The Suite Spot Spotlight Series takes viewers to sunny Key West in the newest episode, featuring the lavish and beachside resort, Casa Marina Key West by Hilton! 

Special guest and Hotel Manager at Casa Marina, Evelyn Summer, joins the podcast to share the property’s rich history, insight on the $90 million hotel renovation, and how a strong digital presence on social media and guest review platforms plays a pivotal role in connecting with travelers worldwide.

Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embee. Hello everyone. Ryan Embree here with the Suite Spot. We are here with our Suite Spot Spotlight series, and what I would argue is going to be the southern most episode we ever do on this Spotlight series. We’ll explain in a moment, I’m gonna bring in my guest, Evelyn Summer, Hotel Manager of Casa Marina, Key West Curio Collection by Hilton. Evelyn, thank you so much for being with me on the podcast.

Evelyn Summer:
Thanks for having me, Ryan.

Ryan Embree:
Well, thank you for inviting me here to this incredible property. We’re gonna talk all about it, but before, as tradition on the Suite Spot, we’d love to hear from hospitality professionals, their journey, their background. This is like every hotel professional’s dream to be at a property like this. How’d you get here?

Evelyn Summer:
Ryan, you said that it’s your Southern most broadcast, but it’s also the best broadcast. You’re gonna have to. That’s true. I mean, come on, look at where we’re at. How did I get here? Well, fun fact. I am from Key West. Okay. Yeah. So my family originates from down here. My grandfather’s from Key Largo, my mother’s from down here. And I’ve been here my whole life. Not to say that I haven’t moved and, you know, went to college, worked in a couple of different areas, but I’ve been in Key West for about 90% of my life. Yeah. And started working here at these two properties probably in 2008. However, fun fact is that all of our high school proms and homecomings and family worked here. There’s a lot of it. It was further back than 2008. Sure. When I actually officially became employed. So I can easily say that I grew up here.

Ryan Embree:
Yeah. We hear that all the time from hoteliers is like them actually living in the hotel sometimes. And you have like your entire history here and now here you are making more memories for guests all around the world. Very, very cool to see. And this property is iconic. It’s got a history dating back to the 1920s. We’re gonna talk about the recent renovation and transformation that it just had, but talk to us, to our listeners about the origin story of this property and its history.

Evelyn Summer:
Sure. Yeah. So Casa Marina was built, opened in 1920 New Year’s Eve, 1920 to be exact. It was built by Henry Flagler. He was an industrialist that built the railroad that connects essentially New York all the way down to the southernmost point. And interesting fact is that Henry and his partners were the first to create the, and I’m not a railroad specialist, but the railroads that could connect to other railroad lines way, way, way back. Whenever someone would built a railroad, that was it. That track was just their track and you couldn’t interconnect it with someone else’s track Yeah. And use theirs. And he was able to create that. And then his dream was to build a way to get people all the way down to Key West. So he built us one, the old bridges that you see when you’re traveling down to get people on a train all the way down to Key West. And then of course, once he figured that out, they needed a place to stay. So Casa Marina was it. And that’s about 105 years ago.

Ryan Embree:
I mean, I think that’s absolutely incredible. I mean, the fact that we’re talking about the origin of connecting railroads and aligning with the history of this, of this space, but there’s been certainly a bridge from its past to where it is right now. With these transformations and recent renovations. Talk to us a little bit about the work that’s been done, some of the feedback you’re hearing from guests.

Evelyn Summer:
Yeah, of course. So we recently finished, a $90 million renovation of the entire resort. Incredible. And that included everything from our food and beverage outlets which we’re sitting in now to our guest rooms. Every facility in the hotel was addressed, and it’s just absolutely fantastic. They did a wonderful job of making sure to not get away from sort of the old charm that is caina. It is one of the oldest buildings on the island, but to add in some newer touches that really make it elevated and make the guest experience really wonderful. So we have brand new restaurant, which we’re sitting in now, ADA, which is just absolutely fantastic. It’s here right on the ocean front as you can hear it in the background from sitting on the beach to have dinner, to sitting at the bar, to just having a regular lunch and lunch if you were out on your pool chair or beach chair. It’s just really, really fantastic. And then of course, our guest rooms like just, I mean, I might be biased, but they’re the best on the island. They’re the best on the island. We have some brand new ocean front suites where you can be in your suite and then five seconds walk out directly from your room to the beach. And the ocean is, you know, 35 feet away. You really can’t, there’s, you can’t compare it to probably anything else in the United States. It’s absolutely wonderful.

