Photo Tour: New Rooms at Old Key West
Walt Disney World is currently in the process of a 2-year refurbishment project at Old Key West that will modernize all of the guest rooms in this large DVC resort. We recently stayed in a refurbished villa, and thought we’d share new photos of these redesigned hotel rooms, our experience with the re-imagining, and other thoughts.
This project is a top to bottom hard goods refurbishment, updating kitchen appliances, replacing or reupholstering all furniture, altering wall and window coverings, replacing flooring, completely updating bathrooms, and more. Between the scope of the work and the number of guest rooms at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, it’s a longer project than the normal hotel refurbishment at Walt Disney World.
You might recall that Old Key West last received a major refurbishment in 2010 and 2011. We stayed at the resort both years, getting an old room once and a new room once, the photos of which you can still see (for now) in our soon-to-be-updated Disney’s Old Key West Resort Review. At the time, the modifications were the most extensive in the history of the then 20-year old property. Suffice to say, this is a significantly larger project…
During Old Key West’s last refurbishment, the flooring was updated, as were kitchen counters, upholstery, televisions, and some furniture. The fold-out sleeper chair was also added, but bathrooms were largely untouched and a lot of furniture was simply refinished.
If you compare before and after photos from the previous refurbishment, you’ll notice some similarities in the room design. While the look shifted from something reminiscent of decor in Golden Girls to a slightly more modern style, but still containing a laid-back beach vibe.
We liked that new look at the time, but in retrospect, it didn’t exactly age well. It’s unclear whether guest feedback to the results of that refurbishment is what accelerated the schedule for a hard goods refurbishment, or if it’s simply a matter of Disney Vacation Club transitioning to a different, more condensed refurbishment schedule–one that has resulted in dramatic transformations at a number of older resorts (with Saratoga Springs up next!) that led to this refurbishment.
We’ve been waiting to stay in the new Old Key West studios until the refurbishment was nearly complete, but our friends at DVC Rental Store, a sponsor of the site, invited us to a 2-bedroom unit instead. (Read our Tips for Renting Disney Vacation Club Points post, which offers great ways to save money on accommodations like Disney’s Old Key West Resort.)
This was probably for the best; not just so we didn’t have to use our own points, but so we could see a nicer room and get photos of, essentially, three different types of rooms. Including two that are actually quite nice.
Upon seeing photos of the Old Key West studios several months ago, we were not impressed. Some Walt Disney World fans have complained that Pop Century is sterile and feels like a hospital room, but at least that resort didn’t have much going for the rooms in the first place, and the new looks have splashes of color via pop art.
Old Key West, by contrast, went from having tropical rooms with a fair amount of personality, to ones with a lot of white and neutral colors. If comments we’ve read are any indication (and they aren’t necessarily–DVC members active in the online community are definitely more diehard than the average member, and likely care more about theme than others), the new studios are not a hit.
What’s really odd about this is that Disney Vacation Club didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.
The refurbishment of Vero Beach a couple of years ago was largely well done, and while it wasn’t universally lauded, our “straw poll” of members found people generally liking it. Recycling that with a few stylistic tweaks and color palette changes would’ve worked perfectly.
We’ve brought this up before with regard to other recent Walt Disney World room refurbishments, but this would be enhanced tremendously by a bed runner.
This is a hill I’m willing to die on. I don’t care if bed runners are (supposedly) less sanitary. I don’t care that they are only on the bed for 30 seconds before prompting being thrown into the corner. First impressions are important, and a tropical reef with some colorful tropical fish, or (better yet) a bunch of Hemingway’s polydactyl cats would’ve been nice.
The changes to the studio bathroom are fine. I don’t recall what’s in the photo over the toilets, but in these photos, it sure looks like donuts. I really hope that’s accurate.
