TV Restaurants

Is Cape Hatteras Motel Still Open? Hotel Impossible Update (Buxton, NC)

Hotel Impossible, Season 8 Buxton, North Carolina

Current status

Open

As of October 2026, Cape Hatteras Motel is open — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What the source shows: Yelp's July 2026 listing and Tripadvisor's 2026 review page show the motel still operating despite the motel's own site trailing a year behind the current date. How we decide a status →

What happened after Hotel Impossible?

Hotel Impossible's Season 8 episode Outer Banks-Ruptcy, which aired 2017-10-02, featured Cape Hatteras Motel on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Google Places lists the address as 46556 North Carolina Hwy 12 in Buxton, the small village nearest Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, rather than Cape Hatteras itself, which refers to the broader cape and national seashore area. The motel's own website, capehatterasmotel.com, returned an HTTP 200 response on 2026-09-09, but the latest year appearing in its visible page text was 2025, one year behind the current date, with no copyright line displayed.

A Yelp page last updated in July 2026, carrying 36 reviews and 55 photos, and a Tripadvisor page updated in 2026, both continue to list the 37-room, beachfront motel as an active, bookable property. Booking.com's current listing shows 417 verified reviews with a 7.3-of-10 average score, and describes the property as open year-round with a seasonal outdoor pool and hot tub. Reviews collected on these sites in 2026 describe the property's oceanfront location and staff favorably while some guests noted the building's age. No source reviewed here reported a change in ownership, a renovation, or a closure since the episode aired. Although the motel's own site trails the current year by a full calendar year, the Yelp and Tripadvisor pages, both carrying 2026 dates, show the property continuing to operate at the same Buxton address roughly nine years after Hotel Impossible documented the motel's financial troubles there.

The episode Hotel Impossible, Season 8

Episode 8
Aired
Title: Outer Banks-Ruptcy · What was featured: Financial trouble at a Cape Hatteras-area beachfront motel

Also in Season 8 Hotel Impossible

Season 8: 6 of 12 still open · 3 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 14 Season 8 episodes →

Nearest places By distance from 46556 North Carolina Hwy 12

All 99 TV restaurants in North Carolina →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the hotel — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 4 references

  1. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/cape-hatteras-motel-buxton
  2. Tripadvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g48993-d208388-Reviews-Cape_Hatteras_Motel-Buxton_Hatteras_Island_Outer_Banks_North_Carolina.html
  3. booking.com https://www.booking.com/hotel/us/cape-hatteras-motel.html
  4. capehatterasmotel.com https://www.capehatterasmotel.com/
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Record hi-090 · checked by Cal Marchetti.