Ryan Embree:
It was incredible. Again, I had the, the privilege of of going on a tour and to also see a note to its history, local flair. There were some artists that were curated some art for this recent renovation as well.

Evelyn Summer:
So our architecture and design team, they partnered together and did such a really nice job with touches. As you’ve mentioned, there are about three or four local artists that ended up having their pieces either in every single guest room or sprinkled throughout the hotel. And then we also of course, allow the guest an opportunity to be able to purchase or promote those artists here in our gift shop or around the hotel. And like Key West Pottery, is one of the gentlemen. He does some really great art pieces that’s not just pottery, but also he paints and things like that, and everyone sort of knows about them. And so it was really cool to be able to get his stuff, a couple of his paintings. And they’re really funky. Like, whether it’s a rooster that’s kind of like weird cartoonish looking, or something to that nature that are in every single guest room. And it just sort of really add into the flare of Key West, but fits the architecture and charm that still keeps it, you know, as such an old historic and cozy, if you will, building.

Ryan Embree:
And I think that’s the brilliant piece about it. I mean, you think about a property that’s been around for over a hundred years, you have families that have generations that have been coming to this property and being able to say he wanna modernize this building, but also not lose its charm and local art and flair. It’s so amazing and Key West, just an incredible historic location. For those listeners, viewers that haven’t been to Key West before, kind of paint a picture of where this property is located in comparison Key West.

Evelyn Summer:
Of course. So Key West, well, we can start out by talking about like, what’s the vibe of Key West? I feel like a couple of people, you know, if you asked a few different people, they would give you a totally different answer. And it depends on maybe when was the last time you visited or what you were coming here for. First of all, we’re in the Caribbean. We’re at the southern most point of the United States, but we’re in the middle of the ocean and the stones throw away from a couple of Caribbean islands. And so that’s perfect. Right? If you’re looking for a place to go, maybe you don’t necessarily have a passport or wanna travel too far out of the country, you’re gonna get that Caribbean feel here, but you’re still in the United States. But Key West has, over the years, and I can confidently speak to this being that I’ve been here a long time, we won’t say how old I am, but it’s probably older than you think. It is such a well-rounded, whether you’re coming here to party on Duval Street, whether you’re coming here to just relax on the beach, whether you’re coming here for art and food, whether you’re bringing your family. And that doesn’t matter if they’re young kids or teenagers, there’s so many things to do. It’s such a welcoming place. Like Key West City motto is one human family. Like, you know, it doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from, whether you’re a southerner who just likes to come down and check out food, or you’re from New York City or, you know, it just doesn’t matter. It’s something for everyone down here. And everyone always has a really good time and sort of goes back thinking, I can’t wait to go back. Yeah. The area of the island that the Key West, the Key West the hotel is in Key West, which is just a couple blocks off of Duval Street, which is nice because you might think like, I wanna be down in the mix. Like I don’t wanna have to walk too far. Right. But we are on the Atlantic side of the island. It’s about a 10 minute walk to get to say the southernmost point or the West east end of Duval Street and makes for a perfect getaway. So you can still be close enough to walk quick, Uber, rent a bike, you can do whatever you know, we still have all the fun get around Key West ways that everyone’s used to, but you’re away from the hustle and bustle. You’re not in the middle of like, let’s say you don’t enjoy the 3:00 AM crowd. Right. You’d come here and you would have no idea Duval Street’s just right around the corner. Right. But you’re still close enough. We have the largest backyard. I like to say in Key West, some of it is behind us. There are very few, if any, hotels that actually have a real beach in Key West. And I think that that might deter some people that maybe have never been here and are looking into traveling to Key West, but not realizing that we actually do have a beach and it’s the largest one outside of, you know, a city beach or something like that you might travel to. And double benefit about staying here is that you have access to our sister property as well. The reach resort. And the Reach has the only natural beach in Key West. Which means it’s naturally made sort of maybe more used to what you might visit in, say, along the coast of Florida where it, although we don’t have a lot of crashing waves down here in Florida in Key West, we have a natural sand over at the Reach, which is wonderful as well. So you can get the best of both worlds.

Ryan Embree:
Well, I think you’ve done a wonderful job of painting a picture, again, whether you’re here with your family, whether you’re here for group travel, whether you come down here to you know, get crazy on Duval. You really can kind of have it all just at the, you know, couple steps away from your hotel room and this beautiful property. I wanna talk about some of the amenities. You already mentioned the largest private beach on Key West. What are some of the other amenities if a guest did want to kind of stay on site?

