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BOQ REVIEW's

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
In the idea of the restaurant thread, I am making a BOQ thread, since I have been experiencing a lot of the "Q" lately..

NS Mayport, VQ
Cost: $24 (efficiency), $18 ("duty" room)

The NS Mayport is a 70's era BOQ that could pass for a soviet-bloc apartment complex crossed with a Motel6. The Efficencies have a living room with a breakfast nook, the kitchen has a full-size fridge/freezer, with a 2 burner cook top and a normal size microwave.

Bed is a Queen-Width, but only 6' long. Reasonably comfortable, minus the length. TV/DVD/VCR is both rooms. Basic cable with HBO.

Bathroom is a small full bath, like you would find in a 1BR apartment. Water pressure is insanely high, and hot water is REALLY HOT. Not bad.

GOOD THINGS: It's on the beach. You can walk out your door and be in the water in 1 minute. Free laundry, use the machines on the 1st floor in the North Wing.

Bad things. Its on the beach. If you are there for an extended period of time, your stuff will rust. I have to douse my Motorcyle with WD-40 almost daily.

Odd Things: They have a really weird space-a policy, so expect to be booted out for things like soccer tournaments if you are "permanent party" and be moved to NAS JAX (~35-40 miles).

Within 5 minute walk:
NEX Fleet Store(closes early applies to EVERYTHING on NS Mayport)
Taco Bell
Barber Shop
CPO Club
Navy Lodge
Bo-Hogs BBQ
Ocean Breeze Conf Center (used to be the O-Club)
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
"Duty" room at NS Mayport is the smallest hotel room you will ever see. It has a "single" bed (again, 6' long) if you roll all thew way over, you fall out. Good for a night or 2, but I would not want to stay in the closet-sized room for long term. The $24/night room is worth the extra six bucks, unless it is all they have.
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
NAS JAX VQ (BOQ) Building 11

NAS JAX VQ $31/night

Wow. This place looks like crap from the outside, with ugly yellow clapboard. Looks like a WWII barracks, because it is.

Then you walk into the lobby. 2-1/2 floors worth of lobby, with nice-hotel type carpet, fire place, big screen. Function hall off the back of the lobby (I'm guessing it used to be the mess hall), arcade and vending machines.

Staircases are green stone, with wrought iron rails with hardwood bannisters. Again, like a nice older hotel.

The rooms that are there now, used to be 2 WW-II rooms with a shared bathroom. Now, one room is a living room, with a nice couch and chair with decent decorations. What used to be the shared bath, is now a private bath. Stand-up shower only, with vintage fixtures. Steam radiators for heat. There is a little "lobby" outside the bathroom that connects the 2 rooms, which has a microfidge with a seperate freezer, a microwave, and a coffemaker. No real cooking facilities.

The bedroom is the other room, with a large closet, and a real queen size bed. Comfy one too... Also a TV/RADIO/DVD combo. Basic cable with HBO in both rooms. Nice Hampton bay fans that are QUIET in both rooms.

Good things: THE BED. IT'S AWESOME. Also, it is a nice setup. A very "grand" feeling facility.

The bad: No friggin cooking facilites. And there are few places to eat on base after 2000 or so.

The odd: The walls are a tad thin, so when LT XXXXXX from VS-XX rented a BOQ room to be able to "spend time" with his GF away from roomates, I could hear it play by play. BTW, Dave the whole floor heard her. She's a screamer.

Within 5 min walk:
O-Club (limited hours, as in I have never seen it open)
Mulligand/Golf Club (the DeFacto O-Club)
T-BAR. 1500-1900 M-F and Reserve Weekends
NAVHOSP JAX
Navy Lodge
RV Park
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I stayed in a bunch of Qs while making my way up here to NUW, so to start off with the most impressive:

Naval Postgraduate School CBQ

This is quite possibly the best kept secret in the Navy. The CBQ is also the admin building for NPS, and is located in Hermann Hall. It used to be the Hotel Del Monte, though, which played host to Theodore Roosevelt and King Kamehameha, among other luminaries, before being turned over to the Navy. The lobby is absolutely stunning with wood paneling, brass fixtures and inlaid ceilings. Absolutely gorgeous.

The rooms look it, too, with an Early American motif in the furniture, and high ceilings. You feel like an extra in a movie about the Navy in WWII. The building has that old feel about it with the high ceilings, 1940's vintage fixtures in the head, solid wood doors, old windows, real radiators and general layout. Very retro and very cool. One of the few places that still gives you a room key instead of a plastic card.

The furnishings upon closer examination are standard Navy Q quality (headboard fixed to the wall instead of the bed, furnishings somewhat cheap, et cetera), but what did you expect? It's a Q, not a five star hotel anymore.

Oh, and did I mention the club is actually in the basement of the same building? Very convenient to grab a burger and some beers after a long drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. The memorabilia and overall atmosphere is a tad shoeish, but not bad.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
NAS Whidbey BOQ - $30/night

A pretty standard BOQ. The building is a typical 1950's-1970s excrescence on the face of architecture. The rooms are good, though. Single room with a bed and a head. Not crappy but nothing really special either. It was a real steal until they raised the price to it's current level. There's a workout room on the 2nd floor which I didn't know about until the day before I moved into my house. Might come in handy if you are like me, and prone to loaf around until the gym closes and then get pissed at yourself for not working out that day. There's an HDTV in the lobby if you have a game to catch.

