The Flats have a chic, modern-Mex decor. But they are also a good value. The suites actually do look like the cute photos (and even better). The beds are comfortable, which is a plus over other Port A "unique" places where we've stayed in the past.

Although not on the beach, you're just 3 minutes from the beach driving or 5-10 on bike (depends if you're a lazy biker like me). The elevated lounge/deck is nice, but don't expect a great view. You can see a tiny sliver of the shipping canal. I enjoyed the location because it was within walking distance to the marina, the park on the intracoastal canal, some shops, and a good coffee house. Each morning, I walked the couple blocks to the pier and watched the dolphins and pelicans over the canal.

The room itself was very clean; the mini bar was nice for sitting at for a drink; and the living area was spacious. At night, you could hear some traffic on the road. It's probably noisier if you stay in the room that faces the road; we slept in the back bedroom. There is limited parking. We were there during a non-busy period, so that didn't affect us.

(We did not stay in the elevated Piers.)

We booked our stay by calling Starkeys. We arrived on Thursday afternoon, the place was dark , no one in office and the key not left in the front for us. We messed around til 4:00 thinking someone would show up, however we ended up calling Starkey's and they had to run the key over to us. We stayed in the Pier room upstairs. It was all right, except as stated by a previous review, the back doors on the balcony do not lock at all. The building sways and we found several large roaches in the room. The bed was extremely low to the ground. There was alot of room and nice to have the refrigerator and microwave.

We absolutely loved the flats....it was so much better staying there than at your tipical hotel.....It was like a house......very uniquely decorated. It was close to the beach, and very comfortable....You can bring your own food and cook...even make cocktails, and then take them up to a lounge area on top of the property that has a view of the ocean.....I booked this place for me and my friends because it was the most decently priced place I could find....but it turned out to be way more than I expected...very comfortable and fun.....

This property has two parts, The Flats and The Piers (which are elevated on stilts). We stayed in the The Piers. The whole building shakes and sways when someone walks on the walkway outside your windows. You can even feel when someone is climbing the only stairs to the elevated rooms.

The "bamboo" blinds are an issue. The windows facing the deck also have roll shades for privacy but the windows facing the walkway everyone uses to get to and from their room only has the bamboo shades. Very revealing especially at night with int. lights on.

The room was large enough but desperately in need of paint. they look much fresher and cleaner on the website. The bathmat was dirty (not stained but actual clumps dirt and twigs). The shower curtain was about 35% covered in orange and black mildew. There were a lot of hairs on the "clean" sheets and the "clean" towels.

"THE KICKER" -- The Piers has a common, railed deck that runs along all the rooms. The decks are separated by walls between the rooms, walls that extend only to the deck rail...it was easy to lean around the wall and see onto the neighboring decks and would have been very easy to hop onto either deck adjacent to ours. THE PROBLEM - NONE of the back doors from the rooms to the decks lock! They have locks, but they don't function.

When we called Starkey Property Management alarmed that our back door to the deck did not lock, they told us that none of them do....! What!?! Maybe it's not a big deal for everyone but we had been robbed in just such a way in another hotel. I wouldn't want my wife and kids to stay there alone and risk a break-in from either of the neighboring decks. The Starkey rep said it was safe (she lives in one of those units) but that it's always a good idea to not leave your belongings in any hotel room. So forget walking to a nearby restaurant for dinner unless you want to tote along your laptop and camera...or have all the neighbors watch you stow them in your car...(what a hassle). The whole lock issue could be resolved with $5 chain locks or something similar that you can lock from the inside...as it is now, there is no way at all to secure that back door and it wouldn't completey close anyway, it din't fit right in the doorframe.

As for that laptop...there was no wireless internet as advertised on the website. I mean none whatsoever, not even a blip from a weak signal nearby...nothing. Tried several times. Starkey rep's response was, "Hmmmm".

While management was responsive and replaced our towels and sheets and took away the shower curtain liner (they didn't replace it so, sorry for the wet floor!), we did not ever feel safe in our room during our visit.

Maybe the Flats are nicer, they seem to be from the outside, but if you care about your family and don't travel with a gun, stay away from the Piers.