Captain Pips Marina & Hideaway

What People are saying

What the Keys is about

Atrel on 16/11/2017 22:00

Although slightly difficult to find, it's well worth it. We stayed in 'Snapper' a larger apartment than some others and it included a kitchen. The views from the dining room and bedroom are spectacular. The ceiling is wood panelling throughout, which gives a nice 'island' feel about it. There are boat charters available from the dock and you can you the on site BBQ facilities if you want. They provided coffee and sugar for their coffee maker, as well as soap for doing the dishes. There are lots of good towels, beach towels and even a cooler. The shower was large, with good water pressure. The only downside we found was that you had to check in between 3-5 and check out by 10am. Overall, a very good experience and we would stay again, even though it's not the cheapest place in Marathon.

If Jimmy Buffett were here he’d probably write a song about this place

Pennysmart on 15/11/2017 03:49

Just like the review we wrote for the Elizabeth Street Inn on the ‘Left Coast’, I can summarize the review for Captain Pips in 4 words: we loved it here.

With the recent hurricanes in Florida we weren’t sure what to expect when going to the Keys so we were really happy to see that Captain Pips came through the storms with little damage (at least that we could see).

We booked a room with the ocean view (have a look at the first photo – the view from our room) and I think that you will agree that it truly is a picture-perfect view of a tropical paradise.

The room that we stayed in came with a full sized fridge, coffee maker, microwave, dishes and even a portable plastic cooler for haulin’ your liquid refreshments to the beach (no fish please)! The air conditioner was whisper quiet and there is also a ceiling fan to add to the flow.

The bathroom was a good size and the walk-in shower was huge and constructed out of stone. The rest of the room was also constructed out of what one might expect of a tropical hideaway: lots of light colored wood.

The room was very clean and the folks that work there are exceptionally helpful – going so far as to provide guests with a custom made information package filled with useful information about the area.

If you want to relax in a double-wide hammock, or fire up a BBQ grill while enjoying a superb view of the ocean, just head around back by the dock.

Overall, I can say that if I were to construct a tropical getaway, I would do it exactly like the folks at Captain Pips have done. If you want a relaxing, tropical setting with some useful amenities, then this is the place that will likely be just what you are looking for. Conversely, if you prefer the sterile look with lots of plastic, glass and steel, then perhaps you might need to look at something else.

**FYI - For those that are not familiar with Marathon Key, it is quite a large island about 45 minutes from Mr. Hemmingway’s old stomping grounds in Key West. **

Great Place!!

cabbro62 on 11/11/2017 02:11

I would highly recommend this place... not your typical hotel room....quaint and clean on the water.. lots of things to do here and while you stay gotta go to Porkys right next door... you can rent a boat for the day or go snorkeling... everything right here.. unfortunately we only stayed one night but wished we stayed longer... little slice of heaven here!!

Best Value in the Keys, hands down

MCH1220 on 12/10/2017 15:14

Our third year down in the keys for Labor Day weekend, and after staying at a couple other resorts the past 2 years, we booked (3) nights at Captain Pips and reserved a boat for (2) days. All i can say is Captain Pips went above and beyond in every aspect. We had bad weather for day 2 of our boat rental, and we were able to move our rental to the following day in better weather. Other places would hold you to the date reserved and send you out in the rain, however Captain Pips allowed us to rearrange our schedule instead of wasting a day in the rain. The rooms were awesome, absolutely no complaints on any aspects. Porky's is nice to grab a bite before we headed out for the day, and even offered box lunches so we could stay out on the reef all day. Our room came with a cooler to use on the boat, and the location right across the street from a gas station came in handy to get more beer or aloe after a long day in the sun. I hope Captain Pip's made it thru Irma OK because i think we have found our annual resort for many years to come. Thanks again Captain Pips for a great experience.
Mike

Very unpleasant experience.

HoneythePitBull on 03/09/2017 11:22

While planning a Labor Day week trip down to the Keys from SE Pennsylvania, our trip become botched while long TSA lines and excessive pat-downs and security checks caused a missed flight. Further connecting flights were missed in Orlando and flights to Key West were booked for the next few days. An airport Customer Service agent suggested renting a car and driving the six plus hours from Orlando to the Keys. Traffic was very heavy and about 5:00 pm we were still north of Miami and wanted to call the hotel and let them know were running late and if we could make arrangements for a late night check-in. Surprisingly, no one was available to answer the office phone around 5:00 on a Friday afternoon of the busy Labor Day weekend. We left a message and there was no return call that night. Rather than chancing the unknown with a small, family run hotel not being on call and answering the phone, we decided to spend the night in a Holiday Inn Express in Florida City (a great hotel at a very reasonable price with all the amenities).
The next day we packed-up and headed south to Capt. Pips. We arrived later that afternoon and inquired about modifying our stay, since we pre-paid for the stay several months prior, and asked if we can change our stay dates since we were unsure of the hotel being staffed and open from the previous night. We received a brusque "sorry, our policy doesn't permit that."
We were led to our room, which we soon discovered was extremely small, (quaint) and was plastered with rules and regulations of the hotel. First was that don't turn the A/C below 70 degrees because the unit freezes. Very uncomfortable at night in the Florida heat and humidity when the small unit couldn't drop in temp.. Also saw several postings in a large information binder inside the room threatening to charge $250 from your security deposit if pages were missing. We soon noticed other potential security charges of $200 or more if tv remote went missing, if you smoked in the room, if the room's dishes didn't match the departing inventory or if you put lobsters in the garbage. What surprised us the most was the sofa cushions bungee corded to the inside of the door separating the adjoining rooms (extremely tasteless).
Overall, paid an exorbitant Labor Day room rate, on the verge of gouging, for a sub-standard room, with few modern amenities and inundated with postings and warnings of charges to your security deposit. And to top it off, the 10:00 am, "no exceptions", check-out time took away the remaining ability to enjoy a leisurely morning.
We are not at all happy with the 9 to 5 staff, highly priced rooms, below standard amenities and pretentious money-grubbing threats posted throughout the room. Save yourself the hassle and few extra dollars and stay at the Holiday Inn Express down the street where the A/C drops below 70 degrees, where furniture padding is not used for noise reduction and someone is available 24/7 to answer the phone and provide the all important to a small business, exceptional customer service.