Virginia Beach hotel help!

[dismom301930]

We are going to Virginia Beach in early August and staying for three days. I am looking for a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance to the ocean and boardwalk. I would appreciate any advice you can give me.

Also, my kids are 10, 8 and 6.....any fun activities we should make sure we don't miss?

 

[Psychodisney]

We stayed at the Residence Inn. It's right on the beach and worked well for a family of five. We had a 1BR-2 queens, and a sleeper sofa in the family room. Also a full kitchenette which willl save you money. They offer a free breakfast.

We stayed 1 night at the Holiday Inn Sunspree....and checked out. Wouldn't recommend it.

 

[dismom301930]

Thanks, Psychdisney! I just checked their website and the Residence Inn is booked for that week. It sounded perfect, but I know I am late making reservations on such short notice. We just decided to extend our Williamsbug trip by a few days. I hope I can find something! Anyone else?

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

We went last year and we stayed at HI Sunspree...I agree...not the best place to stay...we stayed only becuase we were with my in-laws and they were not moving. I was looking into this year and trying to find a place to stay also...so I am going to hang around your thread to see what is recommended. I was looking at the Schooner Inn and really wanted to know too if anybody had stayed there.


As far as fun stuff...I loved VB! You can rent those family bikes (can't remember what they are called) and see the entire boarwalk. We did this at night last year and had a blast. There were all types of street perfomances going on at differnt locations. We were able to take the bike to the Dairy Queen and enjoy sitting in our bike and eating ice cream. You can bring your own bikes too if you would rather. Keep in mind with the family bikes...it is usually mom and dad doing the peddling unless your kids have long legs...but it's a good workout! Also, certain nights they have fireworks over the ocean...very cool.

This site has lots of great info about things going on too. http://www.beachstreetusa.com/

Have fun!

 

[TJA]

Last August we stayed at Springhill Suites and really liked it a lot. It had 2 queens in a separate room and also a pullout sofa bed in the living room so we could all spread out. It also had a kitchen area. It's located on the south end of the strip and therefore quieter which was great for our family with young kids. Free breakfast and also coffee/tea/hot chocolate 24/7. It's oceanfront and you walk right out and are on the boardwalk.

This August we are trying a Hampton Inn. I couldn't find a good price for Springhill Suites, so I opted for the Hampton. There are 2 Hamptons -- one on the south end and one towards the north end. We are trying the Hampton north. Again, it's oceanfront and has a free breakfast. The price was good too. It was $150's per night for Sun-Thur, higher on weekends.

I did/do a lot of VB research on tripadvisor site. If you type in Virginia Beach and then click on "hotels" it will give you traveler reviews plus how they rate the hotels in VB.

 

[Mama Steph]

Just an FYI, the AAU Junior Olympics is that same time in VA Beach/Norfolk so hotels are extremely booked. We will be going for ds to run track and are having a hard time finding a hotel for the whole team (15 rooms).

 

[mrsklamc]

Maybe look for rental houses?

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I lived in Virginia Beach for almost 20 yrs (just moved 7 years ago). I don't know about hotel prices as I never stayed in one. But I do know if you stay across form the beach, it can be as much as half the price of a hotel on the sand. There are shops, restaurants, and mini golf to explore at the beachfront and nearby, but if you have extra time and want to explore a little further beyond the beach itself, there's a great aquarium. You used to be able to arrange dolphin boat watching trips through them. Here's the link: http://www.virginiaaquarium.com/Pages/default.aspx. There's also historic Jamestown & the Norfolk Botanical Gardens (a little further would be Williamsburg and Busch Gardens). Also, there's a farming area a few minutes away called Pungo that has an annual strawberry festival (you could look it up if you are interested to check on the dates). There is also a huge new, upscale downtown area at most 10 min from the beach called The Town Center of VA Beach. Here's the link to that: http://www.vabeachtowncenter.com/shop/. Have fun!

 

[BusyMom2Three]

You know, typing my post above just made me think I should take my kids back to VA (only oldest DD was born there and they've never seen the ocean, which is crazy b/c I am from VA & FL). We do Disney every other yr. Maybe our next off yr we'll do VB. It'll be weird to go as tourists, but I will be really informed! Thanks for inspiring me, OP!

 

[TJA]

Just an FYI, the AAU Junior Olympics is that same time in VA Beach/Norfolk so hotels are extremely booked. We will be going for ds to run track and are having a hard time finding a hotel for the whole team (15 rooms).

Just curious - what exact dates is this going on? I just booked a long weekend in August last week.

 

[Mama Steph]

July 29th through August 7th.

 

[2bearsmom]

We will be staying at HI Sunspree in August....two years ago we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott. The Sunspree has been totally made over as of April this year and the new pools and lazy rivers should be done any time now. Those that stayed at the Sunspree, was that pre-renovation? Was that why you didn't like it?

 

[Psychodisney]

We stayed at the sunspree pre-renovation I guess. (2 years ago). The pool are was nice but the rooms were rundown. The door didn't close properly, things were rusty, musty odor......
I think for what we were paying we felt like it should have been cleaner and nicer.

 

[TJA]

We will be staying at HI Sunspree in August....two years ago we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott. The Sunspree has been totally made over as of April this year and the new pools and lazy rivers should be done any time now. Those that stayed at the Sunspree, was that pre-renovation? Was that why you didn't like it?

I think the ratings for HI Sunspree will go up once the renovations are totally done and people have had a chance to stay there. I almost booked it for our August trip (pools/renovations look great!), but the clincher for us is that we really want a free hot breakfast each morning before hitting the beach. That is why we opted for the Hampton. I also looked at Fairfield Inn, that's another good one and I forgot to mention that one earlier when I posted above.

 

[dismom301930]

Thanks so much for your advice, everyone! Most of the places I tried that had enough space for all five of us (Hampton Inn, Springhill Suties, Residence Inn) were booked for that week. Of course we would pick the busiest week of the summer to visit! We ended up at Ocean Key Resort. The rooms are large (suites with kitchenettes) and the rates were great. All of the rooms were newly renovated over the past two years, so hopefully they will be okay. I think the location will be good, I hope so!

BusyMom2Three, thanks so much for all of your suggestions of fun things to do in VA Beach!!