Eden House Press
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Discerning Traveler
Eden House
Eden House featured in The Discerning Traveler’s Guide to Romantic Hideaways of the Middle Atlantic & South Eastern States by David and Linda Glickstein 1999 published by St. Martins Press.
This vintage 1920s guest house known in the past as a no-frills, low-budget hangout for writers, intellectuals, and Europeans, is located deep in the Key West historic district removed from the hubbub of Duval Street. The front of the inn has a front porch with the original green metal rockers and lots of bicycles. The aura of the place has changed as owner Mike Eden has made major changes to his compound over the past twenty years by building a heated swimming pool with waterfall and a ten-person Jacuzzi, suites, an elevated sun deck, a quiet shaded areas with hammocks, a gazebo, several fishponds with waterfalls, a restaurant and has added air-conditioning and telephones to all the rooms. His suites all have televisions and the top rooms have kitchenettes or full kitchens.
Happily the atmosphere at Eden House retains the casual, slightly funky feeling of old Key West. The music that’s played in the public areas is from the 50s and 60s. A cold drink or a beer is offered to you when you check in and there’s a complimentary happy hour each afternoon.
Some of our favorite top choice accommodations are in the Effie Perez House. All four accommodations in this building have queen-size beds, over-sized tiled showers, and kitchenettes. Our favorite place to stay is the loft apartment that overlooks the pool with a living room, balcony, and an oak spiral staircase leading to a sleeping loft. A second loft apartment is similarly appointed but has a balcony that overlooks the street. The first floor has two deluxe sophisticated rooms, one with a street view and one (as pictured) with French doors opening directly to a sitting area and the pool.
Another favorite accommodation is Mike’s former apartment with a screened-in porch, a large, high-ceilinged L-shaped room with pine walls, queen-size bed, a full kitchen, and a large bath with an over-size tiled shower. A long porch with a table and chairs overlooking the pool adds to the spaciousness of this apartment.
What’s particularly nice about the Eden House is the wide range of rooms so travelers of different means can enjoy the place. The budget rooms are the European rooms with a sink, double or twin beds, and bureau. The bathroom and shower are down the hall. The best at this range are the four that share the second floor balcony overlooking Fleming Street. There are rooms with a bath between the two rooms, great for couples traveling together or for families. There are also basic rooms with private bath and shower. A doorway opening onto a porch or a deck has been built around the first and second floor rooms on the pool side of the building.
For breakfast get café con leche (strong cappuccino) and cheese bread from the nearby Five Brothers Cuban grocery store, a typical Key West way to start the day.
Where to Dine
Café Med at Eden House, of course. Aziz, chef / owner, does it all; seafood, pasta, beef, lamb and foul. Great salads, fresh baked breads and homemade sorbets. At Blue Heaven you can have breakfast in the courtyard with the chickens in the Bahamian section of Key West. The tortilla topped with scrambled eggs, onion, peppers herbs and cheese with sour cream and Betty’s homemade banana bread will hold you til dinner. The jerk chicken and Banana Heaven dessert are favorites at dinner (305-296-8666). Coco Palms for Jamaican food at its best. Red Beans and rice and the fried cabbage are standards and be sure to get the Crab Cakes. Louie’s Backyard (305-294-1061) one of the most popular in Key West has tables and a bar overlooking the water. We like it for lunch especially the spicy thick shellfish stew. Cafe Des Artistes (305-294-7100) is our top choice for a memorable French meal Café Marquesa at The Marquesa Hotel serves new American cuisine such as yellowtail snapper topped with a ginger-miso vinaigrette served with udon noodles, sautéed spinach and pineapple chile sauce. The Harbor View Café at the Pier House Resort has wonderful water views. Try the grouper with a delicate crisp corn and buttermilk crust (305 296-4600). Informal dining includes B.O.’s Fish Wagon for fresh fish sandwiches (305-294-9272); Jose’s Cantina (305 296-4366) or B’s (305 296-3140) for lots of Cuban food at low low prices. Have the picadillo, which is Cuban beef hash. And for dessert stop by Flamingo Crossing Ice Cream on Duval Street for exotic flavors such as passion fruit, Cuban coffee or cinnamon banana.
