The Founders Inn and Spa, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

Reviewer: Not provided on Fri 08 Jul 2011 rated 8 out of 10.

This hotel is clean, with ample parking, and noise-free. However, the hotel is far from anything of interest for tourists in the VA beach or Norfolk area. Given its location, I was concerned about seeing too much religious paraphernalia around but that is not the case. I was given the room next to the electric room, which was annoying as it looked like many other rooms were available. I think that the Resort Fee is unjustifiable because there is no resort-type services that are available for free. I did not use the shuttle to the beach as the hours are quite limited.

Positives: Rooms and linens are nice and clean.

Negatives: Charges an addition "Resort Fee".

Reviewer: Not provided on Fri 06 May 2011 rated 10 out of 10.

We were just speechless when we saw how beautiful the hotel and its multiple buildings were. The interior decorations were what you would find in a very high class resort, such as chandeliers, exceptional wall decorations with moldings and special wallpaper. The hotel features several elegant restaurants that delivered meals to your rooms. There was also a beautiful lake with fountain outdoors behind the main building. We just could not believe how beautiful everything was!

Positives: The hotel was far beyond what we had expected--absolutely elegant! We want to stay there again.

Negatives: The heater and air conditioner were a bit loud, waking us up at night.

Reviewer: Not provided on Tue 21 Dec 2010 rated 3 out of 10.

The staff is very friendly, and the common areas are well maintained and beautiful. The food was expensive and not very good. This was a 2 star room in a 3 star hotel with 5 star service.

Positives: The staff is nice.

Negatives: The hidden fees on top of the prepaid room.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 15 Dec 2010 rated 3 out of 10.

Colonial Williamsburg atmosphere. Easy access to interstate. Excellent parking (free)

Positives: Easy access

Negatives: Charged an unexpected "Resort Fee" that made it not so good a deal. Prineline users are very price sensative.

Reviewer: Not provided on Fri 16 Jul 2010 rated 9 out of 10.

Lovely colonial estate-type hotel with full amenities and spa available. Wonderful exercise room, family-friendly pool and tennis. Friendly staff and VERY quiet rooms. The food is excellent and the grounds are lovely.

Positives: The quietness of room and hallways - you never hear neighbors!

Negatives: The pool closes too early.

Reviewer: Not provided on Thu 01 Jul 2010 rated 9 out of 10.

This is a beautiful property and very comfortable. The pool was very nice, and not crowded. One of our rooms never got cleaned. The pool and spa area had plenty of towels available. We assumed that we were paid in full, but upon check-in, discovered that there was a "resort fee" of $11 per day, per room that we had to cough up. This was a considerable amount, since we had 5 rooms for 3 nights.

Positives: Uncrowded swimming pool, beautiful rooms, clean, late check-out available.

Negatives: It's far from the beach, no A/C in halls and elevators.

Reviewer: Not provided on Fri 28 May 2010 rated 5 out of 10.

I didn't really like the hotel. It was not really modern, a little too old and country feeling for my taste. They had these old looking quilts on the bed and as pillow cases that looked to have seen better days. Overall, I was uncomfortable.

Positives: Staff

Negatives: The bedspreads.

Reviewer: Not provided on Tue 01 Sep 2009 rated 1 out of 10.

The hotel was out of the way of everything. At check in they hit you with a resort fee. The room was fair. Very limited amenities. Not a 3 or 4 star more like a 2 at best.

Positives: Nice Colonial look and the grounds were beautiful.

Negatives: The staff seemed not happy with there jobs.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 12 Aug 2009 rated 3 out of 10.

The only worthy experience writing about was the food and dining staff. The food was excellent. Our stay was horrible and I will NOT be returning. Our room didn't have key -- we had to go to the front desk every time we wanted to be let in. The staff was very unfriendly and frustrated because nothing in the hotel seemed to work. The room had a skittles looking carpet and the decor was a cross between the 70's and the country.

Positives: Absolutely wonderful food.

Negatives: Unfriendly staff, horrible experience, didn't even have a key to our room, hot tub didn't work.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 10 Sep 2008 rated 1 out of 10.

