Since all our travel plans were canceled this year and we weren’t ready to fly anywhere. We decided to find a family-friendly beach vacation close to the Washington D.C. metro area. Virginia Beach is about 3-4 hours from the D.C. metro area. It’s been MANY years since we have been to Virginia Beach so we thought this would be a good location, driveable from home. My friend suggested that we check out the new Marriott in the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

The Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel is such a beautiful hotel. We felt like we were on a Miami getaway instead of at Virginia Beach. The kids loved the close proximity to the beach and the hotel was brand new! The hotel opened only several months ago.

This Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel review is perfect if you are looking for a place to stay in the VA beach with kids (or without)!

Location

The Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront hotel is located on the North end of the Virginia Beach boardwalk on 43rd street. The hotel is off the boardwalk, but not a far walk to the boardwalk. I loved the off-boardwalk location because the beach in front of the hotel was much quieter as there are oceanfront residential homes next to it versus other hotels.

The hotel is located across the street from The Historic Cavalier Hotel and Beach Club. Definitely check out the beautiful hotel grounds. There is a beautiful outdoor restaurant and garden called Becca and an indoor distillery.

Lobby

The hotel lobby and public spaces are beautifully decorated. Modern, beach-chic decor adorns the hotel. I definitely loved the beautiful beach vibes. Masks are required in the lobby areas, and only 2 guests or 1 family per elevator. There are lots of photo opps in the lobby!

• 

• 

• 

Rooms

Our room was a Junior King Suite on the 16th floor. The suite was the perfect size for our family of four – 2 adults and 2 kids (5 and under). The King Suite has 1 King sized bed, 1 pull out sofa in a sitting area, 2 televisions, and 1 bathroom with a shower only (no tub). The room has a mini-fridge, small safe, hairdryer, and coffee maker.

Who knew how amazing it would be to have 2 T.V.s, but everyone could watch what they wanted and the sitting area was super spacious. Our room had an ocean view, but no balcony. The doors open up to the outdoors, but we didn’t feel comfortable with our kids to open it. I would highly recommend getting a suite if you are a family.

• 

• 

• 

Pools

There is an indoor covered pool right next to the outdoor pool, which faces the beach. The indoor pool is great because it is covered but opens to the outdoors. It’s a great setup as usually indoor pools feel very stuffy. There are chairs and tables around the pool area for guests to sit. Towels are provided for guests.

Besides early morning, the pool area did get quite busy throughout the day. I would definitely recommend checking it out first thing the morning, before heading to the beach.

Restaurant

During our visit in July 2020, the only restaurant open was the Tulu Seaside Bar & Grill. The hotel restaurant was constantly busy due to reduced seating for social distancing. There were long wait times from 45 min – 1.5 hours each time I checked at the hotel restaurant. If you are interested in eating at the hotel, I would definitely put your name down way earlier than you expect to eat. You should be able to call down to the restaurant to add your name to the waitlist if you can get through.

Tulu Seaside To-Go Orders

To-go orders cannot be made directly through the hotel restaurant. There is a room service/to-go number you call to make an order. I tried several times, but I never got someone to answer the line. The front desk ended up picking up the call and placing our breakfast-to-go order for us. It took about 30 minutes for our order to be ready. Orders are picked up at the restaurant. You also have the option of having your order delivered to your room at an extra charge.

We ate our to-go breakfast in the outdoor patio green area. They had a bunch of picnic tables with umbrellas, where we easily found seating on a Monday morning. We didn’t eat at the Tulu Seaside Bar & Grill during our stay besides one take out order. I noticed the restaurant did have a breakfast buffet or you could order individual dishes while dining.

The restaurant had some patio seating in the front of the restaurant that seemed pretty spaced out, but on the side of the restaurant, the patio tables were much closer.

I would definitely recommend having back-up plans for dinner. Since the hotel is off the boardwalk, the food options are more limited. Due to COVID-19, many restaurants had reduced hours and limited days open. We brought our own ramen and stuffed the mini fridge with fruits and milk for the kids.

North End Virginia Beach

The North end of Virginia Beach tends to be more quiet and less touristy than the center of the boardwalk as its away from the center of the action. Due to COVID-19, this was exactly what we wanted. We wanted to be able to socially distance on the beach as much as we could. There are beach umbrella rentals and free chair rentals for the hotel. There is direct access from the hotel to the beach.

We brought our own umbrella and chair, which was great because you can place the umbrella where ever you would like. If you use the rental umbrellas chairs, the company is only allowed to set up to the right of the lifeguard only. We set up our umbrella on the other side, so there was plenty of area and beach to socially distance from others.

Amenities

The hotel has a 24-hour fitness center with peloton bikes, free weights, and cardio machines. At 6:30 AM, there were 3 people working out on a Tuesday morning. On the same level as the fitness center, is a member’s lounge.

Service & COVID-19

We had a great experience at the hotel. We didn’t require much service as we mainly stayed to ourselves. The hotel rooms do not get cleaned daily unless requested. During our stay, July 2020, there were no valet services – only self-park was an option.

Staff was required to wear masks, although you do catch a few people with their masks pulled lower until they encounter others. Patrons are required to wear masks in the lobby, but you will encounter those who aren’t wearing their masks mainly coming from the pool or the beach.

If you choose to visit, you will have to take proper precautions. We chose to swim at the pool before 10 A.M. and head to the beach either before 11 AM or after 4 PM. We also chose a weekday visit to hopefully encounter fewer people. It is definitely possible to socially distance on the beach as there are lots of beachfront space if you try off-peak times.

The hotel can get busy near the restaurant areas. We ordered take out and brought our own food to limit our interactions at the restaurant.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Julie + Duy • Travel + Food (@eatwellexploreoften) on Jul 1, 2020 at 7:30pm PDT

We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and we look forward to heading back to Virginia Beach and staying at the Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel again.

If you aren’t looking for a full-service type of experience and mindful of the current situation, I think the hotel would be great. We loved the location, being oceanfront, but on the quieter side and away from the main touristy areas.

We haven’t been to Virginia Beach in many years so this was a great experience to have some beach time. I hope this Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront review was helpful.

Please PIN this post if you enjoyed it!

This stay was NOT a sponsored stay. We paid for this visit ourselves and wanted to share our experience.