15 Best Hotels in Sacramento and the Gold Country, California

The guest rooms in this six-story Hilton Tapestry Collection boutique property win points for their expansive windows, contemporary style, smartly designed bathrooms, and works by local artists. All rooms have built-in desks and 55-inch HDTVs with app-streaming capability, but they don't have microwaves (though some have small refrigerators). The on-site Cafe Bernardo serves above-average food (also available through room service), and the energetic bartenders at the Four Palms bar fashion delectable craft cocktails.

The architects of this courtly hotel, which opened with a splash in 2023, incorporated the redbrick Romanesque Revival–style facade of the 1928 structure that preceded it. Done in contemporary style with soft brown and powder blue accents that defer to exposed brick evoking the past, the guest rooms and suites have dedicated sitting areas and bathrooms with ultramodern fixtures. All the studio and one-bedroom suites have full kitchens and sofa beds, making them a viable option for larger groups. Standard rooms have microwaves and small refrigerators. The accommodations range in size from 306 to 607 square feet, but even the smaller ones make efficient use of their space. The room rate includes a well-stocked breakfast buffet, and the Historic Star Lounge serves lunch, dinner, and cocktails (happy hour 3–6).

Soft shades of brown and gray and furniture milled from California oak lend this full-service hotel's spacious rooms and suites a haute-rustic feel. Convenient to the Downtown Commons (DOCO) shopping and entertainment complex, Golden 1 Center arena, the Capitol, and Old Sacramento attractions, the hotel pleases business and leisure travelers with up-to-date electronics, deluxe bath products, and in-room yoga mats and spa treatments. On-site facilities include the third-floor pool and Revival bar, a steak house, and the independently run 25,000-square-foot Punch Bowl Social, with a bar and restaurant, bowling, billiards, darts, and other diversions.

Once more proudly anchoring the southern portion of Nevada City's historic district, this three-story boutique property, whose structure dates from 1856, underwent a multiyear makeover, and the attention to Victorian-era detail impresses throughout. It starts with the wrought-iron balconies out front and continues in the lobby with its dark trim, porcelain-hex-tile floor, and floral wallpaper. Accommodations—which range in size from smallish rooms with full or queen beds to suites and studios with kings—all have furniture, photographs and prints, and accents like ornate retro phones that 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 is a swank place for a drink.

A basic two-story motel with a touch of style, this Ascend Collection property less than a block from the UC Davis campus has nine spacious cottages (the best choice) that families often book. Guest rooms are done in muted tones, though candy-apple-red accents brighten things up. Each room has a flat-screen TV, microwave, refrigerator, and coffeemaker. A few suites have whirlpool tubs.

Rich accents of gold and cobalt blue add boutique flair to the spacious rooms of this dependable choice for business and leisure travelers. The congenial staff who aim to please and the convenient location near shops, restaurants, and UC Davis are the biggest pluses.

This boutique hotel within the historic 1926 Cal Western Life building is dapper and refined, with marble stairs, striped wallpaper, and plush velvet chairs, lending the place a Roaring '20s charm. It's a favorite overnight roost among visiting politicians, business leaders, and celebs. Request a room on a higher floor—the view of Downtown Sacramento is impressive. The upscale-contemporary Grange Restaurant & Bar draws plenty of locals in addition to hotel guests.

Wake up to the sound of geese taking flight along the river when you book a stay in one of Sacramento's most unusual and historic relics, a restored riverboat hotel permanently moored on Old Sacramento's waterfront. These rooms are small even by cruise-ship standards: ceilings are low, floors uneven, and bathrooms are minuscule (as you'd expect from early-20th-century lodging). Although less charming than might be expected, the accommodations are cozy and furnished with antiques, and are often decent for the price. Two restaurants, live music on weekends, and a theater are all on board. The staff is helpful and friendly.

Just off Highway 49 and superbly run, this Ascend Collection property provides a comfortable experience, with art and artifacts reflecting the area's mining heritage gracing public areas and guest rooms. All the rooms are equipped with microwaves, refrigerators, Keurig coffeemakers, and flat-screen TVs. Accommodations in the Grass Valley Suites category, good for families or other small groups, contain these amenities plus sleeper sofas and wet bars. A generous full buffet breakfast is served in the lobby.

A Main Street icon since the mid-1800s—when the A-list guest list included entertainer Lola Montez, writer Mark Twain, and Ulysses S. Grant—this two-story, historic-district hotel received a down-to-the-studs (in some cases bricks) makeover and reopened in 2020 as a boutique property. The 17 high-ceilinged guest rooms in the main hotel and 11 more across the back parking lot in the restored Purcell House contain a mix of antique, reproduction, and contemporary furnishings. Wide white subway-style tiles gleam in the bathrooms, whose 1-inch hex porcelain floor tiles and brass fixtures evoke days gone by. The ground-floor Golden Gate Saloon dates from 1852.

Works by regional artists adorn the hallways of this three-story, downtown historic district boutique property, where the first-floor public areas include a lobby that invites lingering; a spa; and Carboni's, an Italian restaurant, bar, and grab-and-go market. When it's open, the rooftop is a great place to enjoy town and mountain views while sipping a beverage. The spacious (320–750 square feet, 10-foot ceilings) accommodations are done in shades of gray and warm browns and furnished with deluxe beds, high-thread-count sheets, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and 4G HDTVs. All the well-lit bathrooms are equipped with rain-forest showers; a few also have claw-foot soaking tubs.

A full-service hotel right on campus, the Hyatt distinguishes itself with an enthusiastic staff and well-designed rooms and suites furnished with mahogany desks, headboards, and built-in nightstands, as well as pullout sofas with beds already made up for extra guests. King rooms and suites have spacious showers; book a queen room for a bathtub (with shower). All rooms have small refrigerators; suites also have microwaves. Amenities like the pool, fitness room, café, and bar make the Hyatt more than just a place to hang your hat. The generous, crowd-pleasing breakfasts include eggs and other hot items.

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.

It looks like a typical one-story motel, but the Outside Inn offers a variety of accommodations inspired by nature or activities in nature. Each room is unique; ask about kitchenettes, full kitchens, suites, patios, or the stand-alone cabin off-property. One room honors the town's Nevada Classic, the nation's second-oldest bike race, once won by Greg Lemond. Others pay tribute to wildflowers, river rafting, and fishing. There's a climbing wall in the rock-climbing suite. Enjoy homespun hospitality with plenty of inspiration to get you out of the room and into nature.

Set on 7 acres amid a tapestry of informal gardens and with most guest rooms decorated in rich earth tones or soothing blues and purples, this hotel has cultivated a sense of refinement typically associated with Napa or Carmel. The palette in the spa rooms, which have nearly the same amenities, is softer and more soothing; some rooms have fireplaces, and all have Wi-Fi access that, along with access to the pool and fitness center. Discounts on tastings at the adjacent Lodi Wine & Visitors Center is included in the daily $20 resort fee, and the on-site Towne House restaurant is deservedly popular. After a dip in the pool or a meal at the restaurant, you can head to the spa for a facial or herbal body scrub.