Hatteras Hotels—Buxton & Frisco
The style and options for Hatteras hotels is most varied in the Buxton and Frisco area…from several high-end bed & breakfast inns to Cape Hatteras hotels that have been serving vacationing families for more than 50 years to the only national-chain hotel on the island to private and National Park service campgrounds to a resort just for pets. Most of the Hatteras hotels (again, as with the other Hatteras Island towns, the properties are more accurately described as motels) are older motor inns that have been regularly updated with modern amenities and are very well maintained. They provide visitors with a sense of the wonderful, laid back, nonpretentious life that is ever-present on Hatteras Island. But don’t be thinking that these Hatteras hotels, motels and B&Bs are lacking. Quite the contrary! Amenities include free WiFi, cable TV, fridge, coffee maker, fish-cleaning stations, pools, hot tubs, playgrounds and more. You’ll be as comfortable and taken care of at these places as at any Outer Banks hotel.
Cape Hatteras Bed and Breakfast
- 46223 Old Lighthouse Road
- Buxton
- (252) 995-6004, (800) 252-3316
Cape Hatteras Bed and Breakfast is in the village of Buxton near the lighthouse, shops and restaurants, and, best of all, it’s only 500 feet from the ocean. The eight guest rooms are named after famous hurricanes, and each has its own private bath, cable TV, small refrigerator and coffee pot with coffee and tea set up. Some rooms have microwaves. Rooms offer a variety of accommodation options, from two doubles to kings to efficiencies. On-site amenities include wireless internet, a sun deck, a gas grill for guest use, outdoor showers, lockable watersports gear storage, bicycles, beach chairs, coolers and beach bags. A hearty breakfast is served daily between 8 and 10 a.m. This inn does not allow pets and allows smoking only outdoors. There is a three-night minimum on holiday weekends and a two-night minimum on weekends in season.
Tower Circle Motel
- 46239 Old Lighthouse Road
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5353
In business for 54 years, the Tower Circle Motel offers a taste of old Hatteras Island in an updated atmosphere. There are 19 units here, consisting of one- and two-room efficiency apartments, eight large duplex apartments as well as some standard rooms. All rooms have air conditioning and heat, cable TV, WiFi, a microwave, a refrigerator and a coffeemaker. Each room opens to a covered porch with wooden deck furniture. There’s a fish-cleaning bench on site, and the motel is within walking distance of the public play area and skate park at the Fessenden Center. Tower Circle is very close to the beach and has ocean access.
Buxton Beach Motel
- 46211 Old Lighthouse Road
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5972
For those who love the charm of historic Hatteras Island, the Buxton Beach Motel offers simple, basic accommodations in one of the island’s original motels that’s been updated with modern conveniences. This ground-level accommodation is clean and comfortable and offers standard motel rooms and efficiencies. Rooms have refrigerators, microwaves, cable TV, air conditioning and porches (most of them screened). There are no telephones in the rooms—on purpose. Pets are allowed for a fee, and the motel is just a short walk from the beach. There are grills, a lighted fish-cleaning station and an outdoor shower. This is a family-owned and operated property.
Cape Hatteras Motel
- 46556 N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5611, (800) 995-0711
The Cape Hatteras Motel has 39 rooms, including oceanfront and soundside rooms. The motel offers standard rooms with a microwave, refrigerator and coffeemaker in the room and efficiency apartments and townhouses with full kitchens. A swimming pool, hot tub, WiFi and cable TV are part of the amenities here, but phones are not available in the rooms.
Cape Pines Motel
- 47497 N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5666
Cape Pines Motel has been housing Hatteras Island guests since 1953 — but it’s been updated many times since then! The motel has 29 rooms, three of which are one- or two-bedroom suites with full kitchens. Standard rooms come with refrigerators, and deluxe rooms have refrigerator, microwave and coffeemaker. All rooms have cable TV, free wireless internet access and phones with free local calls. Cape Pines has a pool, grills, picnic tables, a fish-cleaning station and an outdoor shower. Some of the rooms are pet friendly.
Cape Woods Campground
- 47649 Buxton Back Road
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5850
This family-owned campground is tucked back in the trees on Buxton Back Road, perfect for enjoying the solitude the island can offer. Cape Woods offers 130 sites, some for tents, others with full or partial hook-up, and cabins. You can rent nightly, monthly or seasonally, and there are also yearly sites available. Pets on leashes are welcome. The site offers a pool, playground, game room, hot showers, heated bathhouses, laundry facilities, a security gate, fish-cleaning stations and a picnic pavilion.
Comfort Inn of Hatteras Island
- Old Lighthouse Road and N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-6100, (800) 432-1441
In a building constructed to resemble an old lifesaving station, the Comfort Inn is one of Hatteras Island’s most modern accommodations options. There are 61 rooms here, each with a small refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker, cable TV and WiFi. Rooms feature two doubles or one king, and some have a sleeper sofa. There’s an outdoor pool here as well. The office is open 24 hours, and the hotel is open year round.
Croatoan Inn
- 46854 N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5968, (800) 635-6911
Serving Hatteras Island for more than 40 years, this motel, formerly the Falcon Motel, reminds us of a classic Florida motor inn, with neat landscaping and lots of trees, fresh coats of pastel paint on the buildings, door-side parking and a pool. It’s in a central location of the village on the sound side of the island. A fish-cleaning table and picnic tables are available. The motel has 35 rooms, including five pet-friendly rooms, two apartments, three efficiencies with kitchenettes and two apartments with full kitchens.
