A QUESTION THAT GETS ASKED EVERY DAY!
Finally, We are answering the million dollar question! Who is John Yancey? John Yancey was a hotelier that was based in Newport News, VA. The John Yancey Inn was the first of the family’s many properties throughout the Hampton Roads area! To our guests that are familiar with our property the Main Building was the original building of the hotel, built in 1962. Several years later, the Sea Building was added right in front. Did you know there was a restaurant previously? Yes, in what had been the Easy-Beach Access rooms, there was a full service restaurant! In the early 1980’s the Four Seasons building was built.
In 2003 the son of John Yancey’s family decided to sell the hotel property. The hotel was bought by a family investment group, right before the 100 year centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers First Flight. The current ownership owns and operates other properties on the Outer Banks and intends to hold as a long term investment. The current owners decided to keep the name John Yancey Inn because they felt it had a lot of history behind it. Outer Banks locals would forever refer to this hotel as ‘The Yancey’ so why not! According to one of the owners, Jeff,
“Many past guests and locals had such fond memories from childhood and growing up going to ‘The Yancey’’. So given the strong attachment to the name and Yancey brand, we thought we would keep the name for future generations, and the Yancey family was happy to let us continue the legacy. When we purchased the hotel, it had a franchise attached – Quality Inn – but we discovered early on in our ownership that we, and our repeat guests, preferred the flexibility of being a fully independent hotel. It has provided us the ability to reinvest in upgrades to the property and guest rooms as we see fit, and listen to the wants and needs of our guests, rather than mandates from a large national corporation.”
What still remains of the original hotel you may ask? The general layout of the buildings remain. Although, all rooms have been renovated, the dune deck rebuilt, pool upgraded, picnic area, etc. We hope to continue The Yancey legacy of great customer service, friendly inviting coastal inspired rooms, and family friendly amenities for generations. And of course, the best beachfront on the Outer Banks!
What does the future hold for The John Yancey Inn hotel? We are excited to complete the remaining few unrenovated rooms in the Main Building this coming offseason (2022-2023). After that, we have a number of exciting ideas for the property, grounds, amenities as we continue to upgrade the guest experience. Have you noticed our newly revamped logo? You’ll see online and our brand new sign in front!
We likely start with another refresh of the Four Seasons building in 2024. We of course, welcome any guest suggestions and recommendations!