Sun Outdoors Cape Charles — Hotel in Cape Charles

We stayed at Sun Outdoors Cape Charles in a premium RV site over 4th of July week and had a great time! We were a little apprehensive based on some other reviews, but our experience was unlike those reviews. We went to a different spot at the pool every day and did not ever find a broken lounge chair. The pool water did get cloudy, but even our own pool at home will get cloudy when it’s packed full of people applying and re-applying sunscreen all day long. Multiple signs throughout the pool area clearly indicated that no lifeguards are on duty, so just having a pool attendant on staff that can answer questions is helpful. I constantly saw staff emptying trash and switching out dumpster bins and cleaning the bathrooms by the pool (I didn’t use any other bath house). The general store, which was fairly well stocked, was managed by helpful staff members and the prices were surprisingly reasonable for last-minute items we had forgotten. The staff worked amazingly hard after the storms to ensure that everyone was safe and had what they needed. A helpful staff member at the Welcome Center even took time when we checked out to help us make a reservation for next year AND informed us of different options to help us get the best savings. Our reservation here cost no more than it would have at any of the nearby campgrounds in Cape Charles or Virginia Beach (which we’ve stayed at previously and even had reserved for this year).

We decided to come back next year because of all the different amenities available, including mini-golf (which was very well-kept), paddle boats (which worked quite well compared to other places we’ve had to pay to use), rentals, fishing, beach, and multiple pools (which never felt excessively crowded because there were so many different places to go). We even added a fancy cottage to our reservation so our pickiest non-camping family can join us next year.

There will never be a perfect campground and reminiscing about that perfect trip that one had in yesteryear is hardly the outlook needed to enjoy oneself.

That said, there were some things that could be improved: 1) I agree on all accounts that the main beach is gross. There was so much dried up seaweed it couldn’t possibly have been raked anytime in recent days before we arrived nor at any point during our 9-day stay. I even asked a staff member to clarify which one was the “main” beach because I thought I must be at the wrong one. However, this is also nature. There was no trash, just a part of nature we didn’t want to have to walk through. Though it still would be nice – especially during a busy holiday week – for a little more beach maintenance. 2) The website advertised a daily shuttle, but the shuttle to Cape Charles did not run daily. We waited over an hour one day when it was supposed to be running and it never came. Then when we asked the welcome desk about the hours for a subsequent day, we were told it would not be running again until later in the week. We very much understand that this was a staffing issue; however, one of the main reasons that we chose this site versus other nearby places was because of the advertised daily shuttle service included in the amenities. I expressed these concerns to the welcome center and even emailed a manager twice with a request that they update misleading information on the website and we did not ever receive a reply (very disappointing). 3) The kids crafts and activities were a bit underwhelming. Most of the crafts during the week were pre-packaged make and take foam magnets. While better than nothing, we were expecting a little more hands-on crafts and more group activities for kids based on photos and descriptions on the website – it was another reason we chose this place. However, the boat making and race was fantastic and the pool games were fun. The winning ribbons for the kids was a great touch! All in all, the positives outweigh the negatives and I’m happy to leave a 5-star review. No place can have everything, but this place did a...

