Casey Key Resort - Gulf Shores

We recently visited the resort and stayed on bungalow #16 (The boat house) and it was out of this world! The place was spotless and the accommodations were nicely appointed. Plenty of room and anything you need to use the kitchen. The staff was phenomenal including Cheryl the manager. Kudos from a fellow hospitality General Manager.

Nice quiet neighborhood with an amazing beach. The public beach is nearby yet not overly crowded. The sand was great and lots of small shark teeth were found every walk took on the beach. The bungalow was great altho the bathroom was small as was the coffee pot, the proximity to the beach was awesome. Very relaxing area.

I have stayed here several times both prior to Covid as well as in 2020. We have always found the "rooms" quaint and as advertised. In 2020 they were taking necessary "precautions" as directed by the CDC, etc.... Which resulted in "contactless check in/out", etc. This weekend we stayed in room 21 and were both impressed and disappointed at the same time. First, it is apparent the owners have spent time upgrading the premises and the room we stayed in. On the outside there are new pavers, lights paint, plants, etc. Everything on the grounds and inside the room was very clean. The room was much smaller than I expected however, I realize this is an "old Florida" mom & pop hotel. Things are a little different and you have to embrace it. The bathroom was remodeled and lovely. Hot water was consistent and there are no complaints. The king size bed was adequate mostly due to the wonderful pillows. There is not head board so the pillow fall between the bed and wall. Since there is no one on the premises, I did not call for extra pillows. The television is very large and at the foot of the bed which I really enjoyed. Now my complaints. I will start with my b/f is disabled from a stroke several years ago. We like this place because there are almost no stairs and in the past there were lounge chairs on the beach. This meant we could walk to the beach drag it to where we wanted to be and he could sit and relax. Now there are no lounge chairs which meant we had to go buy them and carry them down. This is a huge deal for him (us). They do have beach chairs for the guests but they are $15 a day and you have to drag them across the street and down the beach. (The chairs are wood and heavy) This was not conveyed to us prior to arriving. Next, my bf is 6'7" tall. Every other room we have had, had larger apartment style refrigerators in them. The fridge in this room was smaller and the door opened the opposite direction (see pictures) It was almost impossible for him to bend down and get things out of the fridge. Coupled with the freezer being too small to hold a bag of ice and no ice maker on site, it made it basically impossible to use the fridge. (You can see the top of the fridge is below the counter top.) We will have no problem staying here again, however we will choose a different room and confirm the in-room pictures actually match where we are staying.

We’ve stayed here at least four different times over as many years. The location is fabulous, close to restaurants and shopping, easy to get to Sarasota, Tamp and Venice. The grounds are nicely landscaped and attractive, with a high sea grape hedge to provide privacy. The tiki hut overlooking the ocean is fabulous - love to sit there overlooking the beach and the ocean for fabulous sunsets, stargazing and a relief from glaring sun. The cottages convey a fun funky old Florida vibe, many with pecky cypress ceilings and white stucco walls. They are roomy and have a variety of layouts and views. The bayside cottages look directly over the bay and have a nice screened in lanai. Even the studio behind the office is smartly laid out with a small kitchenette area. Unfortunately, maintenance and cleaning have slipped over the years. We stayed in a bayside unit with a great view, but the blinds were broken, stucco was peeling off in the bathroom, the coffee pot was put away dirty. The only place to store clothing, a small dresser in the bedroom was falling completely apart and was unusable. Everything just seemed worn. I love this place and plan to return. But I do hope that the owner will refresh the units and return them to the fun cottages they were shortly after he rehabbed the place.

Tiki bar has a happy hour but watch your bills because they don’t charge you the happy hour prices if you don’t check your bill. Also we all had cheeseburgers there an they were horrible, no taste at all! Won’t be going back there!

I am the author of the first review on the left ("Even if you don't know it you should avoid it"). I can confirm everything I wrote even now 2 month after the misadventure. I just want to emphasize the absolute lack of anybody one can deal with: just texting or e-mail to somedody who didn't have answers for anything. Nothing was even faintly like the pictures and the triumphalistic descriptions in the advertisements on the different sites: instead old decaying structures and things badly taken in care of and not even clean. We have just been cheated: if instead of tourists we were US Citizens we certaily would have applied to the appropriate departement in order to protect other unfortunate customers.