I'm looking for a hotel that would be a great place for a first trip for my husband and I to take our 5- and 3- year old grandkids. We want something with a pool and lots of other activites that will keep them interested and occupied for a day or two this summer. This place could be anywher (Virginia, etc) within about 3 hours driving from the Triangle area (Raleigh, Chapel Hill) of NC. Fancy, not fancy - we don't care - just very child-oriented. Thank you!

Nana, North Myrtle Beach would be about 3 hours from you and lots of hotels have great pools.

In particular would be Kingston Plantation which has a water park that your 3 and 5 year olds would have a blast in.

Plus, kids camp and lots of kid things to do in the area (Alligator Adventure, miniture golf, etc).

The Embassy Suites at that Kingston Plantation gives you a little bit of breathing room. The 3 year old can take a nap in the bedroom, while the five year old relaxes with you in the living room. Your husband is sitting out on the balcony watching the gulls.

I love the free, cooked to order breakfast.

If you want to head to the mountains instead, there is a neat condo resort in Foscoe, outside of Boone. Look at the units in www.vrbo.com and search in NC for Foscoe.

Is the Tweetsie RailRoad still around? A place up in the mountains that is/was very family friendly.

I saw it in Blowing Rock on the way to Foscoe. It looked like it was still going.

You might bring them to Charlotte and take them to Carowinds for the day. There is a pool there.
Also, in Charlotte there is a very cool public "pool" called Ray's Splash Planet. It has an area for tiny kids with slides, emptying buckets of water, etc. The water in that part is about 8 inches deep.
You could stay at a motel/hotel with a regular pool and take them to Ray's for a while. Also there is a wonderful museum downtown for them--Discovery Place--not far from Ray's.
Carowinds has areas appropriate to their ages.