My goodness, where do I start? Place needs better leadership. I've been going to this place for 30 years now. It is the worse it has ever been. The cafe needs new leadership. The waitresses were very sweet to us but the food was really crappy. My son and I were disappointed by several dishes but the one that stands out the most was the breakfast hot cakes. How do you mess up hot cakes? The were slightly undercooked and tasteless no matter how much butter and syrup you put on them. We both took about 3 bites and trashed it The cook has got to go, or be re-trained. Get John Taffer in there to fix things. Go back to their old soft ice cream recipe. That is one thing that made me really dig cherrystone for was taste of their soft serve ice cream. They need more entertainment gaming machines, a lot of open wall space should have games in front of them. Fix the damn mens bathroom door, it doesn't shut and you know it. Fire the guy who is in charged of fixing it. Tell the manger that it is ok that people just visit the cafe while they are washing their clothes, and to not make them feel as though they need to order something in order to sit there, especially when there is only 4 people in the cafe at 900 am. The cafe should be treated as a courtesy to patrons rather than an independent business. Additionally, on the topic of wild animals, if there are Raccoons raiding coolers at night (I eye witnessed this) and one of your patrons (me) complains, and the office says they will take care of it, take care of it! After having my trash scattered for 4 nights in a row, 3 packs of bologna stolen, 2 packs of cheese stolen, 2 lbs of thick cut bacon stolen, and knowing the raccoon was rummaging through my cooler, i decided to find out where the so called "RANGERS" were with the progress of relocating the rodent. That is when I was told the Rangers cannot trap the Raccoon so therefore they could not do anything about it. Because of the raccoon, my food basically ruined, and with the cafe not being a viable option, me and my son decided we'd rather be at home rather than stay at Cherrystone for another day, so we left 2 days early. Oh and another thing, I'm 52 and my son is 14. We decided to star gaze by laying down, after dark when nobody was playing there, in the middle of the basketball court to hopefully avoid mosquitos. The "RANGER" (Don) became alarmed and thought it necessary to shine a halogen spot light from his golf cart at us and order us off the court. He said we weren't allowed on the court after dark, although there is no sign posted at the court supporting this, or anything I signed anywhere supporting that this was a legitimate rule. When I told him my boy and I were star gazing, he told me we couldn't do it there and we should do it in our camp site. I told him the obvious, "We can't see the stars past the trees". He said you need to get off the court. I think the title of “RANGER” has had a bad effect on Don. At that moment, I felt as though I was staying at a compound of some sort and lost the feel of being on vacation. Afterwards, I went to the “Ranger” station to talk with Don’s supervisor, I was told his name was HOP and he wasn’t there. The guy said it was Hop’s rule and that if my son and I wanted to star gaze we could go lay in the grass with the mosquitos. That is just a load of bull crap. So why would I even want to come to Cherrystone when I get hassled for doing the simplest pleasures a person should have the ability and the right to do while on vacation? The answer is, I wouldn’t, I am probably done with...

Finally, I'm getting around to placing my review. My first visit of this year was around Memorial weekend with my own personal RV. It was raining, and it was difficult trying to get the RV set up. However, guest services employee Brittany made my setup a complete breeze!! She was always there to help and even taught me things about my RV that I didn't know. She made sure RV was completely set up, and I was good to go before leaving while we both worked in the pouring rain. MORE Then, once during this vacation time, did Brittany come to my rescue!! Brittany is an A1 employee!!

The camping resort provides a free customary guest bus shuttle. So if you need to take a trip across the street to the Food Lion or into downtown Cape Charles for dining and shopping, the service is provided with good hours.

I took a shuttle ride into Cape Charles and was driven by Walt, who gave me a history of Cape Charles while we took the scenic route. What an informative and joyful experience provided by Walt. Walt is no longer employed there but has since retired; happy retirement, Walt!

Cherrystone AKA Sun Outdoors has always been my go-to number one camping site located 17 miles past the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

2nd Vist Aug 27th and 28th 2023 - I just came back from the Eastern Shore last weekend camping, but this time, I rented a cabin. What a change from years ago. The log cabins now have refrigerators and air conditioners that have been added they were great. Cabins come with a set of bunk beds and a double size bed. You do need to bring your own Linens, but the mattresses that they provide actually were quite comfortable even for somebody like me with a bad back.

However, while visiting Cherrystone this particular time, I hate to say, but I have to say this... once we got PAST the guest check-in, everything was better. After that, the rest of the employees from the Ranger station were pretty friendly and accommodating. However, when checking in, we were given the wrong information regarding the golf cart pickup time, so we I had to go back to get a golf cart that we decided to rent not once but twice! The ice machine kept going out, but guess who showed up, Brittany, and she fixed it, thank goodness! Sadly, though, it did continue to go offline the rest of the time I was there. The Deloreans performed on Saturday evening, wonderful entertainment. And then they had an acoustic guitarist on Sunday, which was great while you're watching the sunset. One thing I will say as a loyal Cherrystone camper is that things are not what they used to be as far as service goes, there's a lot of changes at Cherrystone and many new restrictions, not to mention the check-in times are much later and the checkout is early to me. I feel like I'm losing almost a whole day. However, with that being said, I did find out that you can utilize the activities there such as the swimming pool but you are not allowed to park inside the park you have to leave your vehicle at the guest check-in. An accommodation was made for me because I requested it because I'm handicapped and there was no way that I could have walked from the guest check in all the way to the swimming pool. At that time, we were not allowed to rent a golf cart. that was an inconvenience concern of mine. There is something there for everyone; it's incredible how they have grown, but there's some things that are just not the...