Findings of TWO Hotels in Norfolk Waterside Area//

[johnjen]

Okay, I've been on Trip Advisor, and also Epinions.com, where I am a reviewer myself. Here are my findings on two hotels in Norfolk Waterside for those who are considering spending the previous night there before a cruise out of Norfolk Virginia:

 

1. Marriott Waterside - This was my choice from the other hotel listed below. They are under slight renovations on the two top floors, but I was assured that we would NOT be in an outdated room in need of renovation. I was even advised that the sun deck will be closed July 19-21st, but the 6th floor indoor pool would be open for swimming.

 

 

 

Parking is $14 per day; this is typical of all the hotels I've stayed at in downtown Norfolk, so we will be parking there for one night. They do not have an active park and cruise program. Because of this, on the subsequent nights during the cruise, we'll just be using RCL's parking facilities. We got a waterside view.

 

 

 

Breakfast is full, from the dining room's menu. This is included in the nightly rate, which was $169, but if you find out you can get it cheaper, please let us know how, here on this thread. I asked for the government/military rate, which came out to be about $184, so I opted for the regular room rate.

 

2. Sheraton Waterside - Although it's more closer to the waterfront when compared with the Marriott (across the street from the waterfront), this facility is (incredibly) undergoing a renovation all the way through October.

 

The reviews over on trip advisor and Epinions.com basically spoke the same reviews for this place - bad air conditioning, and the rooms were in dire need of renovations. I could have received the military rate of just $124 for the night. Do take note that the included breakfast here is continental (meaning it's just cereal, muffins, fresh waffles maybe, etc). That rate included the continental breakfast and a waterside room view. They DO have a park and fly program, but the nightly parking rates are $12, which I believe is more expensive than the RCL parking facility. Let me know if I am wrong about this!

 

I did actually stay at this hotel back in 1998 for six weeks while I attended a navy net admin course nearby. It wasn't too bad back then, but now at least they're renovating it.

 

These two hotels are the prime example of getting what you pay for....the Marriott is more expensive than the Sheraton for obvious reasons!

[sk8teacher]

Just a thought, but as you are driving in, why not use the Navy Lodge at Norfolk? It's only $62 per night. I personally haven't stayed there but it's my understanding that it's a decent place.

 

Cheers,

[johnjen]

Just a thought, but as you are driving in, why not use the Navy Lodge at Norfolk? It's only $62 per night. I personally haven't stayed there but it's my understanding that it's a decent place.

 

Cheers,

 

We've stayed there in the past. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent place for a night. The problem is, Friday evenings, even though there's a reservation, they can bump you, especially if people come in with orders, and Fridays so happen to be one of those days when things get busy there. They take active duty military over retirees, and those who are on orders (school attendees sometimes get there as early on Fridays before classes commence on Monday).

 

The rooms were fine for us and had a kitchenette in them, but this was about ten years ago, so maybe things have changed, even for the preference over active duty.

[sk8teacher]

Hmmm, thanks for the info. I have stayed in many lodges since retiring and have never heard of anything like that. I will be down that way in a couple of weeks visiting my son, and will go over and talk with them to find out what their current policy is. I would not be a happy camper is I showed up after a long days drive and was told my reservation had been cancelled. I completely agree that active duty should have priority but once a reservation has been made it should be honored.

 

Cheers,

[adbnva]

so no one knows of a hotel that will let you park car free while on cruise. i hear of people who have done it there. we plan on taking the grandeur next summer for our anniversary. i wll see what i can find out.

[ppfqp]

The Radisson offers a cruise package with parking: http://www.radisson.com/offers/displayDetail.do?offerId=451755&hotelBrandCode=RAD

 

It probably wouldn't be my first choice for location, because it's further from the terminal and the main downtown/Wateside area.

[johnjen]

Hmmm, thanks for the info. I have stayed in many lodges since retiring and have never heard of anything like that. I will be down that way in a couple of weeks visiting my son, and will go over and talk with them to find out what their current policy is. I would not be a happy camper is I showed up after a long days drive and was told my reservation had been cancelled. I completely agree that active duty should have priority but once a reservation has been made it should be honored.

