Looking at the value lists, you can spot in the top value hotels a couple that are in your price range, and are high quality (relative to the others in that price range). When I was a college student in Florida this was a fantastic way to find a low priced hotel, and still be confident that it has good quality.

Unfortunately the (first edition) book does not have text descriptions of all the hotels, but really, that is not what I am looking for. I just want the best quality I can find for a certain price. It does have amenities listings, and phone numbers so you can go ahead and call the three or four hotels that look best value.

Now the first edition is seriously out of date in this very dynamic tourism market. The third edition is about two years old so it may be out of date, too, but the value guidelines will still hold for the key properties.


Not Enough of the Keys   January 3, 2000
 14 out of 17 found this review helpful

I bought this book hoping for great insight on Key West (an infinitely more desirable and intriguing locale to write about than Miami) and was sorely disappointed.

I really enjoyed Sehlinger's Unofficial Guide to WDW and frankly, expected more from this book. A lot more.

To be fair, most guide books don't pay nearly enough attention to the Keys, instead imparting more information than I ever wanted to know about Miami, a city that I've come to deplore.

It might be me; I just don't get the hype and focus on a sullied, soulless, filthville of a town like Miami over the glorious, exquisite keys.

At any rate, if for whatever unfathomable reason you really want to spend lots of time in Miami, this book is for you. If you're looking for Keys information, look elsewhere (though I haven't found a good alternative myself).

Just be forewarned that there's a good reason MIAMI has a huge typeface on the front and "the Keys" is shrunk down in size. It's a damned shame.