The Cape Charles Hotel Historic Inn is located in the heart of the Cape Charles, Virginia Historic District.  We offer the finest accommodations on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, a tradition began in 1884.

Cape Charles is an historic Chesapeake Bay harbor town nestled on the Eastern Shore peninsula of Virginia just north of the channel where the Chesapeake Bay joins the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Charles was built in 1884 as a railroad and ferry town by Mr. Scott and Mr. Cassatt, 2 railroad men. It was laid out with a classic town plan, including seven square blocks of late Victorian era homes on the National Historic Register. It is known for its historical homes, its Chesapeake Bay beach and its deep water harbor.

The Cape Charles Hotel Historic Inn is a fine old building that was originally built as a hotel in 1884 by William Horsley of Wilmington, Delaware and was one of the first commercial establishments built in Cape Charles. After a fire in 1925, it was sold and renamed the McCarthy Hotel after the family that ran it until the 1950s when the passenger ferry left Cape Charles.

Like Cape Charles, the hotel fell on hard times after the ferry and then the railroad left with the proliferation of the automobile and the opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in the 1960s.

In 2002, the Wagner family, from Philadelphia like the original Cape Charles founders of the 1880s, bought it and began the historic renovation of this wonderful building. Rich Wagner, the owner whose vision began the restoration project says, “This was the finest Hotel in Cape Charles 100 years ago and it is has become that again.  It is truly a special building with great historical significance. It is one of the few, and quite possibly one of the finest, remaining examples of a small, urban, hotel from the late Victorian era.” 

The hotel complex is comprised of over 13,000 square feet and the entire building is handicap accessible and has wireless high speed internet. On the first floor, you will find the formal hotel Lobby, the Sunlight Gallery art venue, a large Event Room with dance floor and stage plus three large commercial storefronts.  The Lobby contains a museum quality collection of historic Cape Charles photos and memorabilia. Original paintings by regional artists adorn the walls.

On the second floor, there are 17 comfortable and delightfully decorated guest rooms furnished with art and period antiques.  To quote Amy Duckett Wagner, the owner and artist who designed the interior, “Every room has its own personality, and like the sunset, each is different!” Every room has its own colorful personality. Each has a private bath, central AC, cable TV, phone, and Wireless Internet; a majority offer Queen, or King sized beds with high end mattresses, bedding and linens. There is a formal Sitting Room upstairs and a full length outdoor Veranda overlooking the harbor and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where guests can sit and relax.

The 3 year, historically accurate renovation of the hotel was reviewed and approved  by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ program for historic renovations as well as the US Department of the Interiors National Trust for Historic Preservation. This late Victorian era hotel is currently being submitted as one of 200 hotels nationwide in the US Department of the Interior’s prestigious "Historic Hotels of America" program.