Back to the important stuff–the bed runners. Vero Beach, Copper Creek, and the Polynesian Villas have them (just to name a few). I was really hopeful that Disney Vacation Club was resisting the anti-bed runner movement, but it appears hit or miss. I’m half tempted to attend the next Condominium Association Meeting and at the Q&A, be the crazy person who just goes on a 5 minute rant about bed runners. Don’t force my hand, DVC.
The good news is that things are significantly better in the 2-bedroom units and the 1-bedroom units, which have much more personality and color.
The rug really ties the room together. (No joke.)
There are also themed throw pillows, artwork, and fixtures. The furniture is less on theme, but it’s sufficiently neutral that it’s not really a pro or con.
The rug is really what punctuates the room and gives it a semblance of the tropics. While it’s arguably too modern for this quaint resort, it’s still a lovely design. I wouldn’t mind seeing it used elsewhere, perhaps in a bed runner?!
Some of the upholstery also feels appropriate, even if it’s not overtly themed. All in all, I think this main living room looks really nice, and is a big improvement over its predecessor.
The old rooms were definitely showing their age, and 1990s sensibility.
Old Key West’s rooms also benefit greatly from the indoor-outdoor living space.
The lush vegetation outside the rooms is more apparent at Old Key West than any other resort (at least, in our experience), and this provides a natural extension of the theme.
Thematically, the master bedroom is a snooze.
More should have been done to give this personality, as it just looks so generic.
The bathroom is likewise nice, but bland.
The exception there being the Minnie & Mickey beach art. I’m a sucker for that design.
Buildings 20-56 have been fully renovated. This includes a few buildings in the Hospitality House booking category, but the remaining Hospitality House buildings (11-14) are not yet refurbished, and are very likely to be the last finished.
Currently, buildings 16-19 are in progress. Buildings 15 and 62-64 are also not yet done–or started.
The Old Key West room overhaul has taken longer than originally expected thanks to various delays. The pace now appears to be moving faster, but we’re still expecting this to not be totally finished by May 2019. In the meantime, about 75% of the resort is finished, so your odds of receiving a new room are pretty great unless you’re in the Hospitality House booking category.
Overall, we view the new rooms at Old Key West as a mixed bag, which is the only consistency when it comes to recent Walt Disney World room changes. The sleeping spaces of the bedrooms are dull and look like they could be rooms found at any chained-brand hotel in the world. While it’s nice they’ve received new furniture and an aesthetic refresh, DVC owners at Old Key West (of all places) seem likely to be the most die-hard Walt Disney World fans, and most likely to appreciate good themed design. Bed runners would be an instant, easy-to-implement addition. From our perspective, the saving grace of the project is the living room room, which feels appropriately themed, fresher, and more modern. It’s not perfect, but at least that component is a win, and elevates the 1-bedroom and above rooms into “good overall” territory.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these new rooms at Old Key West? Excited for the redesign, or do you think the new look is too bland and generic? Thoughts on the bedroom spaces versus the living room? Anything of your own to add? Have you stayed in one of the new rooms? Any questions about these rooms? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
This blog was really really helpful, THANK YOUUUUUU Tom Bricker (and to all the others who replied previously) great writing and I agree 100% with you Tom – BED RUNNERS
Disney is trying to attract the younger generations coming up as the baby boomers/older generations are getting up there in age. I am in the middle, but I can say the generations who either have kids already or are just getting married, generally speaking, prefer the “simple look.” Go into any furniture store, hotel, or watch any remodeling show and you will see this theme. Simple versus busy is in at the moment and is tied to luxury. From a business perspective this is where the shift will need to be in order to keep money coming in unless it changes.
Nah, it’s just cheaper than buying something themed to the resort. Plus you can make bigger buys, so you pay less and you can swap it out at other resorts.
Why call a resort Old Key West if it looks nothing like Key West and looks like any other moderate hotel in the country?
Problem with that is – simple doesn’t always mean plain & boring. I’m a Boomer/older generation getting up there in age & I’ve never once preferred ‘busy’ but have always preferred tasteful.
