are places to stay near there but not directly on beach. We have only stayed in Marathon so not 100% sure about other areas in the keys. There is a beach in Key West but again not sure if hotels are directly on beach but they are very close by. That beach seemed nice there was a pier you can walk on too. Also a cute restaurant right by the pier that was very good. With all that being said if looking just for Beachy area it may not be perfect spot. Although can’t beat the gorgeous water down there.
We loved Fort Myers Beach, stayed at Diamond Head there. However this was before hurricane, I do see a lot is open now there.
Hope it helped! Have a great time wherever you choose 😊
There are more places to choose from in the Marathon area.
PRICE RANGE
$347 - $646 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
tranquility bay beach house hotel marathon, tranquility bay beach resort, tranquility bay beach hotel
LOCATION
United StatesFloridaFlorida KeysMarathon
NUMBER OF ROOMS
103
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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