The Best Beach Hotels to Book in Virginia Beach

With the Virginia Beach boardwalk and an oceanfront bike path running past its doors, this breezy hotel on the Chesapeake Bay has rooms and suites with wooden floors, coastal-style clad ceilings, and balconies for watching the sun go down as you sip a sundowner. Make sure you check out the indoor pool and the fitness center – and don’t miss a night out at their casual beachside sushi bar and fish restaurant. Whether you’ve got the family in tow or are just a big kid at heart, you’re only 2mi (3.2km) from Ocean Breeze Waterpark.

A ten-minute ride from the Virginia Aquarium and a mile (1.6km) from the ocean, this Hilton takes its rightful place among the best beach hotels in Virginia Beach. Accessible rooms and suites mirror the surroundings with soft sand and sky shades. You’ll forget your jet lag in the year-round heated indoor pool or boost your energy at the state-of-the-art fitness center. Dinner will be a winner when paired with tasteful locally sourced beer at Coach’s Sports Bar & Grill – the perfect spot if you don’t want to miss a game.

If you like spending time outside, you’ll love this hotel famed for its romantic sunset views. Sprawling grounds wrap around spots for playing bocce ball or just soaking up the sun on a terrace – when the sun dips, cozy up by a fire pit with a glass of warming red. Swimmers and quick-dippers alike love the neighboring indoor and outdoor pools. All light and airy rooms reveal the ocean mirrored in the above-bed murals; some suites come with relaxing seating areas. Stay al fresco with dinner at the rooftop wok station and sushi bar or at the seaside bar and grill.

Next door to Neptune’s Park, minutes from buzzy restaurants, cafes, and bars, this oceanfront high-rise will woo you with its 21st-floor rooftop infinity pool and sky bar where you can toast your good choice with a glass of fizz. Light-filled suites and rooms, decorated in soft yellow and cream tones with high padded headboards, open to spacious balconies with fantastic ocean views. Request the luxe Presidential Suite for sparking chandeliers and spaces to dine and recline in.

Perched on one of Virginia Beach’s highest hills overlooking the Atlantic, this mansion-style hotel has hosted ten presidents over the years. You can see why they’d stay in ornately-styled rooms and suites that blend wood and marble with almost kitsch colorful art. Did we mention the bourbon distillery for tasting barrel-aged spirits? A clutch of restaurants includes Becca, for garden-to-table dishes such as heirloom tomatoes with charred peach carpaccio and hand-pulled mozzarella. Then there’s the resort-style pool, Beach Club, and access to a secluded and private beach.

Ringside views of Chesapeake Bay will be one of the highlights of your stay in one of the light-filled suites lined with rich woods and dreamy blue ocean-inspired art. Kitchen suites naturally add brilliantly designed cooking and dining spaces. Don’t miss the fresh Virginia Beach oysters, artfully prepared at the chic restaurant, or an energizing gym session at the fitness center. And after a day bronzing at the private beach, unwind in the sparkling waters of the outdoor pool, or get ready for a walk along the close-by Virginia Beach Boardwalk.

Steps from the sand and surf, every spacious room and suite is a winner here, with balconies overlooking the bluest of oceans. Striped armchairs set by windows provide the perfect people-watching spots until the sun dips down. On-site restaurants serve shrimp fresh from the waters of Florida’s Gulf Coast but also breakfast favorites, juicy hamburgers, sizzling steaks, and pasta dishes. Should you need to stay out of the sun, there’s always an indoor swimming pool or a browse around the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, a mile (1.6km) away.

Join the healthy outdoors vibe on Virginia Beach Boardwalk, where you can walk, ride a bike, or rollerblade before retiring to relaxing rooms and suites with separate living spaces and sliding glass doors leading to ocean-view balconies; some have kitchens. You’re on holiday, so sample as many creative cocktails as you can handle at the laid-back H Bar before hitting the live-music Ocean 27 restaurant on the beach for surf and turf.

These contemporary rooms decked out in lively blues of all persuasions should get you in the holiday mood. If you’re traveling with family, you’ll all adore this oceanfront resort, spending hours in the lagoon-style outdoor pools forgetting the indoor pool with a lazy river. Kids under 18 stay free when sharing their parents’ room while kids from two to 11 can snaffle free meals in restaurants such as the Isle of Capri serving crowd-pleasing classics such as calamari fritti and pizza Calabrese.

Steps from the beach on Atlantic Avenue, homey sea-view suites and rooms sleep four or six with plenty of room to spread out in cozy living rooms. You won’t spend much time in them with so much going on, from the indoor and outdoor pools to the sundeck where you can tan with a classic cocktail in hand. Everyone will love the inviting bar with hanging bottles and giant bottle tops on the walls. Then there’s the Grill, with a wall of windows flooding the breakfast space with morning sun so you can admire your self-served eggs over easy.