After a day of exploring the foothills (and the wineries therein), we decided that it was smarter to stay the night and enjoy the locals... "we'll drive home Sunday". We checked several of the competing hotels. Some were cheaper, and looked ok, but were 'pet friendly'. My wife has asthma, some pets are a really bad thing. So, we settled on the Historic Hotel in Murphys. The main building has been a hotel since the 1850's and is in good shape considering its longevity! The bar is true gold rush, with a pot belly stove for heat and a long brass rail to rest your boots. (It does, however, have a jukebox and a few flat screens for sports.)
Anyway, we checked in at a fairly high rate for the area (about $120) given that the hotel was less than 1/2 full. The room was dark, but very clean. They have worked to upgrade the rooms and other than the carpets and the bathrooms, have done pretty well. The one big surprise was the mattress, IT WAS INCREDIBLE! As good as those in the Westin we love so much. So we mostly got a good night's sleep (I know it is a bit picky, but they have the old wall AC/Heater combos under the front window. Given the cold, it cycled all night trying to keep the room from being an icebox.) One other complaint; when we inquired about the room, we asked about internet connectivity. We were assured that it was up and available. After we checked in, we found that to be untrue. No Internet in the outer rooms... and only spotty connections in the main building. They were "working on it". In my world, that is not cool. When you have a problem, you're up front about it...
Anyway, the big question is, would we return? Maybe. The fantastic bed made up for a lot of shortcomings. And, it was very clean and centrally located. I'm sure they'll eventually get the internet situation corrected... we had a great road trip and intend to do it again soon so... we'll see about a return trip.

So I'm guessing there are nicer, quieter places to stay in town but the Murphys Hotel is very convenient and quaint as heck. HOWEVER, the rooms are not very comfortable-Small bathroom, loud parking lot and the bed was not great. Some drunk fool actually pounded on our door at 2:15 thinking he had his room. GREAT. We had one of the rooms along the walkway which was very noisy until late night. Apparently it's the easiest path from the bar to the rooms on the edge of the parking lot. Whatever, the price was right and the location was great.

I'ts homey and like visiting an old friend, Centrally located. Motel rooms are a bit spartan for some folks, I suppose. Great bar and histirical rooms and good dining room,

Make this your last option in Murphys. First of all the website photos are a lie. The big historical part and pics of rooms are only a small portion of this hotel. When we checked in we got a room that was no better than a motel 6, actually that would have probably been better, in a "modern" part that was not even attached to the historical building. So here we are thinking we were gonna be staying in a quaint little downtown building, not! We had some loud noisy generator type machine we listened to the whole night. Beds hard as concrete. Carpet nasty dirty. Had to keep the curtains closed or everyone walking by can see you, they didn't have the sheer curtains behind these to get in some sun light. AC worked thank god. Maid service (a 14 yr old boy) which is totally fun except he entered our room twice without waiting for anyone to answer the door and the first time I was naked standing in the bathroom. He came back an hour later and did the same thing. Front desk got an ear full. Over priced, if you want the Murhphy's feel, pick another hotel. Our friends stayed at the Victoria Inn (nice) or there are some B&Bs.

The food was also not that great, we ate at the Grinds the next day.