On our trips to the NC Beach, we would stay at a Fairfield Inn in Rocky Mount. It's a mile or two from 95, but it's in a great location. There's a mall area across the street with all sorts of restaurants. The hotel has a pool. It's always been clean when we stayed there, the last time was about 1.5 years ago. Make sure you get a room facing the pool side as the sides facing the adjacent highway may be noisy.
If you decide to stay at this hotel, PM me and I'll tell you the easier directions to get to it.
HTH!