Voyage to Frying Pan Tower: What it takes to stay overnight, how to win trip

FRYING PAN SHOALS, NC (WWAY) — If you want to stay at one of the world’s most unique hotels right off the Cape Fear coast, there are a few important things you need to know about the journey and the accommodations.

It may not look like your typical hotel, but if you’re looking for an ocean view, it has that on all four sides.

“It’s just a one star hotel, but there are a million stars above,” Richard Neal said.

There are a million reasons to stay at Frying Pan Tower 32 miles off the coast, but first, you have to get there. There are only two ways to do that. You need a helicopter or a boat.

Sydney Bouchelle and Hannah Patrick took the one and a half hour boat ride with Captain Scott Tinney.

Then, you have to get up on the tower, but it does not have the typical hotel elevator. It is a hoist with a rope and a wooden seat. It is not for the faint of heart or those with a fear of heights, but you cannot beat these elevator views.

When you get to the top, you will be greeted by Richard Neal. He is the man behind the mission and the non-profit to protect, preserve and restore the tower.

“I’m the employee number one and only,” Neal said.

You could also call him the hotel manager, the  handyman, the tour guide, and even the interior designer.

“The tower was originally designed for a bunch of single guys.”

Neal wanted to make it a little more family friendly while also keeping lots of it’s original charm.

“Many people are like yeah just take out all the walls and throw them away. They are terrible, because the main pillars are there and I thought. Wait a minute. The structure and the way this was laid out was intentionally a set of rooms for people who participated in it, a bunch of areas where you can work on things, a set up a dive closet and a battery room,” Neal said.

We started looking around and Hannah tried to recover from the hoist by wearing a life jacket around the tower. As you walk around, it feels a lot like walking into the past, but then, we noticed something a little more modern. There is a smart device in every hallway, bedroom, and even the bathroom.

“I think by adhering to the original kind of look and feel, we show respect to them, but by also making it so you can walk down the hallway and say ‘computer turn on the lights and play some Frank Sinatra’ and it does. I love that. It’s so much fun,” Neal said.

You’ll also find some other futuristic gadgets  in the community bathroom.

“We have toilets too,” Neal said. It’s awesome. And yeah if you forget your toothbrush, we have that as well. So We have linens. We have towels. We have… bidets… oh yeah! There’s been a lot of eye opens on that,” Neal said.

There are eight bedrooms.

“We have four queen bedrooms with lovely Casper mattresses. We have three twin bedrooms and we have a crew room,” Neal said.

Sydney and Hannah stayed in the Currituck room, because it has two desks, but every room also has a TV,  wifi, and electric blankets.

“It does have one large stainless steel kitchen and a pantry. Basically, if you’re hungry, walk in there and make some food,” Neal said.

Now, you must be wondering if anyone can just book a night here. The short answer is yes, but you need the long answer.

“If you just wanted to come here for a night, I would tell you, that would be like going to one of the national parks for five hours. It’s not the best use of your time.”

Neal says the best thing to do is volunteer.

“Every other week, we try to come out here. We bring volunteers or we bring what we call eco-tourists because they are ecologically helping us protect everything and with their dollars, we get more steel. We get more paint, things like that,” Neal said.

The tower gets much needed help and you get five nights of this.

There is one more way you could win a trip here. It is the raffle for restoration. Tickets are $10 each. The grand prize is an Eco adventure trip for four for a 3-day, 2-night stay on the Frying Pan Tower including transportation to and from Frying Pan Tower by charter vessel or helicopter, a personal chef, and your choice of different water activities including scuba diving and much more.

If the hoist or the community bathroom are leaving you with second thoughts, there is still an easy way you can help.

“If you want to participate, you don’t have to give us money. Just tell somebody about it. Share it,” Neal said.

If you do make it out here, and up the hoist, onto the helipad to see a million stars, and experience all of the tower’s  past and present, you’ll want To share it with everybody.