Frisco Woods Campground
- 53124 N.C. Highway 12
- Frisco
- (252) 995-5208
This campground is situated in the midst of Frisco Woods, so it offers nice shelter in the shade. The campground provides waterfront camping on Pamlico Sound, making it popular with visiting kiteboarders and windsurfers. Full hookups are offered, and there’s a dish-washing area, coin laundry, fish-cleaning bench, swimming pool, bathhouses with hot showers, sound beach and huge store with camping supplies, food and gifts. One- and two-room camping cabins feature air conditioning, outside water, grills and picnic tables.
Hatteras Island Pet Resort—Frisco
- 52155 N.C. Highway 12
- Frisco
- (252) 995-4851
The Hatteras Island Pet Resort allows you to bring your pets on vacation, even if they aren’t allowed at your own accommodations. Daily pickup and visitation are encouraged. Dogs can get private runs or share a run if they’re from the same family. Cats and other animals are also accepted. Current immunization records for each pet are mandatory. The resort is open year round but is always closed on Tuesdays.
Inn on Pamlico Sound
- 49684 N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-7030, (866) PAMLICO
The Inn on Pamlico Sound is a casually elegant, 12-guestroom bed and breakfast inn located on the banks of the Pamlico Sound. Accommodations range from soundfront queens and garden kings to premium soundfront kings with private porches and two-person whirlpool baths. Amenities include a three-course gourmet breakfast, fresh-baked goods each afternoon, kayaks, bicycles, a soundfront pool, a 14-seat home theater, a print library, a 1,700-title DVD collection, complimentary beverages and snacks, beach chairs, beach towels, high speed internet access in every room and a computer for guest use. The inn’s restaurant provides fine dining nightly with indoor and outdoor tables overlooking the waters of the sound. The menu changes nightly but always features fresh local seafood, organic beef and chicken, homemade soups, appetizers, desserts and a complete wine and beer list. Private chef and catering services are available to bring the fine dining experience into your home, rental cottage, wedding or other event. (For more information, see Restaurants.) It’s located in a quiet waterfront section of Buxton just north of the Frisco line. The inn and its restaurant are both handicapped accessible.
Island Hide-A-Way Campground
- 47095 Buxton Back Road
- Buxton
- (252) 995-6628
Nestled in the quiet part of Buxton on the Back Road, Island Hide-A-Way is perfect for a little R&R. There are 25 full hookup sites, five partial hookup sites and about 15 wooded tent sites. The bathhouses have hot and cold showers. Pets are welcome. Island Hide-A-Way is conveniently located, with Connor’s grocery and a bank nearby. Cool Wave Ice Cream Shop is on the premises.
Lighthouse View Motel and Cottages
- 46677 N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5680
The Hooper family was one of the first to welcome visitors to Hatteras Island, starting with the opening of The Lighthouse View Motel in 1953. Thoroughly modern today, Lighthouse View offers a wide range of accommodations — 24 standard motel rooms sleeping two to four people, 22 villas with kitchens and 32 cottages ranging from two to four bedrooms and sleeping six to 10 people. All rooms, villas and cottages are on the ocean side of the island in north Buxton. Most rooms have ocean views while others face the sound. The motel has an outdoor pool and hot tub plus a lighted fish-cleaning table. This motel is still operated by the Hooper family and enjoys many repeat customers. It is open year round.
NPS Cape Point Campground
- 46379 Old Lighthouse Road, Near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
- Buxton
- (252) 473-2111
One of four National Park Service campgrounds within Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Point Campground is on the oceanfront near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Historic Site and Cape Hatteras. This is a popular camping spot, situated as it is near awesome fishing and recreational grounds. You can walk to the beach, lighthouse, the Buxton Woods Nature Trail and ride a bike to the village shops and restaurants. The NPS campgrounds accommodate both tents and RVs on 202 sites with no hookups. Each site has a grill, picnic table and parking pad. Restrooms, unheated showers, potable water, a recycling center, a pay phone and a dump station are available to campers. Reservations are not taken, so sites are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Pets are allowed if they’re kept on a leash.
NPS Frisco Campground
- Off N.C. Highway 12
- Frisco
- (252) 473-2111
Another of the four National Park Service campgrounds, Frisco Campground is like a well-kept secret. It is the quietest, most secluded of all the NPS camping areas and even has some trees and scrubby brush that give your site a little privacy. The campground is on the oceanfront, right on a row of dunes. There are 127 sites here for tents and RVs, but there are no hookups. Each site has a grill, picnic table and a parking pad, and restrooms, unheated showers and potable water are available to campers. Pets are allowed if they’re on a leash. Reservations are not taken, so sites are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
Outer Banks Motel and Cottages
- 46577 N.C. Highway 12
- Buxton
- (252) 995-5601, (800) 995-1233
The oceanfront Outer Banks Motel offers 12 standard motel rooms, each with a refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker and a toaster. The motel grounds have a pool, hot tub, library, free rowboats and ocean access. In addition to its standard motel rooms, Outer Banks Motel offers six efficiencies with full kitchens and 13 cottages, all with phones and cable TV. The cottages and efficiencies are available by the week only in the summer. Outer Banks Motel also offers 20 cottages in the heart of Buxton, about a mile back from the ocean. These cottages range from one to three bedrooms and rent by the night or week.