Room with a single bed the next night, and then switch to a room with two beds for the rest of the stay as the second night they were booked solid and did not have a room with two beds available. We were also asked if we wanted to place a credit card on file with the hotel. Placed luggage on luggage cart ourselves and moved into room that night. The next morning, we packed up all our bags, put them on a luggage cart ourselves again. When we went to the front desk and explained we were told to switch rooms, the hotel representative said "oh you're in room 2305? I'm so sorry, I should have called you this morning, you don't have to move rooms. We became extremely upset at this point as we had just spent over half an hour of our vacation packing up our stuff. Now we had to move back into the same room and unpack. Mid-week we were woken up at 9:00 am to hear them remodeling the room next to us. There was hammering until about noon. Our faucet was also leaking during our stay. We complained to the front desk about both the remodeling noise and the leaky faucet. We were told the faucet would be repaired and the worst of the remodeling was over with. For our inconvenience, we would receive a free Sunday brunch at their on site restaurant called the Swan Terra.

Positives: I liked that it was clean.

Negatives: The lack of communication among staff and extreme inconveniences experienced during the entire week.

Reviewer: Not provided on Thu 04 Sep 2008 rated 4 out of 10.

This hotel is a far cry from 4 star. Although the beds are comfortable, the bedding is at best mediocre and the rooms need renovating. It's an Inn, keep in mind. It's nothing fancy. I think for the price and supposed quality, I could've gotten the better accommodations staying at the Hilton or something equivalent. The room service (food) was mediocre and they delivered it a lot earlier than asked. Because of the dampness of the room the first night, I ended up coughing all through the night and waking up feeling sickly. It was not an enjoyable experience. I also got charged resort fees and extra taxes.

Positives: I appreciated the friendliness of the hotel staff.

Negatives: The room was damp and moldy and no one noticed. Not compensating in some way for that night was discouraging.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 20 Aug 2008 rated 8 out of 10.

It is luxurious, well designed and the staff is excellent.

Positives: The four swimming pools and super work out room.

Negatives: They charge resort fee.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 06 Aug 2008 rated 9 out of 10.

Very lovely garden, running trail needs to be cleaned of the geese droppings, practically unusable. Hotel welcoming procedures were mediocre in comparison to other top hotels.

Positives: Beautiful landscape, accommodating staff.

Negatives: Many extra fees for small inconveniences.

Reviewer: Not provided on Sat 02 Aug 2008 rated 7 out of 10.

Attractive colonial style brick buildings on an open, expensive campus. Rooms decor was an odd mix of up-scale with a cheap carpet. The bed was too soft. Restaurant service was slow. It is a long way to the beach, so it's not a beach hotel though it claims to be a resort. It does have a nice pool, water slide and tennis courts. Ok for the price.

Positives: Pool was very nice.

Negatives: Had to pay $11 resort fee.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 30 Jul 2008 rated 9 out of 10.

Nice hotel. Two beautiful pools and Jacuzzi. The people and staff was very friendly. It was a very relaxed atmosphere/.

Positives: I liked the pools/hot tub area. I liked all the chairs and benches to sit on near the lake and on the inside of the main building. This hotel had charm.

Negatives: I did not like the key system for the rooms.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 30 Jul 2008 rated 2 out of 10.

We drove 10 hours straight to see our son (that we haven't seen in a year), stationed in Camp Pendleton CA and was in Virginia Beach for few months taking classes. We live in Georgia and it a great opportunity to go visit him, for the Fourth of July weekend. So hotel was overprice for room accommodation and room service and dirty air condition made loud noise went it was running, which was very annoying.

Positives: Nothing.

Negatives: Dirty room, room service took over hour to bring of a fork to eat with, so went to the store a bought plastic forks.

Reviewer: Not provided on Tue 29 Jul 2008 rated 2 out of 10.

To call this a 4 star is a travesty. The service was equivalent to a Best Western. They did not have microwaves available despite the fact we called to reserve one for our kids. This is not a 4 star hotel. 2.5 at best. Rooms are fine, but small. Service is awful.

Positives: Leaving.

Negatives: No two beds in a room.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 23 Jul 2008 rated 5 out of 10.

