The La Mer and Dewey Houses at the Southernmost Beach Resort in Key West are the ‘turducken’ of accommodations—and that is meant in the most positive way. Rather than a chicken tucked into a duck and mashed into a turkey, the La Mer and Dewey Houses are a luxury bed and breakfast tucked into a most attractive resort positioned at the best possible location in the Conch Republic—on the beach and a hair’s breadth away from Duval Street. In short, the La Mer and Dewey Houses offer a little puff of heaven in a place that’s pretty good to begin with. But like everything else in Key West, why not just go over the top?
Will Bashful Adventurers Like the La Mer and Dewey Houses in Key West?
Bashful Adventurers in particular may well prefer a stay in the La Mer and Dewey Houses to other options, both at the Southernmost Beach Resort and elsewhere on the island. With just a handful of rooms in each house, La Mer and Dewey provide an adults-only, quiet—mostly—refuge, which can be the best of all possible escapes after a day of doing whatever one does on Key West. The advantage of staying on the southern part of Duval Street is that you are within walking distance or Uber distance of all things fun in historic Old Town Key West.
Come ‘home’ for a snack (offered between 3 pm and 4 pm during our December 2023 stay) and a nap before venturing out once more for dinner and island life. Start your mornings (between 8 am and 10 am) with a made-to-order breakfast on the oceanfront terrace. Greet the beach, the chickens, and the Atlantic Ocean while sipping your morning coffee. In between times, enjoy the stillness of these restored houses and the cheery greeting of the innkeeper as you return from any adventure.
The advantage of staying in a bed and breakfast nestled within a fairly sizeable vacation compound is that all of those resort amenities—pools, cabanas, bars, dining, spa—are available to guests staying at the La Mer and Dewey Houses. The best pina coladas I procured on the island were served at the Southernmost Resort’s Shores Bar and Southernmost Beach Café.
Southernmost Beach Resort Dewey House Room 415
Although we booked an ‘island view’ room (street front, in Conch Republic parlance), our room—number 415—featured a view of the beach, which we preferred to watch from our porch. Less sand and all.
“The La Mer and Dewey Houses at the Southernmost Beach Resort in Key West are the ‘turducken’ of accommodations . . . . Rather than a chicken tucked into a duck and mashed into a turkey, the La Mer and Dewey Houses are a luxury bed and breakfast tucked into a most attractive resort positioned at the best possible location in the Conch Republic”
—The Bashful Adventurer
Dewey House Room 415 is conveniently close to the breakfast area as well as the lounge where snacks are served in the afternoons. That makes it ever-so-slightly noisy at peak times. Room 415’s porch is small, so much so that only one guest chair was placed on it. We had to help ourselves to an extra chair from the oceanfront patio, which was steps away.
How Was Check-In at the Dewey House at Southernmost Beach Resort?
In contrast to our last visit, where check-in was next to the La Mer and Dewey Houses, Southernmost Beach Resort‘s new centralized (read: crowded) check-in on Duval Street made for a bit of an annoying kick-off to our vacation. A packed lobby, haphazard line, and insufficient staffing resulted in a process that, simply put, took too long. The irony is that the chaotic check-in experience takes place right by the resort’s tranquility pool.
We much preferred being escorted from check-in by then-innkeeper Randall, who conducted a quick tour of the La Mer Dewey compound and made such a memorable impression we can still recall the experience a decade later.
But if all we really have to complain about is a check-in process that should have eased our way rather than antagonized us, we are still in pretty good stead. In sum, a stay at the La Mer Dewey Houses at the Southernmost Beach Resort is worthwhile and should be sought out.
—Lori Tripoli
Lori Tripoli is the editor and publisher of Bashful Adventurer. Based in the New York City vicinity, she writes about travel for a variety of publications. Contact Lori at loritripoli @ bashfuladventurer.com.
The Bashful Adventurer
visits Dewey House
in Key West