Evelyn Summer:
Well, we have some really great options. You could come here and check in, although I don’t recommend it. You could never leave. Like you could just stay at the hotel. I mean, and the reason I say I don’t recommend it’s ’cause you gotta go see Key West. I mean, you can’t come and say and see a few different things around the island. It’s such a unique place. But we have a spa here on site, which provides a lot of different services. I highly recommend setting up a massage on our beach side, cabanas in the morning. It’s just like unreal. They’re about 25 feet from the shoreline and you know, you just hear the waves crashing. It’s before, you know, it’s not so hot and not a lot of people are awake yet and you’re just laying there getting a massage and the birds are chirping. No sound machine needed. There’s, you can just hear the natural. It’s absolutely wonderful. And they do have indoor options as well for people that would be more comfortable inside the spa. We also have a water sports vendor here on property, barefoot Billies. He provides everything that you could possibly wanna do, whether it’s on the water, on the shoreline. He has bike rentals, scooter rentals. You can rent golf carts to get around the hotel. You can take snorkeling tours or sunset tours directly here from our dock.

Ryan Embree:
We saw a couple snorkelers out here. A couple jet skis fly by in the background too.

Evelyn Summer:
Yeah, and Billy is the originator of the world famous island jet ski tour, which takes you, it’s 90 minutes and takes you all the way around the islands. It’s a guided tour. Highly recommend doing that because it’s really the most fun way to see the entire island, if you will. They take you all the way around. It’s really, really cool. So that’s a huge plus, right? Because you definitely wanna try and get out on the water, be a part of the ecosystem while you’re down here. Let’s see. We have, we already talked about Dorada a little bit, a wonderful restaurant which offers you lunch and dinner. Of course, Flagler’s breakfast is fantastic in the mornings and our pool and beaches. So you could stay here for several days and never hang out in the same spot. Every, like, you could choose a different spot to be your hangout spot, whether it’s at one of the pools in one of our cabanas, at one of the end of the beach and a daybed. And then the next day you could go down and you know, get a couple of chairs in the umbrella by the ocean. You really, there’s a lot of space to hang out and not feel sort of like it’s repetitive after so many days and that you’re doing the same thing.

Ryan Embree:
And to speak to, you know, the variety again of traveler that can accommodate here. You’ve got two pools here, right? Family pool doll only pool. Yep. So again, you know, it’s exactly what you were saying. And then when you’re done here, you can just go head down to the sister property and not too far and enjoy.

Evelyn Summer:
Yeah. And the food over there is fantastic as well. The Reach is really a hit and it’s nice. It’s really nice. And the same goes for both proper. We are sister properties, so, you know, a lot of us that work here, cover both hotels, which really makes for like an added amenity. For either guest that you can go over and you can charge back to your room over there. If you were to spend the day at the pool and have drinks and lunch, you can charge back to your room. Billy has a small setup over there as well, which also has some different sort of beach toys, if you will, that you can use. So it’s really nice. It’s really nice that we have the partnership.

Ryan Embree:
You mentioned some f and b options. Personal favorite, Evelyn, or what would you say? Where are we going?

Evelyn Summer:
This is hard because it’s, our menus are relatively new Right. But recently from renovation and opening everything up. Oh my gosh. Okay. So let’s see. Well, the key lime pie is a must have to, and everyone says that if you go anywhere in Key West and interviewed anyone, they would tell you to have their key lime pie. But I’m telling you, there’s something about ours that’s just like, it has been voted best on the island. It has won that award. So I can confidently say that. Let’s see, Chef has a nightly fish special and so I can’t tell you what it is ’cause it’s different every night. But he gets local fresh seafood from local commercial fishermen every single day delivered to the hotel and does just absolutely mind blowing things with this fish. So whether it’s swordfish grouper or mahi, sometimes you can’t even believe some of the ingredients that he used to make these dishes. Because you just wouldn’t think to put it in that dish. But it’s so unique and so delicious and different every night, which is another added benefit. And then I’m a big pancake girl.

Ryan Embree:
Okay.

Evelyn Summer:
And I think the pancakes of Flaglers, I had them this morning, are really, really, really good.

Ryan Embree:
Well if you ever want to feel really inspired to travel, go to your social media profiles. Instagram, Facebook, over 90,000 travelers already following it. No shortage of views, no shortage of great content to be sharing. I’m sure your guests are sharing every single day. It’s probably hard to keep up with. Talk to us about social media strategy and how that kind of played into the role of the, the hotel.

