By Charles Baran
Next year, Island House, that gay men’s, fun-in-the-sun, clothing optional resort at the east end of Fleming Street in Old Town Key West, will turn fifty. When Jim Camp, the original owner, opened for business in 1976, little did he know that a half a century later the venerated guesthouse would still be going strong and be bigger and better than ever. Back in the mid-seventies, gay Key West was just beginning its meteoric rise to becoming the number one gay and lesbian travel destination in the world. Designers Angelo Donghia and Calvin Klein had just arrived. Tennessee Williams and Leonard Bernstein were already there. Divine would soon become a resident.
While the frenetic heydays of the 80s and 90s have subsided, Key West still offers a great deal of sparkle and fun for the LGBTQ traveler. And whether you’re sipping a relaxing poolside cocktail or watching the New Year’s Eve Shoe Drop on Duval Street, you won’t be sorry you picked Island House as your base for your Key West getaway.
Throughout the decades, Island House has maintained a consistently high level of quality; 24-hour service, poolside café, daily happy hour, and stylishly appointed rooms and suites. It boasts an extremely loyal clientele and enjoys fantastic employee retainage—several front desk staff members have worked there over twenty years. Obviously, Island House is doing something right. And, if truth be told, it’s in large part to General Manager Jeff Smead. Jeff is all in on Key West—“I’m basically borderline obsessed!”—and happily shares his unbridled enthusiasm with everyone, converting skeptics into believers in a matter of minutes.
“I came to Key West in 1997 on a Boy Scout trip to the Florida Sea Base. I was thirteen. I remember being completely enamored and in disbelief that this cool place was a place you could actually move to and bring your stuff.” Jeff was so taken by Key West’s charms that as a student at California State Polytechnic University, he did his senior project on “the phenomenon of gay and lesbian resorts in Key West in the 80s and 90s.”
In 2006, the same year he graduated Cal Poly, Jeff packed his “stuff,” found an apartment on Craigslist, and made Key West his home. “I moved here because of gay Key West. It absolutely picked me.”
When he arrived, he worked at several of the local gay bars. Soon after, Jeff landed a gig with Fantasy Fest, Key West’s number one annual attraction. Then, in 2011, while stopping by Island House for the afternoon happy hour, Steve Silva, general manager at time, asked Jeff to come in for an interview. Steve didn’t even have a particular job in mind, he just knew there was something about the 26-year-old that would be an ideal fit with the Island House brand. And he wasn’t wrong. Fourteen years later, Jeff, and his husband James Braun, who, by the way, he met at Island House—“Table 3 at the pool café. Next to the towels!”—are running the place through their company, Island Mates Management LLC. Bobi Lore, Island House’s current owner, couldn’t be happier. On top of that, this October, Jeff and James opened the doors on two luxurious and newly constructed villas which they privately own. The units, located at 1117 Fleming Street share the only contiguous property line with Island House. They are calling their new venture “Island Mates Manor.” Each villa has 2 full bedrooms, 2 ½ baths, and can sleep up to six. The units are available for long term stays of thirty days or more. A brand-new private pool is shared by the two villas; however, all the services and amenities of Island House are available to the guests of Island Mates Manor, literally just steps away.
And if something needs attending, help is not far as Jeff and James, along with their pooch Dewey, live in the main house, a lovely fully-restored Princess Anne Victorian, which front faces Fleming Street. “The house looked like the Munster’s home when we bought it!”
Jeff pointed out that the villas at Island Mates Manor are the first new gay specific accommodations in Key West in over 25-years. Jeff and his husband hope their venture will inspire others to follow suit. Key West offers a timely respite from the day-to-day noise and might just be ripe for an LGBTQ renaissance. In any event, the couple, along with Dewey, are not going anywhere.
“I am inspired by what was handed down to me by the gay men who came before me. I am fascinated by this community and what happened here and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to be a part of it.”
To book at stay at Island House visit www.islandhousekeywest.com
To book at stay at The Villas at Island Mates Manor visit www.island-mates.com
