FLORIDA KEYS -- Just an hour south of Miami, the Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club, a Hilton Resort, is a 200-room luxury property overlooking the Gulf of Mexico at mile marker (MM) 97 bayside on U.S. Highway 1 in Key Largo. With more than 10,000 square feet of function space in six different meeting areas, including one ballroom with 4,000 square feet and a 13-foot ceiling, the Key Largo Grande can accommodate groups from 10 to 400. The naturally lit meeting rooms offer terrace access, ocean views and state-of-the-art lighting, sound and video, as well as high-speed Internet in all meeting spaces and guest rooms. Many creative catering options are available for meetings, such as beachside luaus and Caribbean buffets. Standouts include an exquisite selection of fresh seafood and prime beef with a Caribbean and Mediterranean twist from Treetops Bar & Grille. The Key Largo Grande also offers water sports, a 21-slip boat marina and docking facility, two outdoor lighted tennis courts, pools and tee times at nearby Keys Gate/Homestead Golf Club. For more information, contact the Key Largo Grande at (305) 852-5553 or visit keylargogrande.com.

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Visitors to Islamorada now have a new way to get around the island during their stay. A1A Bicycle & Scooter Rentals, located at 81984 Overseas Hwy., recently opened to offer daily, weekly and monthly rentals for affordable adventure in the Keys. Employees will even deliver bikes or scooters to renters. The brightly colored green and purple rental shack can easily be seen from the highway at MM 82 bayside. Meeting a need for fun, family-related activities, the bike shop rents adult cruisers, 21-speeds and children’s bikes. The business is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A1A Bicycle & Scooter Rentals complements owner Sam Yates’ already established A1A Watersports & Boat Rentals, which has two locations in Islamorada and one in Long Key. For more information, call (305) 664-4535 or visit keyswatersports.com.

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Island Bay Resort, located at MM 92.5 in Tavernier, is the 24th Green Lodge in the Florida Keys and one of the newest certified members of the Green Lodging Program, created by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to recognize and reward environmentally conscious lodging facilities in the state. The resort was awarded “one-palm” certification for its environmental commitment after meeting DEP guidelines for adopting cost-saving practices that reduce waste and conserve natural resources, as well as demonstrate goals for continued improvements that can earn them “two-palm” and “three-palm” certification.

“Green” aspects of the 10-kitchenette resort include using energy- and water-saving high-efficiency washing machines, low-flow toilets, faucets and showerheads, sensor-triggered and high-efficiency fluorescent lighting, solar-powered tiki torches and recycled paper products. Other “green” aspects include a towel and linen reuse program, recycling of glass, paper and plastics, and cleaning with eco-friendly and phosphate-free products. Guests are asked to adjust thermostats during unoccupied hours to save energy, and guest amenities such as “conditioning shampoo” replace two separately bottled products, as well as refillable pumps installed for bathroom and dishwashing soaps. For more information and a listing of Florida Keys properties with Green Lodging certification, visit dep.state.fl.us/greenlodging.

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The Bougainvillea House Gallery, located at MM 53.2 gulfside adjacent to the Marathon Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009. Home to 17 Florida Keys artists, many of whom have displayed their works for nearly a decade, the gallery serves as a cultural center for the Middle Keys. Its motto of “local artists working together” draws artists from throughout the island chain who help each other promote their creative output. Gallery visitors can find artwork and fine crafts including watercolors, colored pencil pieces, oils, pastels, collages, photography, acrylics, handmade woven baskets, pottery, jewelry, mixed media work and stained, blown and fused glass. For information, call (305) 743-0808 or visit bougainvilleahousegallery.com.

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Two Key West properties that recently underwent a collective $85 million in renovations have become part of the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Collection. Key West’s historic Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club at 1500 Reynolds St. and the Reach Resort, at 1435 Simonton St., are the ninth and 10th properties to join the elite brand.

The Waldorf Astoria Collection Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club, dating back to 1920 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, combines historic grandeur with a luxurious modern style. The resort includes 311 guestrooms and suites, two tropical swimming pools with private poolside cabanas, more than 22,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, 1,100 feet of private Atlantic Ocean beach and a lobby opening onto a dramatic outdoor “water walk.”

The 150-room Waldorf Astoria Collection The Reach Resort blends a laid-back beachside setting with a vibrant contemporary ambiance. The spacious rooms and suites are styled to suggest private beach cottages with 21st-century amenities. The Reach also offers 4,706 square feet of high-tech meeting and function space, the Gazebo Dock that extends over the water, a private natural beach on the Atlantic and the Strip House steak restaurant.

The Waldorf Astoria Collection is a group of unique luxury hotels, each one indigenous to its location, from the Hilton Family of Hotels. For more information and reservations, visit casamarinaresort.com or reachresort.com.

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The 524-foot Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg is undergoing final cleanup and inspections in Norfolk, Va., so it can be towed to Key West to be sunk as an artificial reef. The scuttling is planned for late spring 2009, according to Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge, the designated project manager.

Once the former U.S. Air Force missile-tracking ship arrives at Key West, further work is to be performed to prepare it for sinking and recreational diving.

Project organizers say the prime attraction of the Vandenberg is its huge size and diversified structure that should appeal to divers of all skill levels. While some sections of the ship are expected to rise to within 40 feet of the surface, other areas should appeal to divers with advanced certification to dive in deep environments beneath overhead structures. The addition of the Vandenberg, which is to lie six miles south of Key West in about 140 feet of water, will anchor the lower end of a dive environment that local dive shops are calling the Florida Keys Wreck Trek. At the top, off Key Largo, is the former Navy Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove, currently the second-largest ship in the world ever to be scuttled as an artificial reef.

For more information, visit fla-keys.com/news/.

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For more travel information about the Florida Keys & Key West call, toll-free in the U.S. and Canada, 1-800-FLA-KEYS (800-352-5397) or explore this Web site.