Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United States / Key West / The Marquesa Hotel
The Marquesa Hotel
Key West, Florida, United States · Independent · Grand Luxury
The Marquesa Hotel gathers two Old Town houses in Key West: the 1884 Haskins House, which escaped the 1886 fire by about twenty feet, and the 1878 Kerr House that William Kerr built as his own home. The 27-room hotel took its current form in 1994, with Café Marquesa in the compound, a short walk from the Hemingway House. Michelin has given it Two Keys.
- 27 rooms
- Opened 1994
- Neighborhood: Lower Duval
- Rooms from 217 sq ft (20 m²)
About The Marquesa Hotel
- The Haskins House escaped Key West's catastrophic 1886 fire by a reported twenty feet.
- The Kerr House next door was built in 1878 by William Kerr, one of the island's most influential 19th-century architects.
- Entry-level rooms start at 217 sq ft (20 m²).
History
The core of the Marquesa Hotel complex dates to 1884, when James Haskins built a single-family dwelling at 600 Fleming Street in Key West's Old Town. The building survived one of the defining moments in Key West's architectural history: the catastrophic fire of 1886 that destroyed much of the downtown, consuming blocks of Victorian wood-frame construction; the Haskins house escaped the blaze by a reported twenty feet, preserving its original patina and structural integrity. In the early twentieth century the main building served as a boarding house, then was converted to apartment homes in the 1950s. By the 1980s it had lost much of its original character.
The second building in the Marquesa complex has an even earlier connection to Key West's architectural identity. The Kerr House at 414 Simonton Street was built in 1878 by William Kerr, a renowned Irish-American architect who had been born in Ireland in 1836, educated in Boston, and settled in Key West in 1872, where he became one of the island's most influential builders. Kerr constructed his own home in the "carpenter gothic" style — a creative riff on Gothic Revivalism characterized by its romantic, picturesque charm and its skillful use of wood-frame construction.
In 1987, Key West general contractors Richard Manley and Erik deBoer purchased the Haskins property from the Archdiocese of New York and undertook its restoration. In February 1988 the building reopened as the Marquesa Hotel and Café Marquesa, establishing what would become the standard of quiet refinement in Key West lodging — an alternative to the Duval Street spectacle, oriented toward guests seeking genuine comfort within Old Town's historic fabric. In 1994 the hotel expanded into two neighboring historic buildings. The Kerr House joined the collection in 2015, followed by the Pilot House Inn in 2016; a full renovation and unification of the campus, including a new pool and landscaped gardens, was completed in 2018. In 2022 Noble House Hotels and Resorts entered partnership with the original owners.
The MICHELIN Guide recognized the Marquesa with Two Keys in 2025, confirming its standing as Old Town Key West's most refined enclave — a collection of Victorian-era houses set in Peggy Mills tropical gardens, steps from the Hemingway House, with fourteen rooms whose marble bathrooms and individually chosen furnishings make each accommodation genuinely distinct.
The setting
The Marquesa Hotel sits on Duval in Lower Duval. Truman Little White House is roughly 7 minutes' walk, The Hemingway Home and Museum is roughly 7 minutes' walk, and Key West Lighthouse is roughly 8 minutes' walk. The street runs from the harbor at Front Street toward the Atlantic. Waterfront keys (Pier House, Ocean Key) own the Gulf light; a block off Duval is quieter gardens and tinajones. 0.5 miles from Key West Aquarium.
Restaurants and bars
- Café Marquesa — Café
Experiences
- Sunset Sails — Sunset sails on Key West waters, Saturdays, 9 May to 31 December 2026; time varies by sunset. Off-site.
- Fantasy Fest — Masked processions, parties, contests and dances across Key West at multiple venues, 16-25 October 2026.
- World Class Fishing — Florida Keys fishing charters, including sight fishing for permit and tarpon; Sundays, 10 May to 31 December 2026. Off-site.
- Haunted Tours — Haunted historical walking or trolley tours of Key West, Thursday evenings, 14 May to 31 December 2026. Off-site.
- Key West Farmers Market — Thursday farmers market at the Truman Waterfront, 2:00 to 7:00 pm, 14 May to 31 December 2026.
- Snorkel Experience — Catamaran snorkel tours on Key West waters; Fridays, 8 May to 31 December 2026. Off-site.
Amenities
- Pool
Awards
- MICHELIN Two Keys (2026)
Open The Marquesa Hotel in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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