Founders Inn and Spa

The rooms were great and amenities were above average. Great pool and spa… All the wonderful things you read are probably true. The problem is the staff and their execution on the basics. We asked what time check-​in was and they said 4 pm. We asked for early check in so they instructed us to be there at 3 pm and they would expedite our check in. I sat there for an hour and ½ while watching some other folks check in successfully, yet others could not and were told the same as me that our room «wasn’t ready.» Finally when our room was ready at 4:30 pm my wife, 3 small children and I go up to the room, swipe the room key, open the door only to find our room is already occupied. After an additional 10 minute wait we finally got in the correct room and were very late for our event. If you choose the place, do not expect early check in or even an on time check in. You can also expect a staff who are professional apologizers for all the stuff that goes wrong! The seem accustomed to it.

I don’t know if it was because we booked through a third party (Expedia
etc.), but this hotel gave us the dirtiest room ever. The pile of dust all over the room showed that that room must not have been used or cleaned in years. It was dank and smelled, and I have bronchitis. It was the worst experience I have ever had in a hotel regardless of ranking. I will NEVER stay there again. If there was a zero ranking, I would give them zero. If all their rooms are as dirty as the one we stayed in, they should demolish all the rooms and focus on weddings only.

Interesting mixed reviews on this hotel. I was there for a quick vacation-​stayed on ⁶⁄₁₅. The staff were very friendly and my room was very clean-​room 3108. Great job on the staff in charge of this room.
It’s a great location to stay and relax. If I didn’t have the kids I would done the whole spa and all. Next visit/​get away, kids free. Lol

Excellent place to stay while in Virginia Beach or surrounding areas. The staff was pleasant and courteous from the first person I spoke to about booking (Courtney) up until the time my wife and I left. I would give it 10 STARS if I could!!! Will definitely be back again!!!

This place was amazing to me. We went during a time where there weren’t very many people staying at the resort and that made it evening more amazing. The staff there were very nice and accommodated all of our needs. The building and grounds and the up-​keep of the property makes you not want to leave.
The room size was a bit small compared to what I expected, however, the bed was very comfortable. The bathroom is spacious and the shower fit two :). The breakfast dining area was hospitable and the breakfast was good. We had the package that included breakfast each day and it was a buffet style breakfast, which I am generally not a fan of at all, however, this buffet was very clean and the staff did a great job of ensuring that the food for the most part was fresh. There was a morning that the turkey sausage was very old and looked as though it had been sitting for days, although I’m sure it had only been there for the morning. Their chef makes fresh omelettes to order based on your selection which I thought was also great.
We walked around the resort and they have a man-​made pound with ducks, geese, swans, fish, and possibly even frogs (we didn’t see any, we only heard them). The walk during the day and night is very romantic and relaxing. We have an 80 lb. dog that we were able to bring along at no additional cost and there were no complaints, or problems. They have a large fenced area that accommodates dogs which is a major ++++ because most hotels/​resorts accept dogs with an added on fee, however, they don’t have any special accommodations such as a dog run.
The weather was not so great when we were there, however, we enjoyed ourselves and the resort made that easy to do with the indoor pool, indoor fitness center, and although I did not have the chance to go to the spa, that’s an added bonus as well when the weather is rainy all day.

This stay was a disappointment. The walls were thin, the AC unit was loud, there were no bath products in the bathroom, the room service menu was unoriginal and limited, the room was small, and the front desk staff was slow. The colonial aesthetic and historic quality of the hotel is lovely but I think the hotel is relying on this to give it the cache it doesn’t deserve.

The grounds are beautiful and that’s it. The rooms are dated and not cleaned. I had to get two handfuls of hair out of the shower so the water could drain. The bed felt like jelly, definitely need a massage after sleeping there. Atleast you wil get your exercise as parking is a long walk to the hotel. This hotel is about a 1.5 star hotel at best with a 5 star outdoor area which leads everyone to believe it’s a wonderful hotel. What a shock when you get to your room.

The beds are marshmallows. I always get the best sleep of my life here. If you’re worried about noise/​disturbance from the college next door, don’t worry — it’s the quietest campus you’ll ever find. It has a small amount of on campus students and their dorms are way far away from the hotel. However, you still get the awesome views and brick of the surrounding campus. The staff is always friendly and helpful. The event rooms are nice and the Christmas decorations are beautiful.

We stayed here for a marriage conference. So, we got to use the conference rooms, restaurants, and stay in a room. I was honestly disappointed in all of it. The food was not good and it was overpriced. The conference room was fine. But, the worst part was the rooms. Our room was very outdated and worn. My bed was even broken. There were bugs, stains, and the bathroom was not very clean. The service was just average. I can not recommend anything about this place.

