Timeless Elegance. Built during the roaring s, The Historic Cavalier Hotel today stands as a masterpiece of modern-day elegance and classic Virginia Beach hospitality. Following a multi-million restoration, the hotel invites guests to relax, unwind, and enjoy its rich history and unique vacation experiences, including three restaurants, an in-house craft spirits distillery, a luxury day spa, and exclusive access to the private Cavalier Beach Club.
The Cavalier Reimagined. Eighty-five completely reimagined guest rooms and suites each feature plush fabrics, gleaming bathrooms and tasteful room appointments. Indoor and outdoor pool. Distillery, Spa, and Beach Club. Three Restaurants. Each experience is as unique as it is delicious. The Cavalier Hotel has offered guests a unique and memorable vacation experience since the very beginning.
When the hotel opened in , the first guests were awed by world-class amenities and extravagances almost unheard of at the time, from private bathrooms in every guest room to an indoor swimming pool filled with cool, fresh ocean water.
Guest rooms included bathtubs with an extra handle to draw a seawater bath, and sinks with an ice water spigot that brought water down from a large wooden ice-filled tub on the hotel roof. The hotel included space for a doctor, a photographer and a stockbroker, with live ticker tape from the New York Stock Exchange. In the lower lobby, guests could shop without ever leaving the hotel — another rarity at the time— with boutiques, shops, clothing retailers, an ice cream parlor and a hair salon.
The iconic Cavalier Beach Club was added to the hotel on Memorial Day in and became a sought-after entertainment destination for over three decades. In October of , the U. Navy became a resident and turned the hotel into a site for radar training. It is said that the hotel grounds were so cramped that sailors used the stables as living quarters. The Cavalier Oceanfront was constructed to be 11 stories overlooking the Atlantic Ocean but was not a replacement for the original Cavalier, which reopened in There were high cost estimates for renovations.