 

Cheers,

 

I totally agree. Once a reservation is made, that should be it, but those active duty w/orders have enough precedence to bump us old retirees outa there, just like on the MAC flights! When this happened to us, we were on vacation from Keflavik on the rotator. Some young kid got our room because he was attending school at the base. We had to find another hotel. The navy lodge actually helped us out by letting us use their house phone because we didn't have a cell phone at the time. We had to pay a bit more cash for the Comfort Inn over on Military Hwy.

 

Although it might not be in your budget, the Marriott is an option, and it's not far from the cruise terminal. It's running us $169 for the night. I know that's a bit steep when comparing it w/navy lodge, but I'm doing that for the convenience and the extra niceties that come with the Marriott.

 

What cruise are you going on, exactly?

[johnjen]

so no one knows of a hotel that will let you park car free while on cruise. i hear of people who have done it there. we plan on taking the grandeur next summer for our anniversary. i wll see what i can find out.

 

First off, none of the hotels I know of actually offer outright "free" parking for the duration of the cruise. They offer package deals, so in reality, you're paying for parking.

 

All of the Norfolk hotels we've stayed in don't have their own parking per se; it's all city parking they use. City parking per day down there will run you around $12-14 a day, or so much per hour period. The hotels can't work around it. I wish they did offer free parking though. Wouldn't that be nice?

 

On a second note, I'm glad the Grandeur is coming to Norfolk! We loved that ship. It's just the right size! We're not fans of the larger classes of ships - they're too crowded for us.

[johnjen]

The Radisson offers a cruise package with parking: http://www.radisson.com/offers/displayDetail.do?offerId=451755&hotelBrandCode=RAD

 

It probably wouldn't be my first choice for location, because it's further from the terminal and the main downtown/Wateside area.

 

You've offered some valuable info here. Let's run down some figures:

 

1. Marriott 1 night = $169 plus tax

2. parking @ $10 per day in the RCL parking lot

3. breakfast from the menu

That's $229 total.....

 

OR

 

1. $199 @Radisson, incl. room, parking during cruise, shuttle to pier, and shuttle back to hotel = $199, incl. breakfast buffet for two!

 

Note that Monticello ave isn't really that far from the pier - it's not walking distance, but that shuttle ride to and from the pier when returning sounds nice to me.

 

So if we do THAT, it comes out $29 cheaper. That is a sweet deal. I might call Radisson today and check this out, and will probably just cancel my reservation with Marriott. thanks for posting this valuable information!

[KroozFoolz]

Are you open to considering staying in Virginia Beach (The Founders Inn 4*) or Portsmouth (Renaissance 3.5*) using Hotwire? Some good prices showing for the date you need. Of course, parking would not be included.

[WendyVF]

I've lived in the Norfolk area all my life. It's worth the money for the Marriott. Downtown Norfolk is one of those areas that the downtown area is absolutely wonderful and safe but when you go a block in the wrong direction it can be a little scary. The Radisson is located across the street from public housing (the projects). On the other side is the Greyhoud bus terminal. I would not feel comfortable walking in this area after dark.

 

There's a Courtyard Marriott downtown that is really nice as well as a few other hotels. Someone mentioned the Renaissance. It is very nice and located across the river from the cruise terminal. There's a passenger ferry you can take across to Waterside and downtown Norfolk.

[johnjen]

I've lived in the Norfolk area all my life. It's worth the money for the Marriott. Downtown Norfolk is one of those areas that the downtown area is absolutely wonderful and safe but when you go a block in the wrong direction it can be a little scary. The Radisson is located across the street from public housing (the projects). On the other side is the Greyhoud bus terminal. I would not feel comfortable walking in this area after dark.

 

There's a Courtyard Marriott downtown that is really nice as well as a few other hotels. Someone mentioned the Renaissance. It is very nice and located across the river from the cruise terminal. There's a passenger ferry you can take across to Waterside and downtown Norfolk.