Evelyn Summer:
We of course we found it extremely important to sort of deep dive into the social media world, particularly after our renovation. We had so much to show off. Yeah, absolutely. Great point. And our marketing team right now is just fantastic. You spent some time with Abby, of course, had plenty of conversations with Liz, I’m sure. And they really have just honed in on kind of like, and what is grabbing people’s attention and how to highlight sort of what the mood is like or what, what are the kids saying the vibe is nowadays for people. So we really just try and capture that and highlight sort of maybe things that people maybe aren’t even thinking about or don’t even know that we have to offer. But staying relative to whoever we’re after, right. So you talk about a lot of corporate and group stuff going on. We have a ton of weddings over 150 weddings a year take place. Between our two properties. It’s a lot. Yeah. And the team does a really kill our job. And then just different demographics of people that stay here.

Ryan Embree:
That’s what I was gonna speak to. I mean, I think in just the short time that we’ve had this conversation, I mean there has been so much that you’ve been talking about between this property, the renovations, everything. So Sure. Again, the no shortage of content. Definitely encourage our followers, subscribers, make sure you follow on Instagram, Facebook to, to keep up there. You talked about the weddings and group travel. And I personally, I need some more of my friends to get married. Let’s do a Key West. Let’s get the company down here. I need to get back here. Talk through that process of group travel, you know, weddings how that’s done and how it’s really kind of a white glove service for you.

Evelyn Summer:
Of course. So our sales and catering team, I mean really what just absolute killer team. I mean you can imagine it’s, it’s seems easy when you look at it, particularly on social media, but to put off some of the events that they do and really coordinate a number of attendees, whether we’re talking a wedding or a corporate meeting quite literally in the middle of the ocean on an island. It’s not an easy feat and they really do a fantastic job and give a lot of confidence to these group contacts. And we just have stellar reviews. I mean something in the 90 percentile of feedback that we get just from our corporate groups alone. But the process is fairly simple. I mean, no one ever argues about coming down to do a site visit, right.

Ryan Embree:
They’re always raising their hands. Right. I’ll I go check it out.

Evelyn Summer:
They’re arguing over who’s gonna come. We do a lot of incentive group, you know, a lot of people that wanna come down here and celebrate their teams because it’s, you know, there’s such a versatile place to bring them and different things that they can do. Key West has a golf course. I think a lot of people don’t realize that, which also helps with sort of course, you know, it, it seems it’s either people wanna be in the sun in at the ocean doing something active or on a golf course and that really helps. But as far as the process goes, I mean, our sales and marketing team and events team is either out on the road or in contact with different individuals and getting the site visits scheduled. People come here, they see what’s going on. And we have a crew, I mean a crew of people that help from start to finish. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about the smallest detail or the largest. I mean, the team really works well together in making sure that we put on a really great show for them.

Ryan Embree:
And a number of different spaces at the property as well where you can be flexible, whether you’re a smaller group, massive group can accommodate.

Evelyn Summer:
Well let’s face it, we’re in the middle. We are in the middle of the ocean, as I’ve said a couple of times. So there’s weather and that can be a nerve wracking factor for people if they’ve planned something totally outside. So we do provide backup space for every single event that we have. So I think that creates a sense of relief for maybe some folks who really aren’t, really don’t know what might happen. There are so many different options of space, but not only the space, but the feel that they can provide, like whatever that event might be. That it really allows us, we might not have hundreds of thousands of squares foot of meeting space, like, you know, so we maybe a larger hotel in a larger city, but outdoor space is not counted as as meeting space, but we use it as meeting space. And so it allows us to be able to offer so many different options. I mean, if someone wanted to come and take over a whole side of the, be like everything behind us, including the lawn, they could, they could. And that provides just so many different options and fun.

Evelyn Summer:
Right. Even down to a very intimate, you know, setting to where you feel like you might be the only ones on property. So, and that’s what you look for is, is that flexibility when you’re planning to accommodate, you know, no matter what your vibe is as you’re speaking to

Evelyn Summer:
We’re so, what is it? Gen Z or Gen z, Ryan, my kids would be so proud of me.

Ryan Embree:
And you and your team have done a great job, Evelyn obviously nationally recognized by Forbes, Travel and Leisure. You have a number of Hilton Circle of excellent winners. What does this mean to you as hotel manager, to kinda see these recognitions?

