Stock Island was never supposed to be for tourists.
Years ago, the island was dotted with tiny marinas and tiny boats, shrimp and fish processing plants, along with the kind of dive bars and restaurants that wouldn't have attracted Guy Fieri, let alone tourists en masse.
As recently as 2016, the island was described in the friendliest of terms as "scruffy" by the Miami Herald. But other words like "dirty, dilapidated and outdated" would have been more on point.
It's while looking over that scene that a group of talented men decided it was the perfect place for a perfect hotel.
Mike Hartman is the Managing Director of The Perry Hotel, Key West which is the first development on Stock Island-nearby but oh so far away from the hustle, bustle and over commercialization of Key West-proper. Hartman along with Matthew Strunk and Brad Weiser have a terrific viewpoint of Key West they want to show to the world.
You see, Stock Island was long left behind by development of the tourism industry (and the jobs that come with it), and while the island and it's buildings needed a face lift, Hartman and his partners dedicated Stock Island's first big development to the people who have always made Stock Island special.
"It's Old Key West, like it used to be" Hartman told me, "It's for people who want to be eclectic. You have to want to be there."
He described that feeling as a bit of a simple "Jimmy Buffet-style", with an appreciation of the day and the moment one is in. That feeling is lost in the inauthenticity of Key West elsewhere today.
TravelPulse covered The Perry when it opened back in May, and writer Charu Suri did a great job of laying out everything the hotel has to offer. I love how she captured the vibe in her conclusion, via quote from partner Brad Weiser:
"'Most of all, there's a 'where everyone knows your name' vibe to the area,' says Weiser. 'The piers are dotted with 100-foot yachts, 50-foot catamaran sailboats, and everyone says hello to each other.'"
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With such an awesome location, it makes sense that the average person staying at The Perry might want to stick around and experience some of that "Cheeseburger in Paradise" lifestyle the island is trying to imbue back into Key West. Stock Island is becoming a hip, all-encompassing, something-for-everyone kind of neighborhood many visitors won't ever want (or need) to leave.
Think: Brooklyn meets Havana, but with less intentional irony.
Hartman doubled down on the idea that The Perry was built for tourists to experience like a local. This is not just another Key West hotel trying to hide behind a veneer of "random touristy beach."
Instead, the walk around The Perry is dotted with community gardens, people hanging out and enjoying music and art. Ginny hens run around in between bikini-clad paddleboarders headed to the beach. An old shrimp processing plant has become an artist collective with an orchid collection and a burgeoning distillery.
"It's activities you would want to do on a tropical island anyway," said Hartman.
While he may be biased, Hartman says that The Perry is the most impressive hotel in Key West from a style and design perspective, noting that the development turned out "far better than we'd hoped," when he'd looked at the neighborhood years earlier.
That style is due to Commodore Matthew C. Perry, whom the hotel is named after.
Commodore Perry brought the U.S.S. Shark to Key West and is the man who declared the Florida Keys as U.S. soil. As such, the style is described as "rugged" yet "warm" with nautical touches paying homage to the various fisherman and pirates who have made Stock Island their favorite port of call dating back centuries.
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As we finished the interview, Hartmann pointed out the hotel's massive, private porches as a focal point-perfect for enjoying a cigar while listening to the hustle and the bustle or for enjoying an afternoon rain shower.
If Stock Island doesn't sound perfect for you, that's OK with the team at The Perry. They know you have plenty of options just a few miles away.
That said, Stock Island is finally for someone after years of neglect. It's for the people who want to actually go to Key West, experience Key West and be in Key West for more than just a mediocre, whitewashed, homogenized and generalized vacation experience.
In a way, then, Stock Island still isn't much for tourists. It's become a place for people to become locals-locals who just haven't moved there, yet.
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