We just got back from KW yesterday and it was awesome. We stayed at the Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa on Front street (a couple blocks from Duval). The room was pricey for 4 nights (would have been a gulf front king room but we were upgraded at no charge to a delux gulf front king) it wast $1780.
Blue Heaven cost us $125 for dinner. that was with 1 drink each, an appatizer and our entrees. Conch Republic was about the same as Blue Heaven,Two Friends Patio and Caroline's Cafe were reasonable at just a hair over $60 for the same amount of drinks and food as Blue Heaven and Conch Republic.
Hemmingway house was cool and seeing all the 6 toed cats walking around made me miss my babies LOL.
We also did the Duval Crawl at night. Bars are cool but again be prepaired to spend $$$. Miked drinks range from $6-$10 which can really add up fast with as many bars as there are to hit on Duval.
Snorkeling was pretty cool but we've seen better in Jamaica.
Sunset at Mallory Square is ok if you like crowds and street preformers and crafts. We much prefered to watch the sunset from our balcony (which actualy had a better view than Mallory Square.
The conch train tour is really neat and very informative.
We walked all up and down the streets of old Key West at night an never once felt unsafe.
We spent one day at Fort Zacary touring the fort and lounging on the "beach". The beaches aren't "normal" as they are coral beaches and pretty rocky.
We never made it to Smathers beach but did go past it on our scooter. That beach is man made and sandy like we are used to. However there was a lot of sea grass and I have a bit of an issue with walking in it. Higgs beach also looks llike a "normal" beach and did not appear to have the sea grass
Yesterday (our last day there) we rented a scooter for a few hrs. which was really cool. We trolled about the island and went all the way to "new key west" where smathers beach is.
If you want the night life it's in Old town Key West (that's were Duval is) but if you want a more quite (except for planes) atmosphere then stay in New Key West.
As for the liquor laws. As long as it's in a plastic cup your good to go. People just walk around the streets with drinks in hand. Pretty cool!
We loved it so much that we are already booked back at the Hyatt this time next year. Yup, I did that on our car ride home from the airport last night
Here's the link to our website if you would like to see our 5 days worth of pics. HTH and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.