Evelyn Summer:
Ryan, I say it all the time. I don’t do anything here. I don’t do anything. I really don’t. I, these people that work here have so much passion. They love their jobs. They put each other and the guest first. And I don’t mean to say this in a, it doesn’t surprise me. Yeah. Like the number of things that we have. And I don’t mean that in a cocky way, but more in a, like, it is so special to be in one a place like this, but to work with people who function like a family, a good functioning family and genuinely love being here and doing their jobs. And I think that everything else that happens as a result of that is just icing on the cake and somewhat like easy. Does that make sense? I mean, absolute their job isn’t easy, but listen, we have, I think the highest number of Circle of Excellence winners out of most of the Hilton hotels. It’s incredible. And they’re recognized. They get to go on these fantastic trips as a result, which is really always so exciting for them. Because they work really hard all year round. And then they get to go do something fun with their colleagues. But then Hilton. And then of course, you know, the awards and recognition that you mentioned earlier, whether it be Forbes or the list goes on of places that we’ve been either nominated or won. It’s very humbling.

Ryan Embree:
It’s a great testament to, you know, especially with you, you talked about the financial, $90 million renovation put into the testament to see that guest feedback come in and see that that love kind of shine through online and you know, through word of mouth too. Because again, this is a historic property probably holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. Both locals like yourself and people traveler, you know, travelers all over the world where this might be their first time. So speaking of it, it is the summer season. The kids are outta school, people are ready to travel. Sure you’re ready to host them. So you’ve got this Passport to Paradise package. Talk to us a little bit about that and what guests have to look forward this summer at Casa Marina.

Evelyn Summer:
Well, you don’t need a passport to come to Key West. All you have to do is go online and book Casa Marina resort.com. Passport to Paradise is a summer portion that we have going on. Summertime’s a really great time to come down here. I think a lot of people maybe have more options of where they could travel, especially within the United States ’cause most of the country is warm and they could travel a lot of different places. But if you are looking for somewhat of a Caribbean field, but maybe not wanting to have to use a passport or go too far on an airplane or maybe you’re in Florida and it’s just a quick drive, we do have that promotion going on. It’s 20% off. And then you also get a $50 daily resort credit added to your room. So could use that for some drinks by the pool or any of the amenities that we have here on the island that we’ve talked about. There you go. And then key lime pie. Yeah, key lime pie. You could have, I don’t even know how many key lime pies with that credit, but you could. And then you can’t beat 20% off. I mean, really, it’s really kind of the best time to travel down here from a rate perspective.

Ryan Embree:
And you don’t just have to travel by car either. If you’re in Florida, we flew down here, you know, pretty quick. A lot more flights coming into the airport that seems to be growing. I’m sure you’re gonna be welcoming a lot more guests as the summer. And then, you know, even we get those snowboards a little bit later in the year. So, you know, as we wrap up today’s episode obviously Hotel Manager for Casa Marina, you know, what do you hope and feel when travelers leave? They check out, they’re headed back to wherever they are. What do you hope they say and feel about their experience here?

Evelyn Summer:
I hope that they feel like they experience something truly special because Key West is truly special. And I hope they go talk about it. If you wanna know what they say, I hope that they say that that was one of the best vacations, if not the best vacation they’ve ever had. I hope that some of our team members left some lasting impressions with them that they’ll carry with them. We have so many special, special people that work here that truly care. And I think that shows, and there’s really no place like us. There’s a reason why some of us don’t leave. I hope that they are able to take a little bit of piece, a little piece of that with them and book a return trip because this place just keeps getting better.

Ryan Embree:
Well it’s such a historic place and you know, again, hopefully those stories shared, you know, becomes a part of the magic that is down here in Key West. And, and, you know, congratulations to you and your team on, on the recent renovations. Thank you for welcoming the Suite Spot too. Casa Marina, you have a wonderful property here, incredible staff as we talked about. Uh, any final thoughts as we wrap up today?

Evelyn Summer:
No, I appreciate you guys coming down. We’re so happy to have you. Um, and uh, looking forward to seeing the show broadcasted. And, uh, again, you said this is the Southern most broadcast, but it’s definitely gonna be the best one you’ve had. ’cause this is the Suite Spot, Ryan. Yeah, this is it right here.

Ryan Embree:
I love it. All right. Well, Evelyn, thank you so much for joining me on the Suite Spot. Thank you for listening and we will talk to you next time To join our loyalty program. Be sure to subscribe and give us a five star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embee, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.