Disney’s new room furnishings aren’t merely ‘simple.’ They’re boring & lacking. How many people, even with kids, have their bedrooms all lacking blankets, bedspreads or comforters? With Disney’s new pre-programmed thermostats, it gets COLD in those rooms!
Personally, I hate walking into the refurbished rooms and looking the plain white sheets (and nothing else) on the bed. Makes me feel like I’m paying $300 a night to stay in a Motel 6. I agree with DebC. People aren’t going to stop going to Disney because they have themed rooms instead of cold, sterile white ones. Many choose resorts based on the theming. This is nothing more than a way for Disney to cut costs.
I don’t know what people are complaining about. Ive stayed here numerous times, will be staying again in February. The only changes I really see are the rug in the living room, the bathrooms, & the bedroom carpet. All of which were needed. Everything else is pretty much the same. Same lamp & cofdee table in the living room, same kitchen cabinets, same layout. Nothing major. It just looks refreshed & brighter.
My question is: are the pull-outs still hard as rocks? Are the couches more solid/plush and not “sinky”? We prefer OKW as that studio is only one with 2 queens. The old decor was definitely dated- so glad they finally got rid of that mother-daughter picture. Why not put different bed covers with a little color at the foot or head? I agree color would be good, but hate bed runners.
We were just in an OKW one bedroom a few weeks ago. Our son slept on the twin sleeper chair and his two friends shared the queen sleeper sofa. They all said they were fine for sleeping, but they may have just been polite. What I liked about the love seat and sofa was they sat up higher and you don’t sink into the seat. Hopefully they will stay that way and not sink as the years go by. The fabric was not scratchy like it was in the past.
Agreed that the 2 beds vaults this resort to the top of my list. My wife and I preferred separate beds, and then when I went late last year to a studio with a friend instead, well it would have been awkward sharing a bed . . .
I realize lots of couples prefer sleeping together, but this is far from universal and the lack of DVC rooms with two beds is surprising.
I am very disappointed with the remodeling at OKW. I prefer to take bathes and it is impossible to turn off water and access the shampoo etc. Also in kitchen area the shelves are so high I had to ask my husband to reach everything for me. I don’t feel the key west feeling. We’ve been members since 1992 and don’t care for the changes.
I don’t think they changed out the kitchen cabinets at all. With the lack of shampoo and conditioner in the tub area, I guess they thought no one uses shampoo and conditioner in the tub, just in the shower. There are bars of soap though.
I have to disagree with most of this review. I happen to find the refurb very well done. This being my Home Resort I wasn’t exactly crazy about the overly tropical theme anyway. Maybe I just tired of seeing blues, pinks and yellow walls in many of the resorts. I also wasn’t a fan of the last rehab. It was time for a change and it certain doesn’t look like any Hampton Inn I’ve ever stayed at. What’s perplexing to me is the uproar over the absence of a bed runners which is pretty much a useless item anyway. Looking forward to my stay in a 1 BR and a Studio in October.
We just stayed in a 3 Bedroom Grand Villa last week and the updates were BEAUTIFUL. Having lived in Key West and stayed at OKW a ton of times, I was pleasantly surprised. The bathrooms were a huuuuuuge upgrade and it all felt so bright and clean. I cannot wait to go back in the spring. I also loved the full sized, environmentally friendly shampoo, conditioner and body wash in all of the bathrooms. Mother Earth thanks you and a group of 7 thanks you for not having to use teeny little bottles galore.
The old look was dated, but this new look isn’t Key West. Key West is a small island and the look is either very beachy and airy, or bright and tropical (without being obnoxious). You should look at a room and either feel like a beach breeze is blowing through it (if that makes sense), or feel happy and bright and ready for fun on the beach. I don’t think they really ever captured that feeling in any of their iterations. I think they honestly need to consider renaming this one to a different theme, cuz they don’t seem to understand Key West.
