To be honest, Avon Cottages properties are not The Ritz. If you want pampered luxury, don't bother to stay here. Avon Cottages is the perfect place for families with kids and just plain folks. And every cottage or house is only a short walk from stretches of beautiful, nearly empty beaches.
The is the first time my wife and I have stayed at the Cottages instead of the Motel, but both are owned and operated by the same family and have been for around 50 years. Straightly speaking, these properties operate on a shoestring budget, but I'm sure it still costs the family a fortune to keep it running, particularly when a hurricane messes things up every now and then.
We stayed in one of the efficiency units (#107) and were fairly pleased. The second floor unit has two rooms and a bath. The front room is a kitchen/living room equipped with full-sized range and refrigerator, a microwave, coffee maker, round dining table and bench chairs, a futon, and an older tube-style TV on a small stand. The bedroom in this unit happens to have a king bed with a memory foam mattress, perhaps the only unit that does. The bathroom is tiny but has a full-sized tub with a shower head. Water is precious on Hatteras, so all the fixtures are low-flow. Don't expect torrents of steamy hot water to shower in.
The air conditioner in the bedroom manages...To be honest, Avon Cottages properties are not The Ritz. If you want pampered luxury, don't bother to stay here. Avon Cottages is the perfect place for families with kids and just plain folks. And every cottage or house is only a short walk from stretches of beautiful, nearly empty beaches.
The is the first time my wife and I have stayed at the Cottages instead of the Motel, but both are owned and operated by the same family and have been for around 50 years. Straightly speaking, these properties operate on a shoestring budget, but I'm sure it still costs the family a fortune to keep it running, particularly when a hurricane messes things up every now and then.
We stayed in one of the efficiency units (#107) and were fairly pleased. The second floor unit has two rooms and a bath. The front room is a kitchen/living room equipped with full-sized range and refrigerator, a microwave, coffee maker, round dining table and bench chairs, a futon, and an older tube-style TV on a small stand. The bedroom in this unit happens to have a king bed with a memory foam mattress, perhaps the only unit that does. The bathroom is tiny but has a full-sized tub with a shower head. Water is precious on Hatteras, so all the fixtures are low-flow. Don't expect torrents of steamy hot water to shower in.
The air conditioner in the bedroom manages to keep the whole place fairly comfortable, but you'd do yourself a favor to bring or buy a small fan to circulate air.
The kitchen is modestly equipped, with enough tableware and cookware to handle most basic cooking and dining. We brought our own charcoal grill but some other units had a grill. If you plan to cook, bring your own supplies. (The Dollar Tree or Ace Hardware a mile south on NC12 will sell whatever you forgot, and Food Lion is good for restocking.)
The unit has a big covered porch that was handy during the couple days that we had rain. On sunny days we could see the beach and ocean from the porch and watch the sun rise over the ocean and the beach-front cottages.
Our greatest displeasure was the our inability to keep flies out of the unit. Every time we opened the door, one or two would dive in and make themselves at home. Unfortunately, we had the startling experience of finding a cluster of fly maggots crawling on the carpet out from under the futon, but swept them up with the unit broom and dustpan. The manager swiftly called someone to spray the unit and check for infestations to keep us happy.
All in all, we enjoyed ourselves, despite the not perfectly clean, little bit run-down facilities. We paid less than $1000 for nearly two full weeks in early to mid-September, which is a real bargain. We enjoyed the beaches, we went kayaking on the sound, we flew kites from Kitty Hawk Kites (nice place where they helped me repair a stunt kite after I crashed it), and we saved more by fixing our own meals in the unit and eating on the porch.
With the right mind-set you'll discover a wonderful time at Avon Cottages and you'll save lots of money for other activities at the beach.More
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