Be ready to step back in time if you stay at the Ocean House in Kill Devil Hills, NC. Although badly in need of renovation and updating, Ocean House offered excellent prices (which included a discount from the travel book). The oceanfront deluxe room was spacious and included 2 bathrooms! The rooms that were oceanfront, you stepped out your backdoor, walked over the dunes and you were on the beach. There was not much of an ocean view due to the dunes, but still you were close to the beach so yolu didn't have to haul all your beach things too far at all. The room was cleaned daily and plenty of fresh towels were given. TV worked perfectly. The pool was clean and in good repair. The motel reminded me of the hotels I stayed in as a child when we would go to the beach. Not a highrise with too many people for the elevators to manage but a nice, comfortable room very close to the beach at an affordable price.

I have been vacationing in the Outer Banks for over 30 years. Last week was the first time ever staying at the Ocean House Motel. It is an "old style weather beaten" beach motel. The way the Outer Banks was 25 years ago. The way I wish it still was. There is just nothing relaxing or "beachy" about the new high rise condos/hotels. The Ocean House is not a 4 star hotel, so don't go there expecting it to be. 10 of us went there, we had 3 rooms. One oceanfront and 2 poolside rooms. I had one of the poolside rooms, because I did not want to pay the extra $40.00 a night to see the backside of a sand dune. People staying in the ocean front rooms have to walk over the sand dune to get to the beach just like the people staying in the poolside rooms. The rooms were clean and had a small refrig and microwave. Our room also had a faux fireplace. The beds were made daily, our towels, soap etc. were replaced daily as well. The pool was suprisingly empty most of our vacation. So we usually had it to ourselves in the evenings, after a long day at the beach. The office staff was very pleasant. I really don't have any complaints about the Ocean House. It has all the neccessities at a budget price. I go to the beach for the beach, not for the hotel decor. The motel rooms were clean, had comfortable beds, oceanfront, had a pool for the kids...what more could you ask for? We are already planning to go again this summer for a long weekend!

I don't know where to start with this junk hole. I knew I had made a huge mistake when my family and I pulled into the parking lot. It was run down and very shabby looking. It looks to the point it needs to be shut down. Once checked in, we came to our room. First off, the door looked like it had been broken many times in the past because the paint and wood was missing from the latch area. It was very hard to open. We walk in to our room which looks like it was yanked from the 60's. Wood walls, mini blinds, a window AC unit that was ghetto installed, and very old/ugly decor, VERY DARK and depressing. There were cob webs in the corners of the room. It only had one lamp, and an over head light. The windows were nasty and so were the blinds. The bathroom was the worst part. It was awful. The sink ran all of the time and would not shut off. The shower was a walk in with dirty tile, and nasty handles. The tolet was in a tiny cubby and would not flush most of the time. If you weigh over 170lbs, good luck getting on the tolet. We were lucky to get hot water. If you let the shower run for about 20mins, the water would be comfortable. Never enough towels. Always had to ask for more. The beach access was a joke. They provide no wooden steps out to the beach. You have to hike in the hot sand over a large dune to get to the beach. The "Playground" for the kids is out front, but it is even more of a joke. It has 2 platic fisher price faded toys out there. The pool was not that great. It was dirty most of the time. I rented a room from this hotel because it was about $40 cheaper a night, and said it was clean...blah,,blah,,blah. I wish I would have paid the extra money and had a nicer place to stay. I could not wait to get home. Never again would I stay at that hotel. I hope no one else spends their hard earned money on this junk pile of a hotel like I did.

Our family vacation to the Outer Banks, NC included a stay at the Ocean House Motel. An older motel on the oceanfront, needed some cosmetic work on the outside. We stayed in the beach front building which had a door that opened to a small porch and step onto the sand which is behind one of the dunes. The ocean waves could be heard, when those firing off firecrackers were not busy at work. Our room was the "Broadway" room and it was comfortable, 2 adults a teen and a toddler we had plenty of space. We loved having the refridgerator and microwave and since we brought our own grill we could cook pretty well from our room. We had everything from burgers and dogs to steaks and chicken. The pool was clean and there were always enough loungers. We had to buy ice but not a big deal to us. Considering we were on the sand when we walked out our door, stayed for a week under 1k and did not have any major problems. We enjoyed our old fashioned beach motel.

The beach was a bit different than other places we have been. A little bit of a slope, certainly not flat! The water was frigid and the shells really hurt our feet. The flies bite hard too, but as soon as the wind changed direction the flies were gone, the water was warm but the shells and sloping beach were still there.

All in all, probably will not go back to the Kill Devil HIlls area. Our family thinks OBX is slightly overrated.