As an owner at Old Key West, I completely agree! They’ve lost the themeing completely. Even though it adds color, I don’t like the rug either! And yes, Tom & Sarah, BED RUNNERS would help immensely! I HATE the sterile white beds!!!
We stayed at Old Key West for the first time last year, and I have to agree the new look is quite sterile and not Key West at all. The best things were the Mickey and Minnie beach art, and the lifeguard chair lamp. We just decided to join the vacation club, and since OKW was the least expensive option we joined so that is our home base. We most likely won’t stay there often, as the resort and rooms are fairly bland and lack alot of that Disney charm.
Tom I completely agree about the bedrunners too and I would be there with you to complain about them not having them anymore. When I go to Disney, I want to know I am at Disney and not NY, LA, London, Paris etc etc. The one thing that I find distressing is the new platform beds. They are the worst beds in the entire world! Okay I am exaggerating here, as I have been in some beds in China that had a 2 inch mattress but you get the gist here. I get up in the morning crippled. There is absolutely no give to the mattresses like there are at the current beds at Caribbean Beach and Saratoga. I usually stay for 2 weeks and am tortured by the “new” platform beds.
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They should rename OKW Resort to Contemporary Key West Resort. Man, I do not like the updates at all. We’ve only stayed at OKW once and that was two summers ago but we loved it because when you walk into your room you really felt like you were staying in a house right on the shore of Key West. The master bath looks like a bathroom at any regular Holiday Inn now. Why did they get rid of the shiplap and terra-cotta tiled floor?? What were they thinking on these renovations?
I call it Old Hampton Inn.
My first thought on looking at these pictures was “did they forget to finish making the beds?” Agree that it needs a bed runner or a colorful bolster pillow or something to avoid the hospital bedding effect.
Ha, i noticed the badly tucked bed too. And a bed-runner would definitely pump some life in here.
My family just stayed in a two bedroom (I believe it was in 26) in December. We loved the accommodations! It reminded me of our condo in Venice, FL. That we wouldvacation at. We utilized the patio a lot. And I’m OBSESSED with the huge sunken whirlpool bathtub in the master bedroom. I made sure to find time to soak in the tub each day we were there. Also, it was such a spacious room that we didn’t feel cramped at ALL. We did have an annoying light above our table that if we kept on too long it would make a crazy noise lolololololol
The new updates look nice! I think I’ll make OKW my target resort to stay at next year. Like you guys I’m a little disappointed in how the bedrooms look. Unfortunately the sterile look is in right now for resort hotels and new houses being built, and I think that’s largely the reason for the bland rooms. However, the plain white sheets puzzle me. They make no sense from a cleaning standpoint since they get dirty very quickly and will likely need to be replaced more often. I see those being replaced during the next softgoods refurbishment or whenever Disney get tired of spending the money on new sheets. Unless they decided sanitizing comforters and bed runners was more expensive. Sigh. We will make DVC campaign buttons Tom, buttons for bedrunners!
I’ve always assumed hotels use plain white bedding because it can be bleached, which would presumably make it easier to clean.
My large family has always preferred staying at OKW because of its size and homey feeling. It never feels like a “hotel” stay and we “love” having our own entrance. All the other Disney hotels that we’ve stayed at have long hallways that give us the “hotel” feel that we don’t like. That said, the kitchen and living area updates appear to be ok in photos, but I absolutely despise the cold look of the bedrooms. I too understand the sanitary reasons for using the sheets, but nothing looks more cold and “unwelcoming” than white sheets and no color. This appears to be a “hospital” look which I would personally like to avoid on vacation. Vacations should be relaxing and the all white bed is anything but. Very disappointing. Disney should recognize that not everyone prefers a modern, non-themed style. When you think of the actual Old Key West area – it is “full of color”. We will still stay there because of the size and condo feel, but deeply disappointed in the updates.
I like the update. It’s tasteful and simple, which is a relief after all the stimulation in the parks. We travel as adults only, and prefer the room to feel like a retreat.
