I don’t recall any other instance where a hotel chain lost all its properties in a particular location in such a short span of time. However, this is exactly what has happened to IHG in Key West. In summary, IHG used to be one of the best options to book a room in Key West, but now they don’t have any property within 90 miles of the island that’s at the end of the Florida Keys.
While I’m not sure of the behind-the-scenes details, I know what this means to us as people who occasionally visit the Conch Republic.
Losing the La Concha
The La Concha is the tallest building in Key West and is located on Duval St. The great location and wonderful rooftop views made it a favorite of ours for several visits. Since it was a Crowne Plaza and part of the IHG family, we could purchase points and use them to stay for much lower than the rack rate.
It had been rumored for a while that the La Concha Hotel would no longer be a part of IHG. In March 2023, Marriott Bonvoy added the hotel to its website as an Autograph Collection property. This was a bit premature, as the conversion of this historic Key West hotel to an Autograph Collection hotel would only take place after a $35 million renovation or Property Improvement Plan was completed.
I guess the project is complete as the hotel is no longer on the IHG website and is bookable on the Marriott website. However, the La Concha website is still referring to the property as the Crowne Plaza La Concha. Maybe the renovation didn’t include money for the website. 🙂
Bye Bye, Kimpton Key West
While we love staying at the La Concha, our favorite place to use IHG points on Key West was for a stay at one of the Kimpton Key West properties. Encompassing five different locations and over 200 rooms, this was truly a boutique stay for hotel prices.
I read about Kimpton Key West leaving IHG on Loyalty Lobby, and the departure was quite sudden. Guests who used IHG points for reservations were notified that those reservations would no longer be honored. As IHG no longer has any properties in Key West, the guests were unable to be relocated.
The five hotels are now part of the Key West Historic Inns, and while you can find plenty of links on Google for the Kimpton Key West, all of the websites are no longer working.
This is really a shame as we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Ridley House.
What Does IHG Have To Offer?
If you’re on the IHG website and search for hotels, here’s the map you’ll find.
Key Largo is the closest IHG hotel to Key West, and that’s a long, 98 mile drive.
What are your other options?
You can easily find hotels from Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott on or around Duval St., as well as several other hotels on the opposite side of Key West.
But, I think Key West is one of the best places to look away from the large chains and search the independent properties.
I find it hard to believe that IHG would give up on Key West, considering it’s such a profitable market for hotels. However, there are no available locations to construct a new hotel, and the independent and free-minded residents of Key West may not be welcoming to large corporations. Remember, this is the same place that tried to ban large cruise ships.
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