If you aren’t making your tulip viewing a day trip or stopping by on your way to or from the Lake Tahoe area, you might want to stay in Grass Valley or Nevada City.  There are some pretty interesting places to stay and lots to do in the area.

There are many roadside more traditional motel type places to stay at or close to Nevada City and Grass Valley There are also lovely inns in the area such as The Broad Street Inn,  Gold Creek Inn, The Madison House Bed and Breakfast, Two Room Inn, Piety Inn Cottages,  and Sierra Mountain Inn to name but a few.

Two of my favorite places to stay are historical sites.  One is the beautiful and very updated Victorian style, The National Exchange Hotel in Nevada City. The other is The National Exchange’s sister hotel, the historic  Holbrooke Hotel in next door Grass Valley. The Holbrooke has also been recently renovated.  Both are worth looking at even if you aren’t staying there. Both are located in the heart of their town’s downtown with easy access to restaurants, bars, stores and art galleries.

The National Exchange Hotel.  The hotel was built in 1856 in what was considered to be the most elegant hotel in any  of the gold rush mining camps.

In 1973, the hotel was listed on the National Register of historic places.  Over the years, this beauty started to look very shabby. In 2018 a three year renovation project began and the hotel has been restored and made even more glorious.   There are thirty-eight sophisticated rooms available.  The bar and restaurant are lovely.  The hotel staff will even treat your pup as royalty.

The Holbrooke Hotel.   My husband and I stayed at the Holbrooke Hotel many times when we lived in northern California.  It is a great place to stay and also has been recently updated.   Like its sister hotel, The National Exchange, The Holbrooke has a fascinating history and has hosted many famous people including  Presidents  Grant,  Cleveland, Harrison and Garfield.  Famous writers Twain and Harte stayed here. Prize fighters Jim Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons also spent time here.  It is said that some of the most famous entertainers of the day also performed here. 

Whether we stay at the Holbrooke or are just passing through, my husband and I nearly always spend some time at the Golden Gate Saloon at the Holbrooke.  It is a beautiful bar of a bygone era.  At night, especially on the weekends, there is entertainment.  There have been a few times when we’ve probably stayed way too late and it got a bit rowdy for this stage in our lives so we hijacked it back to our room.   That said, it is a fun place during the day or evening to have a drink and an appetizer too.  It is a great place to stop by.