 

Well, we decided to keep our old Marriott reservations, because of the reports we read online at tripadvisor.com. Seems that the Radisson on Monticello ave in Norfolk is infested with COCKROACHES.

 

Here's a direct quote from someone who posted this about the Radisson in Norfolk over at tripadvisor:

 

Nothing else happened until the last night. I came back to the room at about 11:30PM. I needed to check out early so planned to pack things and get to bed by midnight. While changing into PJs I happened to look up and noticed a bug about 2 inches long crawling along the wall near the ceiling. It was my worst nightmare - a cockroach. In a near panic I called the front desk and asked someone to come and deal with it NOW. A very nice young man came and managed to catch it and confirmed that it was a palmetto cockroach - the flying kind. As we discussed this, I noticed another one crawling under the desk. This one managed to get away under the bed.

 

I guess that tidbit of information did it in for us - and I can imagine anyone else reading this! So, the Marriott wins by a long shot as being one of the best hotels in the downtown Norfolk area that is in the same vicinity as the cruise ship terminal!

[cruisingtodive]

Are you open to considering staying in Virginia Beach (The Founders Inn 4*) or Portsmouth (Renaissance 3.5*) using Hotwire? Some good prices showing for the date you need. Of course, parking would not be included.

 

Both of these are nice places to stay, but VB is quite a drive from the pier. To get to Portsmouth from Norfolk, you have to go through the downtown tunnel. Tricky during different times of the day. And if you want to stay in VB, I would stay at the Oceanfront where there are restaurants withing walking distance, not much in the way of bad areas, and a beautiful beach. 25 mins to downtown Norfolk.

[KroozFoolz]

Both of these are nice places to stay, but VB is quite a drive from the pier. To get to Portsmouth from Norfolk, you have to go through the downtown tunnel. Tricky during different times of the day. And if you want to stay in VB, I would stay at the Oceanfront where there are restaurants withing walking distance, not much in the way of bad areas, and a beautiful beach. 25 mins to downtown Norfolk.

I mentioned The Founders Inn as I believe it may be the only 4* hotel in the Hamption Roads area, so the Hotwire price of $133 (plus tax and fees for a total around $175) seemed liked an excellent deal. It is less than 10 miles from the cruise port, maybe a 15 minute drive depending on traffic.

 

The Renaissance, a Marriott property and 3.5*, available on Hotwire for $69 (plus tax and fees for a total around $85), seemed like a good deal as well. Yes, tunnel traffic can be bad at times, but I would think a Saturday morning would probably not be one of those times, but ya never know.

 

Of course, the beach is always nice. :)

[cruisingtodive]

I mentioned The Founders Inn as I believe it may be the only 4* hotel in the Hamption Roads area, so the Hotwire price of $133 (plus tax and fees for a total around $175) seemed liked an excellent deal. It is less than 10 miles from the cruise port, maybe a 15 minute drive depending on traffic.

 

The Renaissance, a Marriott property and 3.5*, available on Hotwire for $69 (plus tax and fees for a total around $85), seemed like a good deal as well. Yes, tunnel traffic can be bad at times, but I would think a Saturday morning would probably not be one of those times, but ya never know.

 

Of course, the beach is always nice. :)

I'm not sure of the prices, since I live close by and don't stay at the hotels. The Founders Inn is a very nice property, just not a lot happening around it. They have a great restaurant on site, but you have to cross 8 lanes of traffic to get to the breakfast shops across the street, not great if you don't have a car. 10 miles can be a deceptive amount of distance for our area. We are surrounded by tens of thousands of military personnel who can migrate at any time of the day or night. There is a brand new Hilton at the VB Oceanfront, highest hotel at the oceanfront. Not sure of prices. Free music concerts most weekend evenings 1 block from the hotel.

Anyway, I love the beach so I am biased and I wouldn't anyone to miss out on our fantastic oceanfront.

[finoky]

The Renaissance, a Marriott property and 3.5*, available on Hotwire for $69 (plus tax and fees for a total around $85), seemed like a good deal as well.

 

I have to also recommend the Renaissance. It is a very beautiful property and that's a great rate on Hotwire.