🌟 Holbrooke Hotel, 212 W. Main Street, Grass Valley, California🌟
🛏️ Number of rooms & suites: 28
💰 Price: If your travel schedule is flexible (outside of weekends/holidays), you could secure a 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, depending on room size, views, and whether there are attached balconies.
📚 Why book: Stay in a piece of California Gold Rush history in the heart of town. 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 room décor has a Victorian slant, they’re not fussy or too dainty to enjoy comfortably. Think old-timey phones, vintage furnishings, and exposed-brick walls, blended with luxury touches such as rich woodwork, plush linens and bathrobes, and stocked minibars.
Note: there are no TVs in the rooms, but there is solid WiFi and a radio for tunes. For a truly memorable stay, request Room 1 (see photo above) in the main building, which has 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 there is an elevator, eliminating the need to schlep luggage and yourselves up and down stairs if that’s a challenge.
🧀 Dining: The Golden Gate Saloon was established before the hotel welcomed sleepy prospectors through its front doors. The bar 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 good value and included a salad of local greens and beets, a crispy crab cake, mushroom risotto, and a delightful apple cobbler for dessert. I was beyond full and fulfilled. We also paired it with some California wine, and I was glad I just had to waddle upstairs after I was done.
🗺️ 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. If you’re visiting San Francisco, this is an easy overnight getaway.
👀 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.
💫 Highlights: Superb bar and restaurant in the lobby, on-site parking, a location in the heart of historic Grass Valley, and stylish rooms with a touch of history.
❤️ My heartthrobs: The restaurant’s tasting menu and bar cocktails; the clawfoot tub, and modern additions like an elevator and strong (free) WiFi.
💔 My heartbreaks: I can’t think of a single one. The hotel is great, the staff are courteous, and I want to move in, please!
Travel Tip: The Holbrooke Hotel and Grass Valley are about a 2.5-hour drive from San Francisco.
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