We visited Lighthouse view in August, 2011. We stayed in the one bedroom suite with loft. It was a great set up for a family with teens- the loft is accessible by ladder only and has 2 twin beds and a half bath. We had a King bedroom to ourselves. There was a small kitchen and a living room. By far the best feature of the unit was the third floor balcony with 5 chairs overlooking the ocean. We spent a lot of time relaxing out there. The beach is a really short walk over the dunes (maybe 75 yards).

We try to stay at 3 star motels: this would not qualify. The furnishings were completely fine, and the bed was comfortable, even with my bad back, but it was not plush and the furnishings were fairly basic. Plenty of seating and perfectly comfortable, but not luxurious. On the other hand, the location is amazing, and it was a great value.

One word of warning is that they treat this unit like a cottage, so there was no maid service while we stayed in the unit. Bring a bar of soap for check in, but they supply all the linens and dishes. My only other complaint is that Hurricane Irene cut our visit short - (consider trip insurance, NC hotels don't refund for storms) I hope to return next year.

If you are looking for a luxury resort, this is not the place for you. However, if you are looking for a family-friendly, oceanfront condo with a pool and WiFi at an affordable rate on Hatteras Island.. this is the best place you will find!! We stayed in a suite with a king bed and a small, doorless room with bunkbeds. It had a full kitchen and roomy family area. We do not like the area restaurants so we cooked all our meals. We are beach people so we spent most of our time there. My kids had a great time in the waves and looking for sand crabs at night. The early morning walks on the beach were spectacular. Hotel management was always very friendly and eager to please.

Here are some things to keep in mind: Bring your own beach towels. Bring or buy dishwasher soap, dish soap, laundry detergent, etc. You do your own cleaning during your stay but at this price it does not seem so bad. You can exchange the provided bath towels every day if you wish. The walls are a little thin so you do hear people above and/or below (not voices as much as footsteps and chairs scraping on floors). The kitchen is a little sparce on pots and pans but you can make it work. The internet is sometimes slow and can go "offline". We called the front desk and they fixed the problem right away. Coin laundry is available from 3-9pm every day except Saturday unless you are staying in a cottage that has its own washer/dryer. Rooms are accessible by stairs - we liked the workout.

We will defeinitely be back. It is tremendous value and a beautiful beach!

We are still here - have been since Aug. 13 and leaving tomorrow, Aug 18 - and it has been a really good, cheap vacation. Came with hubby, 15 year old daughter, and friend of daughter's and took a 1st floor 1 br suite w/ a little alcove with a bunk bed for the girls. In addition to the br (with king bed and our own little tv/dvd player) and alcove, there's a full bath with tub; a well-stocked kitchen with dishwasher, coffeemaker, microwave, full fridge/freezer, sink, stove, and table for four; a living room with couch, love seat, coffee/side tables w/ lamps, and CRT/tube tv (21"?) and dvd player; and a porch with a couple chairs and place to hang towels & leave your wet sandy things. The place is clean, but it's not fancy.

As a first-floor suite, there's no view of the ocean, but it's also cheaper. We didn't mind it because you don't have to drag your luggage up far and it's quick access to the beach and pool/hot tub. It took me no more than 3 min to run from the beach back to the apt and back to grab a couple beers for me and the hubby. However, we had someone upstairs doing P90X or something every morning in their living room, so you do hear people above you if they are jumping around rhymically at 9am each morning while you are enjoying reading and coffee in the living room. The other drawback of the 1st floor is that all the sand from the 2nd and 3rd floors ends up shaking down upon you on the porch if people are walking around up there and it's hard to keep clean. I would probably pick a 3rd floor place next time despite the price diff and lesser convenience of three flights of steps.

Other nice thing about the place is that they provide all linens (except beach towels), and you can trade them out every morning as needed. There's also a laundry room, but we never had a need to use it. There's also some grills, a fish-cleaning table for the fishermen out there, showers to rinse off, and a lot of cute cats who will come running if they hear the hose from the fish cleaning table turn on.

One thing that I didn't like was the pillows - I woke up with a stiff neck every night. The bed was great, though. I'd just recommend you bring your own favorite pillow. Also, since we were on the first floor and the bedroom is on the street-facing end, we heard the people who were leaving early one morning dragging their suitcases, etc. No traffic noise, though. I just got myself earplugs and it was all good.
I would definitely recommend this if you are budget-conscious and have a family. You really can't beat having the beach, a pool, and jacuzzi right at your door, and there's decent places to eat nearby. It's not going to be a Nag's Head/Hilton Head kind of place, but it's a cheap and nice getaway.

My wife, one year old daughter and I stayed in a non-ocean front hotel room (it says distant sound view, but all I could see was the Comfort Inn). No matter the room in the hotel you will have stairs with no elevator. We were on the first flight up, along with the benefit of facing the parking lot instead of the ocean, so steps/distance to the room was not big deal for me.

The room was clean and spacious. The pool was great and right by the beach access, which was great with a one year old. I felt like the website led me to believe it was an oceanfront pool, meaning you could see the ocean while you swim, which wasn't the case. They have a hot tub, but I couldn't have imagined using it in 90 degree weather, though some did. The property is pretty close to the edge of town, which also means it is on the edge of the beach, which seemed to result in a less congested beach, which was great! Hatteras is well known for fishing, so in the evening the beach was full of people fishing. No long peaceful walks in the sunset in this area.

The beds slept well, but left my wife and I with a bit of a back ache the next day. The staff was courtious and helpful with all needs. We took a pamphlet with us to consider returning to a bigger room/cottage for a longer stay. I would recommend this place to those who are not deterred by surf fishing (keep in mind...big fish feed on small fish...eek) and are looking for budget, yet decent quality at the same time.