Fodor's Expert Review The National Exchange Hotel

Once more proudly anchoring the southern portion of Nevada City's historic district, this three-story boutique property, whose structure dates from 1856, reopened in 2021 following a period-sensitive multiyear makeover. The attention to Victorian-era detail impresses throughout, starting with the wrought-iron balconies out front and the lobby's dark trim, porcelain-hex-tile floor, and floral wallpaper. The aesthetic continues in the guest rooms, whose nine sizes range from smallish accommodations with full or queen beds to studios and suites with kings. Furniture, photographs and prints, and accents like ornate retro phones recall the hotel's early decades, as does the decor of the restaurant, Lola, named for the 19th-century entertainer Lola Montez. As in the 1800s, the bar's a swank place for a drink.