We are spending several days driving from Washington D.C. to Chapel Hill, NC in the fall. What nice hotels are along the way?

What route are you taking? Shenandoah National Park/Blue Ridge Parkway is farther west than the most direct route, so not sure you are wanting to look for hotels in that area. If you take the most direct route you will actually be going south through Richmond.

However, if you are looking to take SNP to 64 and then head east to Richmond and drop down, then you could check out the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton, VA. Staunton is the crossroads for 81/64E (Lexington is for 81/64W), and Staunton is a cute little town to walk around. The Stonewall Jackson is right in the downtown area, and a great restaurant nearby is Mill Street Grill (within walking distance of Stonewall Jackson hotel).

I would look at staying inside the park at Big Meadows.

WhereAreWe is 100% correct -- I can't say that loudly enough. One of the glories of Shenandoah is looking down from the ridge line onto a glowing sunrise
http://www.guidetosnp.com/web/Portal...LRG_DwoodB.jpg
and you're only going to get that by staying in the park.

Note that there are two other lodges along Skyline Drive
http://www.goshenandoah.com/lodging

There's also Peaks of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway, beautifully situated on a lake. However, I stayed at Skyland and Peaks year before last and the new concessionaire was serving horrible food.