Trip to Key Largo, Florida: Playa Largo Resort and Spa
Elizabeth and I had been wanting to take a trip to the Florida Keys for a long time, and after we found the property where we ended up staying we knew this was the place to spend some Marriott Rewards points! We know that Hurricane Irma greatly affected many of the places in Key Largo that we visited, but most of them are either open now or are about to re-open. We are planning to take another trip there because they certainly need to make up for the lost tourism income!
Once we found Playa Largo Resort and Spa, we knew this was what we wanted, and it did not disappoint at all! We were stunned at the attention to detail, and the service was second to none. The beach was very different from beaches we had seen before as it was on the north of side of they key, so the water was extremely calm.
Playa Largo Resort and Spa is a Marriott Resort and part of the Autograph Collection of hotels. We have stayed in a couple of Autograph hotels in the past, and we have never been disappointed, as they are designed to have an ambiance that fits the flavor of the local area where they are found.
Playa Largo is currently a category 8 Marriott property, which costs 40,000 points per night (find out more about Marriott Rewards here). We booked the hotel for 7 nights for a total of 240,000 Marriott Rewards points (points were calculated at 6 nights since we took advantage of the use points for 4 nights get the 5th night free). Since we were staying over the July 4th holiday, rates were astronomical when paying. The total for our stay had we used cash would have been $3,855 plus tax!!!!
The resort did have a resort fee, which was $40 per night. We had to pay the resort fee plus our 240,000 points for the total 7 night stay rather than the $4,000 plus it would have cost after adding tax. This is what we mean when we say we could never afford to stay somewhere like this, but thanks to reward points we can!
The best place to start researching for Marriott Rewards information is by clicking here to get a general overview of the program, and then go to the Marriott website to get the fine details. In order to accrue enough points for a stay like this, you will almost definitely need to get one or both of the cards shown below. You can also go to this post to learn more about the cards.
Marriott Rewards Credit Card
80,000 point sign up bonus after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months
Starwood American Express Card
25,000 point sign up bonus (converts to 75,000 Marriott Rewards points) after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months
Because we have Gold Elite Status with Marriott, we were upgraded to a room with a balcony over the pool and facing the ocean. Even though it was very humid during the day, we spent quite a bit of time on the balcony in the early morning and at dusk.
The room had two really nice bathrobes and a king bed with a couch by the balcony. We really liked having an iPad in the room that was provided by the hotel, because we could enter exactly when we wanted housekeeping to come or we could order pretty much anything at the resort through the iPad.
The lobby was a very comfortable place to hang out, and we really liked the oversized swinging chairs pictured below. The front desk workers were so helpful, as were the valets.
A full list of what is covered in the resort fee can be found here, as there are too many items to list in this post! We especially liked using the bicycles, the floating mats in the ocean, and fishing equipment!
The pool was large enough to not be too crowded on the July 4th holiday, although it did fill up with a bunch of kids in the afternoons. We mainly spent our time in the ocean during that time and used the pool at night. There were PLENTY of beach chairs and hammocks for EVERYONE, and that can’t be said for every resort. Sunset was beautiful, and the staff rings a bell every night 15 minutes before the sun sets so that everyone can come out and watch. It is seriously worth it! And you won’t believe how clear the water was! The picture directly below is of a sting ray swimming at the edge of the beach in about 4 feet of water!
We had a great week-long stay at Key Largo, and look for upcoming posts about some of the things we did around Key Largo. The resort was so amazing that it deserved a post unto itself!
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