10 places to sleep for all budgets

BY ANDREA SACHS | THE WASHINGTON POST

March 12, 2006

Key West has 3,881 hotel rooms and 908 bed-and-breakfast guest rooms, according to the Florida Keys and Key West Tourism Council. Accommodations range from garden guest houses to Old South manses to same-sex quarters.

To save you the grief of hopping from bed to bed in search of the perfect fit, we investigated 10 properties that stand out amid the overcrowded sleeper scene. Here are our picks, which cover a variety of budgets and are mainly central to the action on Key West's shopping, dining and bar-hopping thoroughfare, Duval Street. Rates listed are the lowest available per night and are for double rooms.

During special events, such as October's Fantasy Fest and winter holidays, prices can rise by 20 percent or more.

Many properties claim to sit on the most southern point of the United States. If you pull out the yardstick, however, the true honor goes to the exquisite Southernmost House Grand Hotel. The pink-turreted mansion has 12 rooms befitting a president - which makes sense, since the 1896 house has hosted a number of chief executives and doubles as a museum of presidential and Hemingway memorabilia. Besides the hotel's southernmost pet rabbits, it has the southernmost bar and pool.

1400 Duval St. Rates from $155. Info: 866-764-6633, www .southernmosthouse.com.

At the Key West Youth Hostel, you'd be wise to abide by the rules: "Place your name tag on your bed. No name tag, no sleep," reads a sign posted on the front door. If you're not into the "Hello My Name Is" scene - or, more specifically, sleeping with a roomful of strangers - you can stay in a private room at the affiliated Seashell Motel, just across the courtyard. The 10 hotel rooms are so stripped down that we had to use shampoo for soap. And while there's no pool, the outdoor common area is quite the social center, with its open-air kitchen and rotating band of foreign travelers.

718 South St. Hostel rates, $34; hotel rooms, from $95. Info: 305-296-5719, www.key westhostel.com.

Look around Pearl's Rainbow and you'll notice something's missing: men. That's because the property is for women only and is female-friendly, regardless of sexual orientation. The 38-room sanctuary has two pools, an outdoor bar and grill, a dining room serving breakfast and dinner (open to the public) and a Friday happy hour for visiting and local women.

525 United St. Rates from $99. Info: 800-749-6696, www. pearlsrainbow.com. For a list of all-male accommodations, see www.keywest.com/gayacco mm.html.

At the Speakeasy Inn, smoking is not allowed in the four eye-pleasing white-and-wood rooms - despite the temptation of the Key West Havana Cigar Co. below (the store is also the lobby). Guests can, however, light up on the balcony, whose railing is carved with bottles, hearts and diamonds, a tacit sign for gambling and drinking during Prohibition. The store is a hangout for Key West's colorful cronies, including 90-year-old Tony Barcelo, a Hemingway drinking pal, and Mr. King, who plays the handsaw.

1117 Duval St. Rates from $65. Info: 305-296-2680, www .speakeasyinn.com.

At the 100-room Ocean Key Resort and Spa, enjoy Mallory Square's evening carnival of kooks ... in your bathrobe. The hotel's dockside location offers prime views of the spectacle - and legendary sunsets - from the comfort of your balcony or, if you prefer, from a table on Sunset Pier or a cushy chaise longue by the pool. The party-size guest rooms are splashed with bright colors and prints, and the bathroom is solid luxury; the bubbly tub opens up to the bedroom and the sea and sky beyond.

Zero Duval St. Rates from $179. Info: 800-328-9815, www .oceankey.com.

Literati types can sleep among the classics at the Author's Guesthouse, where most of the 10 rooms and two cottages are named after English lit faves, such as Lillian Hellman, Thornton Wilder and Carson McCullers. The decor also reflects each master's works, so the Tennessee Williams cottage, for example, has an old Underwood and a framed Playbill of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

725 White St. Rates from $80. Info: 800-898-6909, www.au thorskeywest.com.

No matter how late you party or how many cocktails you imbibe, stay at the 150- room La Concha and your head is guaranteed to find its pillow - the Crowne Plaza hotel sits smack in Party Central on lower Duval Street. And while the 1926 spot has history aplenty - Hemingway stayed at La C, and Williams completed "A Streetcar Named Desire" here - more importantly, it has the Top. The seventh-floor lounge and observation deck is the place to warm up for an evening out.

430 Duval St. Rates from $129. Info: 800-745-2191, www .laconchakeywest.com.

For divers who want little separation between scuba and sleep, Captain's Corner Dive Shop offers simple accommodations to visitors enrolled in the center's underwater courses. The two dorm rooms are a quick skip from the classroom, on-site training pool and scuba store. Amenities are basic - bunk beds, communal fridge and microwave.

125 Ann St. Rate is $30 a night, plus course fees. Info: 305-296-8865, www.captains corner.com.

Don't believe the rumors: Oprah does not live on Sunset Key. But as a Hilton Key West Resort & Marina guest on the secluded 27-acre island, no one needs to be the wiser. In addition to its 187- room property on Key West, the resort offers 37 two- and three-bedroom cottages on the island occupied by the super-flush and accessible only by launch. Nonisland guests can loaf on the white-sand beach (a rarity) and swim in the pool with a $20 day pass ($40 for everyone else).

245 Front St. Cottages from $595. Info: 305-292-5300, www .sunsetkeycottages.hilton .com.

One-up your friends who brag about ocean views by staying on the water in a houseboat. Granted, the houseboat does not move; it's more like a floating home that roosts on the dock. Each of the four houseboats has two bedrooms (a pair of queens and a single), a full kitchen and a dock "yard." The Harborside Motel & Marina is on Garrison Bight, a big sportfishing hub.

903 Eisenhower Dr. Rates from $129 a night for two. Info: 800-501-7823, www.keywest harborside.com.