Had a comfortable stay here and took advantage of the spa services next door. Rooms were clean, beds comfortable and hotel quiet and elegant. Vintage furnishings gave it a warm, stately feel. It was chilly out and they had the fireplaces in the sitting areas going. Delightful surprise to find chocolate covered strawberries for our enjoyment in the refrig in our room!
Sunday Brunch in the Swan Room was amazing!

Review for a January 2016 stay.
In town and reservations were made here for a group of out of town guests. I remember the place as a family member was married here 20+ years ago. And sadly, from the overall appearance, most things haven’t been updated since then.
To get straight to the point without belaboring or making this a long review, I was not a fan of the accommodations or customer service of a few staff here and am in no hurry to revisit. At best, with tongue in cheek, Founder’s Inn is a 2 star resort. Dated décor, uncomfortable mattress, rooms with an aged smell and no ambiance or feel of what is truly considered spa or resort-​like. Bellhops watching guests push their own luggage on the luggage cart from their room through the lobby without initiating any assistance. What 4 or 5 star resort does that? In my option, none that I’ve ever experienced.
Can’t say I would ever return for a stay here if in town… Total experience underwhelming and disappointing.

My husband and I went to an event held in the Virginia Ballroom and also spent the night. The entire hotel is gorgeous, although the rooms could use some updating. We enjoyed our stay very much and are even considering holding our vow renewal ceremony there.

I traveled from CT to attend a wedding here and had the displeasure of staying on-​site for 3 nights. While the wedding festivities were fine, I generally echo the sentiments of the other reviewers — the grounds are beautiful but hotel is very outdated at best and gross at worst.
Despite making our reservation 9 months prior to the wedding, we somehow seemed to have been given the worst room in the entire place. Only room for one nightstand, gross carpet/​upholstery and a shower still littered with residual hair left over from what appeared to be a guerrilla’s adventures with a razor. Our bed was also possibly the softest and most worn out bed known to man, like very uncomfortably soft. We woke up the next day very unhappy and sore, complained to the front desk and were subsequently given a new room without any mention of assistance with our belongings.
Our next room was indeed larger (we had 2 nightstands) but still just as disgusting and outdated, minus the hair. We were out of the room the entire day at pre-​wedding festivities and didn’t realize until the middle of the night that our air conditioner wasn’t working properly. We again woke up the next day uncomfortable and unhappy and were moved to our THIRD room in as many days. Again there was no mention of assistance with our belongings despite our inconvenience. As our luck would have it, the batteries smoke detector in the room decided to quit at approx. 2AM that night, beeping at various intervals and even vocally prompting us to change the batteries throughout.
Needless to say, we could not wait to leave the following morning. Prior to our stay, I read several reviews and was slightly encouraged to read management’s response to negative reviews that they were undergoing a 3 – 6 month $ 2M renovation that, according to their timeline, should have been completed many months before our stay. If the rooms we were staying in were renovated, I would have hated to see the pre-​renovation rooms the other reviewers stayed in.

I am not sure why the reviews on this place are so mixed up. I am a simple girl and this hotel was great! The lay out was beautiful I mean they had a display room for a wedding that made want to get married just I could go into my room and pick out some things from there!
I thought that the staff was really nice from what I gathered. Although we didn’t get to use the pool they had a nice pool and this place a really great breakfast Buffett.

Gorgeous facility that is rapidly deteriorating due to poor housekeeping. Rude employees.
From the start of my daughters wedding plans thru the follow up so far things have been mediocre to poor.
Reservations for rooms messed up multiple times. Overcharges, lack of contracted services and overall frustrating service.
Grand ballroom was never cleaned prior to our reception on Monday night and we even pointed out the left over Saturday night party items including champagne glasses and toothpicks all over the floor. The champaign glass remained thru our entire event! The ballroom ac was turned off an hour and a half BEFORE our event ended with no explanation, causing the room to become over heated and guests to leave early. (Mind you none had to work they were all from out of state or country) The maintenance person brought an extension cord that had multiple repairs and this resulted in me getting shocked and it not working so I waited for another to light our displays and the second one was in disrepair also.
The catered food was great however we were told the food WE PAID FOR that was left over would be given to staff yet that wasn’t in the contract and we’d asked to take it home and were told we couldn’t. It was like pulling teeth to get the leftover cake.
No cake plate for the cake cutting
No liquor as was paid for
No champaign delivered to all tables prior to the toast
The asst manager agreed to refund about $ 3000 of the $ 15,000 paid which was $ 1400 for the lack of alcohol that was paid for and not delivered and about $ 1500 in over charges.
Still waiting to hear on the hotel room for our pastor that was over charged when the pastor was forced to leave because the room was rented to someone else even after FOUR trips to ensure his reservation was correct.
Very disappointed this time. My own mother never had housekeeping in her room the entire week she was there, she assumes because she had her dog with her and she was in a single room. She had to ask for fresh towels — she’s not sure she will stay in the future and this wasn’t her first visit.
The hall carpets were in worn out condition and very stained. It appears the hotel although only 24 years old, is in need of a full make over and possibly new management. Our DJ photographer and florist all complained and stated they don’t like doing events at Founders, stating they won’t be back for a long time if ever.
Beautiful place leaves a lot to be desired for a large event. If planning a wedding or reception be advised you cannot bring in your own food items or beverages and get every detail written down BEFORE your event as the notes that were made never made it to our contract and thus our guests didn’t get what we paid for.
The management has offered a free dinner at swan terrace and a stay in the presidential suite with catered breakfast as a gesture of kindness to our daughter and son in law for the poor service. This is much appreciated but I still feel my daughter isn’t being compensated near enough for the condition of the ballroom and the lack of services paid for. So live and learn and just know to get it all in writing in the future! Oh and be sure to label all your items that might make it up the kitchen as we had to chase down and prove we brought our own cake service set in order to get it back.
The event coordinator Brittany was very kind however the staff at the front desk was very curt and rude at times.

