Hotelier Jerry Johnson had a singular vision for the resort he calls Bungalows Key Largo when it opened in 2019. He knew the kind of people needed to run it—and the way he wanted to deal with them. Like Cynthia Costa, its general manager from the get-go. She’d worked for Johnson when he owned the Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada, 18 miles south.
“They treat you like family,” she says of Johnson and his nephew, Jeremy. “I have deep roots with them, and work as hard as I can because I have that much respect for them.”
Once he’d bought his 12 acres on Buttonwood Bay, Johnson designed 135 identical bungalows himself. At the rear of each, he added outdoor seating, a shower, and a bathtub. Out front is a porch with Adirondack chairs, a ceiling fan, and a pair of bikes. And he laid them all out in a master plan worthy of any New Urbanist practicing today.
He also demonstrated a deft understanding of landscape design. He planted his property with native ferns, towering palms, and flowering bougainvillea. “He was responsible for every plant and tree,” Costa says. “He knew where he wanted to put things.”
The result? A sanctuary that’s known as the only all-inclusive, adults-only resort in the Florida Keys—and a destination unto itself. “Everyone who goes through those gates has an ‘Aha!’ moment,” she says. “They instantly become relaxed.”
It happens well before they discover the three restaurants on site, all operating under the inventive eye of Chef Juan Maradiaga. He too has been at the Bungalows since it opened in early 2019, but left after a devastating fire that May. When the resort was rebuilt, the Johnsons called him back.
For good reason. Maradiaga had been trained at Miami’s Le Cordon Bleu of Culinary Arts, and worked at the Diplomat Resort in Hollywood Beach. From there, his career took off. “I opened the W Hotel in South Beach and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach,” he says. “I was at the Biltmore Coral Gables for two years, and that gave me a background in French cooking and styles.”
When he returned to the Bungalows after the fire, he was dispatched to the company’s Wyoming resort to absorb its philosophy of food and hospitality. Back in Key Largo, he discovered a completely rebuilt kitchen, and started as a sous chef. Soon enough, he was named executive chef.
Johnson gave him a staff of 55, along with carte blanche over menus for an on-site Mexican restaurant, a Mediterranean café, and a steakhouse called Bogie & Bacall’s. “Ultimately, it’s up to us to find what the guests want, and go above and beyond that,” he says. “I try to keep on budget, but my seafood has to be fresh and my standards can’t drop—it’s a luxury for me, and not every chef has that opportunity.”
For fresh local options, Maradiaga deals daily with farms in nearby Homestead. On days off, he scouts the competition, looking for the ideas du jour. On vacations to places like Cancun, he looks for new techniques. “I’m not a chef who stays in the 1990s, the 2000s, or the 2010s,” he says. “I get involved in what’s trending.”
Some of those trends extend to food and beverage on excursions out to Buttonwood Bay. The resort may have started in 2019 with just two tiki boats and a 55-foot catamaran, but its fleet has expanded across the board since then. There are now daily excursions on three different boats—two more than 50 feet—and each with a separate itinerary. A 21-foot Starcraft pontoon boat is also available for private use.
The hands-down favorite excursion, though, is aboard the World Cat, a luxury, 28-foot, dual-console, powered catamaran. “It’s a private charter that can accommodate up to six passengers, with an itinerary that can be customized to your liking,” says Katie Wilson, property operations manager for Red Hospitality, the firm that contracts on-the-water excursions. “Our watersports concierge will assist you with curating the trip of a lifetime.”
Options include snorkeling on a coral reef, lounging lazily on a sandbar, bar-hopping, or something called “Being a Local for a Day.” A six-pack of beer or two bottles of wine are included in the half-day trip, with lunch available.
Other excursions include “Largo Larry’s Half-Day Snorkel” on Hen & Chickens Reef & Banana Patch at the Florida Reef—with a picnic lunch including beer, wine, or Champagne—and daily sunset cruises aboard the 52- foot Lady B and 65-foot Island Time, both sailing catamarans.
On the water, in a bungalow, or at a restaurant, every guest is treated the same way Johnson treats his staff of 270. “It’s like you’re family coming to visit,” Costa says.
And it’s a welcome that trickles down from the top echelons of this resort.