No cooking facilities, though there is a common kitchen area on the first floor. Never saw anyone use it. Rooms have a microfridge. A plus is that they also give you a goodie bag in each room with water, orange juice, some cookies, a Rice Krispie treat, and I forget what else. Maybe not the best thing for one's waistline but a nice touch. The checkin desk, though, is 1/4 mile or so away in another building, which can be a pain.

The O-club is next door and serves good lunch throughout the week as well as the bar being open on Fridays. Business at the bar seems to rise and fall in direct proportion to the outside air temperature.
 

feddoc

Really old guy
Contributor
Agree with nittany 03 about the NPS.


Midway Island....about 70-80$ per night, no charge for beetles or crickets. Hot water was there....somewhere, old buildings, even older furnishings. In some ways the worst stay I have ever had, anywhere.

BUT, the flavor and the history of Midway Island cannot be understated. Hence, my favorite place.
 

Pugs

Back from the range
None
Nicest Q in the middle of nowhere. NAES Lakehurst NJ.

Was in there a few years ago to drop off a jet for some testing. Standard $30 a night but you got a bedroom and sitting room with a 32 inch TV and furniture was nice cherry stuff. Fridge but no cooking facilities. Absolutely nothing around other than the Hindenburg memorial. Borrowed a car and went off base to some theatre that had beer and was showing a beat up copy of Goodfellas. Seemed to fit the Jersey mood :) Don't know why you'd go there but it's neat to see the big hangars.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
The first time I stayed at the Mayport Q was after 4 months on a frigate w/ no water and piss poor food. I was in heaven. Not a bad place all in all.

Not sure how the N. Island Q is now, but a few years ago it was nice enough, but very '70s-'80s.

I stayed at the St. Louis Guard Q a few months ago. Small base, NICE Q. Tinker was pretty shady. Colorado Springs: Fancy, complete w/ free internet (if I had had my laptop) in the room.

Worst Q: Still Kaneohe Bay. But in the end, it's 50 yards from the Club and it's still Kaneohe Bay.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
My statement stands. It's the worst I've been in. But I tend to avoid Marine bases... and I can't speak for historical anecdotes.
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
My statement stands. It's the worst I've been in. But I tend to avoid Marine bases... and I can't speak for historical anecdotes.
HISTORICAL??? ANECDOTES ??? Or do you mean "histerical" ... ???

To wit:

9 year ago ... the "General Officer's Suite" @ Yuma MCAS ... what a joke.
 

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
pilot
None
Contributor
Not sure how the N. Island Q is now, but a few years ago it was nice enough, but very '70s-'80s.

As of the summer of 2004 they were in pretty good shape, the rooms were nice, a separate living room/kitchen (with microwave, stove, and fridge) away from the bedroom. Beds are/were nice, a full, and long enough for me (6'3"). I can't remember the price per day but they were pretty reasonable.

NPS, whole different level. The best part is the bar downstairs, especially when you have your own mug hanging which means more beer for less money :D
 

e6bflyer

Used to Care
pilot
I have stayed in my share, mostly at Air Force bases. The nicest that I have stayed in:
Travis AFB. $32 gets you a 2 room nicely appointed suite. Dark solid wood furniture, comfortable couch, heavenly bed, and a stocked minibar. Not a bad way to spend a night. Really nice rooms.
Biggest hole (for me, anyways) was Randolph AFB. I took my family to stay there for a weekend, they put us in 2 adjoining rooms that were usually inhabited by airmen (apparently Air Force E-2 = Navy O-3 to them). Old, crappy room, dirty carpet, nasty bathrooms, just nasty. Reminded me of my Q room when I was going through A-school in my E days. I bitched the next day and they moved us to the TLF, which wasn't bad atall.

Tinker AFB - just OK
North Island - pretty nice, but small (not that I spent any time in it)
Coronado - Ugly high rise outside, above average rooms inside
King's Bay - Fairly decent, semi-modern 2 room deal
Vance AFB - Nasty TLF, old everything, and not cheap ($46 I think)
Offutt AFB - Stayed there many times, it all depends on the building, you get everything from luxury to just alright, and it is all the same price
Whiting - Pretty standard
Scott AFB - Nice rooms, close to train station to St. Louis (read, no DD required)
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
Midway Island....about 70-80$ per night, no charge for beetles or crickets. Hot water was there....somewhere, old buildings, even older furnishings. In some ways the worst stay I have ever had, anywhere.

BUT, the flavor and the history of Midway Island cannot be understated. Hence, my favorite place.

*sigh* ... ditto: a great place, overall. And EVERYTHING ... when considering the military ... is taken as referencing ... "OVERALL" ... yes???

june2002008smallsh0.jpg
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
HISTORICAL??? ANECDOTES ??? Or do you mean "histerical" ... ???

To wit:

9 year ago ... the "General Officer's Suite" @ Yuma MCAS ... what a joke.

It hurts my hand when I hit it with a hammer. My solution, not hit it w/ a hammer. When going through Yuma, my solution was to stay in town. Oops, that might have been historical and/or an anecdote. :)
 
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