We expected a nicer hotel from the description and star level. On the positive side the room was very clean, bathroom was nice, beds were very comfortable, and grounds kept clean and manicured. As we were on business we did not have time to check out the pool, restaurants or other facilities. On the negative side when we first arrived we were given a room that already had a guest in it. When we hiked all the way back to the office (in a different building) the attendant in charge at the front desk seemed more intent on explaining to the clerk that had placed us in the room how to operate the computer system that just getting us into another room. They also didn't seem to believe that there was clear evidence that someone was already occupying the room. We never even received an apology. The next room we were placed in was vacant but the ice machine was located on the other side of the wall of the headboards. When we entered the room another guest was getting ice and it was very noisy and we thought we would not be able to sleep well with the racket so we trudged down to the office again. The third room was fine but since we started this process at 9:00 PM after a full day and finally got in the third room by 10 we were a bit worn out. I also noticed that other guests who had room service for breakfast had set their trays outside of their doors at 8:00 AM, when we left for the day and these trays were still there when we returned at 7:30 PM. The furnishings were clean but shop worn and we just expected a bit more.

Positives: Comfortable beds, clean, nice bathroom.

Negatives: Customer service was lacking.

Reviewer: Not provided on Fri 18 Jul 2008 rated 8 out of 10.

Clean facility, very friendly helpful staff, good restaurant service. The only negative is not being able to use all cell phone service on the property.

Positives: Clean facility, friendly staff, good facility for a retreat.

Negatives: Verizon, only cell phone service available for connectivity.

Reviewer: Not provided on Wed 16 Jul 2008 rated 8 out of 10.

The hotel was nice. I would give it 3 stars; amenities were very nice. Room itself was just decent.

Positives: Great pool and waterslide.

Negatives: I did not appreciate having to pay a resort fee on top of the already high room rate.

Reviewer: Not provided on Tue 15 Jul 2008 rated 7 out of 10.

The pool area and gardens were great, but the room, bed and location were less than I expected.

Positives: Pool area and grounds were very nice.

Negatives: Location, room and bed were just average.

Reviewer: Not provided on Fri 11 Jul 2008 rated 10 out of 10.

The hotel has an indoor and outdoor pool, a full service spa, a fitness room, and other amenities. It is not close the beach, but it is an easy drive. The hotel is a little upscale for young children. They do have a small tot playground and the pools, however I do not believe noise would be tolerated. If you order out you will need to meet the delivery driver in the lobby, they do not allow delivery to the rooms.

Positives: This hotel has amenities for everyone in the family.

Negatives: Hotel is great! I guess it would have been nice if they had a guest laundry.

Reviewer: Not provided on Thu 10 Jul 2008 rated 6 out of 10.

The room is equal in size and quality to an average limited service hotel, though it could use a compact refrigerator. The pool is huge with a slide and there is also a playground onsite. The grounds are very well kept and there are nice areas to take a walk around the lake or sit around outside. There was a wedding or party of some type at the facility while we were there and that is what I see as the best use for the property. On the down side I arrived a little early and was told that our check-in is at 4:00 and we will not have a room for you until then. When I came back to check in at 4:00 I was told that you will have to pay an $11 per night charge for the use of the pool, and fitness center. I could not opt to forego the use of the facilities, so I ended up paying $11 more per night. I was in town to visit family, so the location was fine with me. If you are going to spend time at the ocean, it is about a 20 minute drive. The property feels safe, but the surrounding area leave a little to be desired. This experience left me unhappy with Founders Inn. I am not at all sure that I will use again in the future.

Positives: Great looking pool, didn't use. Would make a great venue for a party or wedding.

Negatives: The surrounding area seems less than safe though the hotel property seems fine.

Reviewer: Not provided on Thu 10 Jul 2008 rated 8 out of 10.

I am disappointed that I was charged an additional $14.00 upon check in, which I was not made aware of prior to purchase. All fees associated with travel should be conspicuous.

Positives: Historic traditional hotel.

Negatives: It was not a 4-star hotel.

Reviewer: Not provided on Thu 10 Jul 2008 rated 10 out of 10.

The hotel is rustic and beautiful, the pools are really nice, the rooms are spotless, and the beds are amazingly comfortable. Great hotel for the price and location - not too far away from Virginia Beach or Norfolk.

Positives: Beds - so soft!

Negatives: Indoor hot tub closed because of "inclement weather".