What to Do
The island of Key West, which has never had a recorded freeze, is closer to Havana than to Miami and is just a bit larger than New York’s Central Park. Summer temperatures range from 75 to a humid 95 degrees while winter month temperatures range from an unusual 50 at night to a balmy 85 degrees during the day. The standard attire is shorts and T-shirts, no socks and sometimes no shoes. No dress code in Key West. Residents and smart tourists pedal around Key West on old bikes. You don’t need a car here.
The highest point on the island is the Top, an open air bar on the 7th floor of the La Concha Hotel. A cool drink and a fantastic sunset. Nancy Secret Garden is an acre of lush gardens in the heart of Old Key West. Take a book and lunch and spend the day. Nancy’s is located at One Free School Lane.
There are still enough bars along Duval Street, the one mile central artery of town, so that you can still see Key West “on your hands and knees” (the Duval Crawl), as the locals like to say. There are rock, folk, Dixieland, jazz, and Bahamian calypso bands to keep one singing and dancing from early afternoon to early morning. There are dozens of T-shirt and souvenir shops, snorkel trip hawkers, bicycle/rickshaw drivers, and the ubiquitous Conch train. There are excellent galleries at the south end of Duval Street. You can go sailing, snorkeling, fishing and sea kayaking.
How to Get There
Fly to Key West and take a taxi to Eden House. You won’t need a car if you stay in Key West. From Miami, take U.S. 1 156 miles south to Key West.
Eden House from The Discerning Traveler April 1998
This vintage 1920s guest house known in the past as a no-frills, low-budget hangout for writers, intellectuals, and Europeans, is located deep in the Key West historic district removed from the hubbub of Duval Street. The front of the inn has a front porch with the original green metal rockers and lots of bicycles. The aura of the place has changed as owner Mike Eden has made major changes to his compound over the past twenty years by building a heated swimming pool with waterfall and a ten-person Jacuzzi, suites, a sun deck, two quiet shaded areas with hammocks, a gazebo, several fish ponds with waterfalls, a restaurant and has added air-conditioning and telephones to all the rooms. His suites all have televisions and the top rooms have kitchenettes or full kitchens. Happily the atmosphere at Eden House retains the casual, slightly funky feeling of old Key West. The music that’s played in the public areas is from the 50s and 60s. A cold drink or a beer is offered to you when you check in and there’s a complimentary happy hour each afternoon.
Some of our favorite top choice accommodations are in the Effie Perez House. All four accommodations in this building have queen-size beds, over-sized tiled showers, and kitchenettes. Our favorite place to stay is the loft apartment that overlooks the pool with a living room, balcony, and an oak spiral staircase leading to a sleeping loft. A second loft apartment is similarly appointed but has a balcony that overlooks the street. The first floor has two deluxe sophisticated rooms, one with a street view and one (as pictured) with French doors opening directly to a sitting area and the pool.
Another favorite accommodation is Mike’s former apartment with a screened-in porch, a large, high-ceilinged L-shaped room with pine walls, queen-size bed, a full kitchen, and a large bath with an over-size tiled shower. A long porch with a table and chairs overlooking the pool adds to the spaciousness of this apartment.
What’s particularly nice about the Eden House is the wide range of rooms so travelers of different means can enjoy the place. The budget rooms are the European rooms with a sink, double or twin beds, and bureau. The bathroom and shower are down the hall. The best at this range are the four that share the second floor balcony overlooking Fleming Street. There are rooms with a bath between the two rooms, great for couples traveling together or for families. There are also basic rooms with private bath and shower. A doorway opening onto a porch or a deck has been built around the first and second floor rooms on the pool side of the building.
For breakfast get café con leche (strong cappuccino) and cheese bread from the nearby Five Brothers Cuban grocery store, a typical Key West way to start the day.
