I tried to cancel a reservation here early in the morning (10 am), but they still charged me a whole night's stay. A penalty I could understand, but not a full night's stay. Don't make a reservation here unless you are prepared to give them a full 48 a hours notice if you have to cancel otherwise they will keep every dime of your money!

Not only did I stay in this hotel for two nights, my wife and I also held our wedding reception here.

Review of hotel and room:
The hotel itself is very nice. It is a classic Sacramento Victorian mansion and retains many of it's original traits. While it feels old (in a charming, elegant way), it is very clean and fairly quiet. The location is great - within walking distance of most of what downtown Sacramento has to offer. The free wireless internet was easy to connect to and worked great. The hotel staff was nice and extremely helpful (which was very much appreciated, especially since I had loads of beer/wine/decorations to move in and around the hotel/ballroom for my wedding on Saturday). I stayed in the Huntington suite Fri and Sat nights. This is the master suite and I must say it is huge! The bathroom is almost the same size as the bedroom, and includes a jacuzzi tub, dual sinks, a huge shower with two shower heads, and a separate room for the toilet. The bed was large and comfortable, and the mini fridge and sink in the bedroom were a nice bonus. Everything about the room was great, and it was spotless. The continental breakfast was basic but adequate. The room price (although discounted because we blocked most of the rooms for the wedding) seemed fair when compared to other downtown hotels.

Review of wedding reception venue:
Overall, the wedding reception experience was good, not great. We booked the Sterling for our wedding reception a year in advance. Within that year, we must have spoken to 3 or 4 Sterling hotel wedding planners, as they continually changed (quit, fired? I do not know). We were originally promised the use of their outdoor patio for our appetizer hour, but then a restaurant moved into the property, and we were told that this was no longer an option. Luckily we were able to use the walk-in cooler of the restaurant to store our wine/beer/champagne the day of the wedding, which was very nice. The ballroom itself is very nice and in great condition. I loved the built in bar which we definitely utilized. The room layout, including dancefloor, DJ booth, cake table, sweetheart table, guest sign-in and gift tables, and buffet tables, along with 12 guest tables worked out perfectly and did not feel too cramped. We had 90 or so guests for reference. The Sterling also had an employee, Steven, help us with anything we needed, from moving tables to dragging beverages between the walk-in and the ballroom. He was awesome! After getting tossed around and originally feeling like the day would be a disaster, the Sterling (with the help of our caterer, florist and DJ) really made the event come together. I really appreciate everything they did to make our wedding reception unforgettable!

The staff were wonderful and really made us feel at home in the hotel. I booked it for a work trip and brought my husband along for our anniversary, so it was both business and personal. My favorite part was the wine and cheese hour held on Tuesdays. They served wine and the guests and staff sat around and visited, helping us to grow our list of places to eat and see.

The hotel is old but serviceable. The bed was better than some Holiday Inn beds I have slept on, and we did not have any noise issues, even though there was a graduation party staying in the suite above us.

Very nice accommodations. Unfortunately the hotel and rooms had that old mildew smell. The rooms offered paper thin walls. The other guests were extremely loud and kept me up for most of the night. Not sure if I would stay here again.