Love the layout of this place, feels expensive with all the colonial type furniture and surroundings. Beautiful grounds and outdoor pool with slide along with an interior pool. Breakfast was good with many different options. We were happy the kids were happy and intrigued by the surroundings. The rooms we were in was a little small but had dual sinks and the beds and pillows were nice and soft. There was also a mini fridge and free bottles of water.
Customer service was great too. I would definitely recommend this place and it is about 18 minutes away from the boardwalk.

We had an absolutely wonderful time at the Inn! The grounds were beautiful and the staff was courteous from check-​in to check-​out. I’d definitely go back.

Traveled all my life stayed at a lot of places. But ice machine is broke on the second, the bar has no hard liquor and had to wait for the bar tender to get there. The food had bagged scramble eggs and had an omelet bar (not bad)
Found a 2×4 under my bed.

I have not yet had the pleasure of staying in The Founders Inn yet, but I have had a number of experiences here.
I like to walk around the grounds in the rear of the property. There is a path that goes around the lake, where you can watch ducks, geese and swans), through the back patio, around the gaming area (think croquet), and through the hedge maze.
The hotel has a pool and even a water slide that I really hope to glide down one day. Everyone there seems to be having so much fun and you can hear the laughs from the benches on the other end of the lake.
I was once able to take advantage a discount on a manicure at FLOWERING ALMOND SPA. The lady that did my manicure was really nice and we had great conversation while she did my nails. I was very pleased with the service. While over at the very nicely designed spa, I could not help thinking about how much I would like to take a dip in that heated pool!
I’m here a few times a year for a Leadership Luncheon in the ballroom, plated meals. Great staff. Perfect venue. I’ve even had my work Christmas party in the ballroom twice. Buffet style. THE FOUNDERS INN does an amazing job with decorating. There are all kinds of events held at this beautiful location including weddings.
THE SWAN TERRACE is a great place to dine. They have daily lunch buffets. Lovely dinners. And amazing themed holiday dinners. During one of my very rare lunches here I overheard a woman who was vacationing complementing the chef to her waiter. She and her husband have various diet restrictions and the chef prepared a delicious meal just for them including a gluten free dessert.
I was also here on a film shoot. The Inn staff were so friendly and accommodating. Whatever the crew needed they were on it right away. The crew also had the awesome dining experience of lunch at SWAN TERRACE. Although I have have yet to stay overnight here I have heard someone rave about their experience here after having stayed here on her wedding night. I said she was totally free advertising, a walking talking billboard the way she raved about the accommodations and the staff.
You absolutely must bring your family here to see the holiday lights, the interior Christmas decorations, and the ginormous Christmas tree under the foyer skylight.

Upon checkin, the front desk clerk told me I was placed in a room on the first floor. I told him that as a solo female traveler, I don’t feel comfortable staying on the first floor, so I asked him if there was any other room on any floor but the first I could be switched to. He promptly said no. BUT he said, if there ended up being any problems, to just call down to the front desk! I let him know that if there ended up being any problems… by that point, it’d probably be too late.
In the room where I stayed, there were rust rings all in and around the bathtub which you can see in the attached photos. Not totally appealing.
Similar to the experience of a previous reviewer — housekeeping came knocking at my door, bright and early at 9 am on a Saturday. Why oh why are you knocking?! I answered and guy said «Just wanted to see if anyone was still in there.» Well, yeah. I haven’t checked out yet, meaning I’m still here. Also, it’s 9 am on a Saturday. Checkout is at 11. Why!
The pros of this hotel: the grounds are beautiful and there is ample parking.