My family stayed in a two bedroom refurbished unit last May. We love Old Key West for so many reasons and thought that the renovations were well done. In the last year I have stayed at the Polynesian, BLT, POR, OKW, The Beach Club, All Star Music, and Pop Century. The room updates are all less themed and more sterile. A better description is that they are more like normal, everyday, run of the mill hotel rooms that you find all across the country. The new resorts being built also appear to be less themed with very “Blah” architecture. I have to admit that I have had a hard time being excited about any of these new resorts and assume that the rooms will be sparsely themed as well. I hope that Disney management reverses course and realizes that part of the fun is deciding if you want a Beach Club type experience, or a Wilderness Lodge type of experience, or maybe the family wants to try the Alligator Bayou theme on POR. The point is that the resorts all had a certain feel about them. Both the exterior and grounds and the rooms. The new resorts all lack that and it’s actually perplexing to me as it is what makes an on-property resort fun and unique. I saw plans for a cube shaped resort near the Dolphin. It reminded me of the Borg starship from Star Trek. “Resistance is futile, you too will be assimilated”. I hope not for all the people who love Disney resorts.
We rented DVC points and stayed at OKW after the last remodel with our 2 kids. We loved the room size and the laid back Florida Keys vibe. . It helped to have a car when staying there b/c the resort is sprawling. We otherwise have stayed at ASMu, Sports, and POP. I totally agree about the runners in the remodels. It would be just the right themed finishing touch. I also agree about the theming at OKW. The theme is Florida Disney but subtle. My fav is the Mickey heads carved out of the wood railings and balconies !
We stayed here last year with my whole family and apparently they were having a flying squirrel infestation. We had rodent droppings throughout our rooms and our Christmas party cookies were eaten. We got lucky though, according to pest control, another woman woke up with a squirrel on her chest staring her in the face
I love the non Disneyfied rooms at OKW. Gives everyone time to relax and not be constantly over stimulated. It’s our number one pick for that reason-plus the size of the 2 bedroom units is perfect for us, and our daughter’s family with her 3 kids. I’m so glad they didn’t muck it up with Disney stuff.
They took away the old map of Key West and the scientific-like drawings of the shells. The Mickey and Minnie belongs at BCV or BWV, not OKW. They took out all the Key West coloring from the villas. Thank the Lord that they haven’t repainted the outsides of the villas a bland beige like they did with the furniture. That rug in the living room belongs in BLT, not OKW.
I’m not a DVC member – but having been to DW over 50 times I probably should be- and I’m going to look into renting points ofr the first time. Is OKW the biggest rooms? We have 3 children and need as much space as possible. Also, do they decorate OKW for Christmas? Just came back from Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge at Christmas and LOVE the decorations/ambiance. Its the main reason we go that time of year – that and the parades:)
P.S Tom, you crack me up- I laugh every time I read your posts.
Yes! OKW has the biggest rooms. Your standard studio has 2 queens while most other properties have 1 queen and a pullout. We have traveled with my folks (4 adults) and had plenty of room in the studio.
Google and YouTube the floor plans- that always helps me decide.
I have read great things about the Family Suites at Art of Animation.
You absolutely need to join DVC. Read Tom’s post regarding DVC. I took his advice regarding DVC long ago and have NEVER looked back.
Yes, compared to other on-site Disney owned offerings, OKW has the biggest rooms. As for Christmas, they put up wreaths, decorations, and a large XMas tree along the main outdoor walkway at the Hospitality House (i.e. the “main” complex with the lobby, restaurant, gift shop, etc.), and another tree in the lobby, but that’s about it. What’s there is nice, but the amount and scale of decorations is trivial compared to the Grand Flo or WL.
Yes they have the biggest rooms , Christmas decorations they do have them but they are not glorious like the places you have stayed the Christmas tree was a average 6 foot tree and the decorations where in the main area a few wreaths and pots of poinsettias