My wife and I booked a cottage 3 months in advance of our stay, only to find out when we arrived that we would be staying in the Inn. The room we reluctantly took was clean, but simply wrong for us and obviously set up for the Handicapped; of which we are not - we are both extremely athletic and capable. The shower, though intended for less than stable persons (ease of entrance, hand rails, etc) was as slippery as standing on banana peels and due to its low wall entance, water spilled onto the bath floorm aking the entire bathroom dangerous. When we finally crawled into beed, we found we were sleeping on a heayy duty plastic mattress cover, which made noise at each movement and prevented us from having a good night's sleep. What's more, the TV was not connected, and when we called the front desk for help with the tube, they said they would send a maintenance man to fix it - he never ever showed, even though we complained 2 more times that evening. Oh, and regading their WiFi, they charge nearly $7.00 per hour. In all our travels since retiring from the Military, two plus years ago, we have never been charged for Wifi. This place is a nighmare and since it's Gov funded and operated, they don't really care about your stay, like say, privately owned Inns, hotels, etc. PS: though we were booked for two days, we left in the middle of our first night (1AM), because of all the problems we were suffering from and the Inn's staff inability, or interest, to resolve.

We stayed in one of the Dunes rooms. First of all our view of the bay was completely blocked by the sand dunes. so all we saw was the run down play area and some pine trees. We have been to Virginia Beach several times and we always get ocean view rooms because what is the sense of going to the beach if you can not see and hear the ocean. I see pine trees in my back yard. The room was not bad at all. Not the best I have ever stayed in, but adeequate. Thank goodness for the kitchenette area because the Inn is on a Military base and is not close to any restaurants. To go anywhere you have to drive. We put a lot of miles on our vehicle while there. Besides the view the next disappointment was the very LOOONG walk to the beach from the Inn. If you are not in the best physical condition or have health issues you are in trouble. The boardwalk is very long and then when you get to the end of that, you have a long walk on the sand to get to the ocean. It was physically exhausting. I also found the front desk staff unfriendly and not welcoming. Our room was not cleaned very well during our stay. The only table to eat at was on the balcony which was nice except when the people above us were on their balcony, it would cause the peeling paint to fall in our food. YUCK! We will defenitely go back to Virginia Beach but will not stay at he Cape Henry Inn.

This is the second year we've stayed at the hotel and we plan to return next year. Our maid service was very lacking this year. We stayed Sun-Thurs. The maid didn't come on Monday. We took down our "do not disturb" sign abut 10am each day. On Tues, she came by about 2:50 and said she was about to leave and wanted to check if we needed anything. I told her we needed vacuuming and towels. She stated that our "do not disturb" sign had been up at 2:40. It hadn't. In fact, I'd been in the room looking at it. She actually argued us about it (my husband had returned). She said she'd clean our room regardless, but refused to admit the sign had NOT been up. Anyway, they only vacuumed and gave us towels. They put the dirty washrags back on the counter. All of the other employees at the hotel were wonderful. We did have maid service on Wednesday. Which was great, we'd needed it by that time. We had 5 people in our room. The mattresses still have plastic covers on them, which is uncomfortable.

This is our fifth year coming to Ft. Story/Cape Henry Inn and it is becoming a family tradition for us and our boys (now age 10 and 7). Like one of the recent reviewers said, it's all about managing expectations. This is an operational military training base, not Club Med (and not Shades of Green, which is a MWR resort on Disney property). But, only 3 hours from our home near Washington DC, it is a great nearby beach getaway for a family at a fairly reasonable price.

You are essentially on private property with a close beach that's not too crowded and is safe for the kids. Because it is on the cape, the waves aren't too big (and there are lots of dolphins swimming around); but, if you want a day of stronger waves for body surfing, just go right outside Gate 1 and down one of the local neighborhood streets to a stretch of beach right on the Atlantic (still quite private). If you want boardwalk, and busier beaches near more restaurants, etc., drive about 10 minutes to downtown VA beach.

The first two years at Ft. Story we stayed at the Cape Henry Inn hotel and the past three years we've stayed in Bayview cottages, which we prefer. The Bayviews are among the newer of four types of cottages and in quite good shape (and they smartly sided them in vinyl shingles instead of the wooden ones of the older models, which means no need to repaint). We paid $185 a night for two bedrooms, full bath, full kitchen and a nice sitting room with a kitchen table, sofa bed, desk and TV/DVD player. I am a DoD civilian; I believe that pricing might be different for military (i.e. less) depending on rank.

The Bayview cottages are bright and clean (taking into consideration that people trapse in with sand on their feet); towels are changed every day; the housekeeping staff asks if you want your bed linens changed/made. I have seen occasion where a cottage was "forgotten" by the cleaning staff; but, remedied quickly. The kitchen is stocked with cooking and eating utensils, plates, glasses, toaster, coffee pot, etc. But, management should ensure from time to time to replenish as quantities of utensils seem to dwindle as years go by. If you are gourmet chefs at home and are looking for your special "tools", you might want to bring your own. There are grills outside all of the cottages as well. We cook in breakfast, lunch (for transport to the beach) and the occasional dinner with food purchased from the nearby Bloom, which cuts dining costs significantly. There is a snack bar on the beach that serves hot dogs, hamburgers, etc., but it is a little pricey.

The beach is a stone's throw away via a boardwalk through a bluff of trees. We've gotten smart and found a four-wheeled cart to easily carry our stuff out to the beach. Bathrooms are accessible. They also have beach equipment (umbrellas and chairs) for a fee (also a bit pricey since it was taken over by contractors); but we bring our own. They added jet skis this year to the kayaks they've always offered.

There are also two nice swimming pools on the property; one that is situated right under our cottage which is great for watching the kids swim. Only disappointment is that they haven't had the food cabanas near the pools open the last few times that we've been here.

You have to reserve the cottages nearly a full year in advance, but I recommend people call in periodically to check on availability as there are often cancellations. One guy who was checking in to the hotel at the same time we were checking in asked if there were any cottages available and there had just been a cancellation, so he got lucky. The other great thing about this place is the flexibility to cancel or modify your reservations. You can cancel up to 30 days prior and you can modify (arrival/departure date) up until the time you check-in without penalty. Also, if you have to leave early (maybe for inclement weather), I believe there is only one night penalty, which is much better than losing your whole rental fee--which is often the case when renting private houses).