In the decades after its opening in 1927, Virginia Beach’s Cavalier Hotel became a posh seaside getaway for 10 U.S. presidents and numerous celebrities, including Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra.
With 85 rooms and suites, the hotel reopened in March following an $85 million renovation that took many spaces down to the studs and resulted in the restoration of terrazzo floors and Jeffersonian-inspired columns to their former grandeur. The hotel’s décor is a modern take on quintessential Southern elegance. The Raleigh Room—the place for afternoon tea and evening craft cocktails—features tufted velvet sofas and stunning art, some of it cheeky. The nearby veranda offers cushy seating and takes advantage of the hotel’s hilltop location, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean on one side and a plunge pool on the other. The pool is said to have been a favorite of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his family. SeaHill Spa offers hydrotherapy suites along with sand- and sea-themed treatments.
The name of The Cavalier’s swanky distillery, Tarnished Truth, reflects the half-truths and tales that have pervaded the hotel’s history, including one about President Richard Nixon burning papers late one summer night in the adjacent Hunt Room’s massive fireplace. Opening this summer, The Cavalier Beach Club will be home to a private beach, infinity pool and a beachside bar and cafe. Rates at The Cavalier begin at $309.
The Cavalier Hotel, 4200 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, Virginia; 757-425-8555, cavalierhotel.com