Is the Comfort Inn and Suites of Chesapeake - Portsmouth at 3355 S. Military Highway Chesapeake, VA 23232 a decent area? The price for a room seems a little low, so I am suspicious. Maybe some local Dopers can put my mind at ease?
I live in Hampton Roads but don’t know that area very well. I’m asking my mother, and I’ll let you know what she says.
I can tell you that around here, we call Portsmouth “the Armpit of Hampton Roads”.
“Not in a good part of Chesapeake” was her response.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve spent any time in that area so I can’t give you any timely information. The fact that it’s right across from a pawn shop might be a clue.
I lived in Norfolk for 3 years. That place is so far from “Norfolk” that I don’t believe I’ve ever even been in that area.
Do you intend to actually be going into Norfolk proper–or anywhere else on the other side of a bridge or tunnel? If so, I’d advise against and suggest you just find a place on whatever side of the bridge/tunnel you intend to spend time in instead. Nothing good ever comes from having to commute across one of those.
We plan to go to a Norfolk Tides game. Where’s a better area to stay? Hampton or Newport News? (Distance is not the main issue, safety is.) Another option may be a Comfort Inn at 12330 Jefferson Ave., Newport News. It seems it’s on the outskirts of Newport News proper.
If it’s a cheap motel, it’s a cheap motel, whether it’s in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, or even VA Beach. Beyond that, I have no recommendations as to safety. There is no such thing as an unsafe area, IMHO, only bad (disproportionately cheap) motels (I regularly biked, day and night, through all areas of Norfolk, VA Beach, and Chesapeake, even the ones that certainly don’t look safe from the architecture and the quality of the roads–so, again, to me there really isn’t such a thing as an unsafe area, just cheap with a correspondingly low quality and higher chance of encountering a filthy room or ambient noise).
Whether you stick with a cheap motel, or go with something nicer (Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, etc–I’m not talking 5-star “break the bank” nice), I would simply recommend staying on the same side of whatever body of water the stadium is on (which, for a Tides games, would be *Norfolk proper).
I really mean it: those bridges and tunnels can be major pain in the ass choke points.
*And, I mean, you can find a perfectly nice Hampton Inn and a god awful budget motel in the same area. The Navy once put me up in a budget motel for 3 weeks (the temporary lodging on base was full of midshipmen on summer training, the little bastards…). I don’t know if it was bed bugs, the detergent they used to clean the sheets, or that they didn’t clean the sheets at all, but I had rashes all over my arms and lowers legs for weeks after. That’s what a cheap motel gets you, and it’s why I don’t concern myself too much with what part of town it’s in.
Good advice! I’ll take all your tips to heart…especially avoiding the bridges and tunnels.
Yes, definitely keep this in mind. I lived in Virginia Beach for 12 years and you don’t want to go over/through any of the bridges/tunnels if you can avoid it. Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News are on the wrong side of those for going to a Tides game. Stay in Norfolk or Va. Beach. Personally I’d stay at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott or the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside (I’ve stayed at both in the past), but if that’s too pricey for you, there’s also the Wyndham Garden and Courtyard by Marriott.