Holbrooke Hotel
🌟 Holbrooke Hotel, 212 W. Main Street, Grass Valley, California🌟
🛏️ Number of rooms & suites: 28
💰 Price: Elegance, history, and affordability meet in California’s Gold Country. If your travel schedule is flexible (outside of weekends/holidays), you could secure a decent deal here, with prices varying by room type. It’s best to check ahead; however, you can expect a range from around $149 to more than $350 per night.
📚 Why book: Stay in style and a piece of California Gold Rush history here. Established in 1862 around a saloon first built in 1852, the Holbrook Hotel is one of the oldest hotels still in operation in the Mother Lode. Though rooms are decorated with a Victorian edge, they’re not fussy or too dainty to enjoy comfortably. Think period touches, such as an old-timey phone, vintage furnishings, and exposed brick walls, blended with luxury additions like rich woodwork, plush linens and bathrobes, and stocked mini-bars offering modern comfort and historic ambiance. Note: there are no TVs in the rooms, but there is solid WiFi, and a radio for tunes in the room. For a truly memorable stay, request Room 1 (see photo above) in the main building, which features a clawfoot tub (yes, I soaked in it while reading a magazine), a seating area, and a private balcony overlooking Main Street. Also worth noting is that the Holbrooke Hotel has an elevator, which eliminates the need to schlep luggage and yourselves up and down stairs if that’s a challenge. More than a hotel, the historic Holbrooke is a destination within a destination, and an easy overnighter from San Francisco.
🧀 Dining: The Golden Gate Saloon was established before the hotel, which opened in 1852, and was a watering hole for thousands of dreamers who came west in search of gold. Eureka! These days, it’s still a bar to belly up to with riches of a different variety, including craft cocktails and a fabulous restaurant open for lunch, bar bites, and dinner. I was there on a Sunday night, and they offered a 4-course tasting menu for $50, as well as à la carte dining options. The tasting menu was a good value and included a salad made with local greens and beets, a crispy crab cake, mushroom risotto, and a delightful apple cobbler for dessert. I was beyond full and fulfilled.
🗺️ Neighborhood: In the heart of downtown Grass Valley, a Gold Rush-era town that looks cut from a movie set. Restaurants, bars, boutique and vintage shopping, and even a stand-alone movie theater are located along Main Street and pedestrian-only Mill Street. Park your car behind the hotel and walk everywhere.
👀 Nearby attractions: Main Street, Mill Street, the Del Oro Theatre, Empire Mine State Historic Park, one of California’s oldest, largest, and richest gold mines, set on 856 acres of beautifully restored gardens and forested land, with a historic mineyard, working blacksmith shop, and tons of California Gold Rush history. Grass Valley is about a 2.5-hour drive from San Francisco, so you could also make it a long day trip.
💫 Highlights: Superb bar and restaurant, on-site parking, location in the heart of historic Grass Valley, and stylish rooms with a touch of history.
❤️ My heartthrobs: The tasting menu at the restaurant and cocktails at the bar, Room 1’s clawfoot tub, and modern additions such as an elevator and strong WiFi.
💔 My heartbreaks: I can’t think of a single one. I’d like to move in, please!
The historic Holbrooke in Grass Valley. Photos courtesy of the hotel.
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