New SWNID Hotel Recommendation

The SWNIDs having returned from a delightful week of summer vacation, we are happy to add to our growing list of hotel recommendations. This one is not for cheap, clean accommodations in an urban area but cheap, clean accommodations in a seasonal beach resort area.

What does the typical beachgoing family want most from the place where they stay while visiting the beach? Is a large, attractively furnished room the most important factor? Are the number of services offered by the facility important? How about the overall sense of style? None of that matters as much as one thing: easy access to a good beach.

And for that, the Cavalier Motel in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, in the heart of the Outer Banks, offers the maximum beach access for a minimum price.

The Cavalier is a throwback: a fifties-vintage motor court built right on the beach, its beachfront building severing the line of dunes now protected by various sensible codes and regulations. The rooms are simple and small. They bespeak the time of their construction, sporting knotty pine paneling on the walls and black and white tile in the tiny bathrooms. But they've got sufficient modernity as well: cable TV, a 12-cubic-foot refrigerator, and a microwave oven. And in the center of the motor court is a new swimming pool of decent size, a children's play area, and a seniors play area (shuffleboard court).

But here's the deal: no one in the place is more than 100 feet from the beach. And in the peak season, you pay as little as $88 a night for a room.

Mrs. SWNID overheard one patron talking to some others on the beach. The upshot of his conversation was this: having vacationed on the Outer Banks for eighteen years, and having stayed at condos, upscale rentals, and nicer hotels, they prefer the Cavalier.

With narrower experience, so do the SWNIDs. The staff was friendly and efficient, the other patrons, largely from Virginia and North Carolina, friendly and quiet, and the location better than anything else available. We enjoyed a week of beachfront bliss.

While on the beach, are you hungry? At the Cavalier, you can walk back to your room in about 90 seconds and make a sandwich from the stock in your own fridge. While on the beach, did you finish your book? At the Cavalier, you can walk back to your room in about 90 seconds and get another book. While on the beach, do you need to retreat from the sun's burning rays? At the Cavalier, you can walk back to your room in about 90 seconds and get a cover-up.

Some day, the owners will get tired of maintaining the place and will sell to the developers who are doubtless making offers all the time (the place is surrounded by upscale properties). Or a big hurricane or nor'easter will howl through and wash away all the red brick and knotty pine. So book this one while you can.