November 18, 2024 - November 20, 2024 - Little Palm Island, Florida Keys

Our mini-vacation in the keys began with an early morning drive to Big Pine Key, home of the main lobby to Little Palm Island. After checking in, we took the 11:30am 10-min ferry to the island where we were greeted by Holly for a tour of the island and our room.

Our room was a small hut with a sitting room, bathroom and bedroom, but the key attraction was the outdoor space which included a large deck with a daybed and a copper tub as well as a small beach. We spent much of our first day enjoying our outdoor space in the mild weather. 

Tuesday morning began with a workout, the fitness center was spacious with adequate free-weights and cardio machines but limited weight machines. After our workout we chatted with the water sports attendant. The wind was too high for the snorkeling boat to go out but we could kayak - he recommended waiting until the afternoon, when the tide was going out. He then set us up on a day-bed by the pool where we sat for a couple of hours until lunch. After lunch we took the kayaks out and explored the mangroves on the neighboring island before circumnavigating our 4-5 acre island. (We both thought 4-5 acres was a generous estimate.) We ended the day with sundowners on the deck watching the sunset.

View from Sunset Deck 

Dinners and lunches were both at the Dining Room in the resort. The first evening we tried the tasting menu and the second we did a la carte and while it is a Relais & Chateau we thought the food was good, but not to the same standard as other Relais & Chateau resorts we have visited. The highlight was the sturgeon caviar tasting we had for lunch on Tuesday.  

Dinner on Monday night

The biggest surprise was the wildlife. We had a little raccoon join us on our deck the first day and saw 4 miniature deer over the three days, two of which walked within a few feet of us as we sat on the beach beside our hut. The Key Deer are endangered and are the smallest species of the North American White Tail. We were told they swim to the island- and in fact, two of the four we saw were wet. 

He wanted to enjoy the dried fruit we were eating (we didn't give him any).

Endangered Key Deer

Our last day included a visit to the fitness center followed by massages and then lunch before heading off the island. The massages were excellent. In general, while we enjoyed our stay, it was relaxing and the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, we felt it was low-value relative to comparable resorts.

Water feature by our room - we liked how the birds liked to pose with the bird statues