Gov Dinwiddie Hotel & Suites, an Ascend Collection hotel

An interesting historical retreat

The Governor Dinwidddie Hotel is an older, renovated hotel in the historically interesting Old Town area of Portsmouth. Upon entering the hotel, you feel that history has taken place here. For history buffs (particularly naval and sea history), restoration enthusiasts or vistors just wanting a quiet place in a quiet waterfront town, this is a good choice. It’s only a short walk to the Portsmouth - Norfolk ferry, which at a few dollars roundtrip is one of the best tourist opportunities in the area. There are good restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, particularly in newly-restored Gosport. A wonderful breakfast is served and included in the room rate. One problem we had was locating the air conditioner controls, but a call to the front desk solved it.

Traveler's tip on dining

Try the historical, locally famous and reasonably priced Lobscot Restaurant near the hotel. It specialiszes in seafood, but serves a broad menu. As you walk towards Gosport from the hotel, there are numerous good restaurants, pubs, and sidewalk cafes.

Good city, good hotel

very nice settings -- in the heart of Portsmouth. cleaning and quiet

very, very enjoyable

the room was very cozy and comfortable. i would stay here any time i’m in town.

couldn’t pay me to go back...

All I can say is that there was old food left in the refrigerator, the hotel itself is very run down and the staff was less than friendly...

Clean, comfortable, convenient

My husband and I were traveling to the Outer Banks for vacation and planned to stop on Friday night to attend the Norfolk Jazz festival. We didn’t plan on spending a great deal of time in the hotel and didn’t need a lot of amenities and didn’t want to pay $200+ in order to stay on the waterfront. We found this hotel in old town Portsmouth, which was just a few block walk from the ferry that took us right to the jazz festival area in Norfolk. Old town Portsmouth was very quaint and the hotel was older, but clean and in good shape. The buffet breakfast was a nice plus.

Surprised that my room was not cleaned

On July 4, 2008, when I returned to my room at about 10pm, my room was not cleaned. The towels were not changed, trash was not emptied. Actually the service person did NOT enter the room at all. More seriously, when I asked the front desk guy to change a room for me or clean the room, he said the service woman went home and he could not change a room for me. I stayed in the dirty room for a night. However, the food for the breakfast is decent. But the capacity (especially, plates) can not hold more than 10 people to eat at the same time.

above average

The staff was friendly and the room and overall condition of the hotel were good;the major drawback was the rather slovenly breakfast area that was also very understaffed--this diminished the whole experience--quaint downtown area, interesting pubs, close to water

Older hotel - great choice

Staff was excellent - Breakfast very good - Workout room fair - local restaurants plentiful -convenient location - free parking free high speed internet. First time I’ve stayed there, but I will definitely go back next year. Great experience.

Great place to stay

Wonderful hotel, with old style charm. The staff were very helpful and friendly.

Traveler's tip on nightlife

There are several nice pubs & bars located within walking distance that had great food and warm atmosphere.

Very Cramped

I wouldn’t recommend this hotel. Rooms are too small for price.

Very Convinient!

The people were nice, and helpful. The hotel was in overall good condition.

Cute little retro hotel

The hotel is a gem. A throw back to another time. From the art deco sign outside to the old fashion looking elevators (don’t worry they work fine! Just a nice touch!) It is a great alternative to the higher priced chain hotels in the area. Great Irish bar across the street, and cute German restraunt also accross the street. The only thing off was that there is no clock in the room.

Character

It was an old building but very well maintained with great character. The breakfast buffet was wonderful.

Traveler's tip

It is conveniently located in Portsmouth near Norfolk and VA Beach.

Clean, free parking, great restaurant, comfortable room

This old-style city hotel is great. Not opulent or fancy, but very comfortable. Room seemed especially big due to the 10’ ceilings. My view was not very good, but that’s not a big deal to me. The location is terrific -- you can walk to several bars and restaurants and to the ferry that goes across the river to Norfolk. The hotel restaurant is outstanding -- I had an excellent dinner there and the free breakfast for hotel customers is nice. And parking is free. Overall, an outstanding value.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame is a couple blocks away and is a terrific place. The beer selection at the Bier Garden restaurant across the street is quite impressive.

Attractive, comfortable hotel in picturesque area of Portsmouth

We were very pleased with this hotel. It is an older facility - recently renovated. Some things couldn’t be upgraded: bathroom small, lighting not as bright in bathroom as it could be. Comfortable beds, microwave, frig, laundry facilities, excellent breakfast included. Helpful staff. Clean, nicely appointed rooms. About 3 blocks from ferry service.

Traveler's tip on dining

There were several nice eating establishments within 2 blocks of the hotel. Particularly enjoyed Baron’s Pub and Roger Brown’s Sports Bar.

Not impressed

room had "used" towels in bath from previous guest. lights on service entrance back of hotel glared thru window drapes making room extremely bright at night