3 Best Hotels in Murphys, Sacramento and the Gold Country

The oversize rooms in this elaborate Italianate-style home have brass beds, down comforters, gas-burning stoves, and claw-foot tubs. Broad wraparound verandas encourage lounging, as do the colorful gardens and large elm trees. A delectable breakfast is served each morning; fresh cookies are available all day.

The lobby's full-size, taxidermied bear poised to pounce and wolf on the prowl hint at a decorative sensibility that dissipates upon entering the boilerplate rooms at this motel-like property a few blocks southeast of downtown. The red-carpeted, 500-square-foot guest accommodations—all called suites but only some with two rooms—are furnished with microwaves, refrigerators, coffee pots, flat-screen TVs, and combination tubs and showers. Staff members deliver free mini-doughnuts each morning. A coin-operated washer-and-dryer stack occupies one corner of the fitness room, which also contains a sauna; the pool and hot tub are just outside.

Decorated with contemporary furnishings that have 19th-century accents, this inn, whose owners also manage several area vacation rentals, benefits from a prime Main Street location within walking distance of restaurants, shops, and wine-tasting rooms. The innkeepers aim to please, so much so that many guests return year after year. Many rooms have balconies, a bonus in good weather.