We stayed at the Colonial Inn the third weekend in August. We were given a queen oceanfront room, which for three nights and the additional pet fee, cost around $640.
We were given room #35, which is on the oceanfront, right next to the steps down to the beach. It is at the end of the row of oceanfront rooms, which means you only share one wall with your neighbors, and that wall is mostly the bathroom and closet.
The room itself is pretty small. It was fine for 3 nights, but we were getting tired of being on top of each other by the end of the trip. We also had our 40 pound dog in the room, which made it feel smaller. The room has a queen bed, a dresser/TV stand with a refrigerator on top. There is also a small round table with two chairs, and a microwave on top of the small table, as there isn't really anywhere else to put it. The bathroom is also tight, with toilet, sink and small shower stall.
The nice part of that particular room, in addition to being right at the steps, is that the front porch is essentially private. The other rooms on the ocean front share one long porch area, but because of the set up, no one crosses in front of your room. This helped us with space, as we could leave beach chairs, cooler, canopy, etc outside on the porch and it wasn't in anyone's way.
As has been stated, there is no ocean view from the room. In fact, the window in this room actually overlooks the parking lot. There is no front facing window, so it does feel a bit dark. I believe the other oceanfront rooms do have windows facing the ocean, but the dunes block the view anyway.
The beach in front of the motel was very nice. We enjoyed watching surfers and kids playing in the waves. Dogs are allowed on Nags Head beach, and mostly everyone had their dog leashed and were responsible owners. The motel is also right next to the Nags Head pier, which has 15 cent shrimp monday-friday. On Friday and Saturday nights in summertime, you will hear music from the pier bar until at least 10 pm. We could hear it in our room with the door closed. It didn't bother me, it's just something to keep in mind if you are seeking quietness. Other than that, we couldn't hear any noise.
We only went to the pool once, it was fine. A typically motel type pool. It appeared clean and maintained.
We chose the Colonial Inn because it allows dogs, and had rooms on the ocean side of the street for a more reasonable cost than some of the others in the area. I would not choose one of the smaller rooms for longer than 2-3 nights unless you enjoy constantly being on top of your partner or you're traveling alone. We did not have an issue with parking, and found the motel to be very clean and the staff to be polite and friendly.