my first visit to washington and the "washington hotel" was in 1991 and the place was full of people and positively rockin'!! tourists and locals, kids and dogs...one big "family"...the cafe was reasonably priced and the food was excellent...the service was great, and definately worth the wait (it was packed on the weekends). however, my opinion of this same place in 2004...well, its lost most of its charm, the cafe is so overpriced the locals no longer eat there...there is a different energy around the town...(much of it seems negative), many old-timers have left the area...lots of new faces, but less smiles. I hope it will improve...or it will be a ghost town in the near future.

This Washington Hotel was built in 1857 & has been restored so well. We stayed in the suite, the only room with a bathroom. The South Fork of the Yuba river runs right behind the hotel so we could hear the water at night. Very relaxing place to get away. No cell phones, no traffic, no problems. The cafe serves great food and the bar is full of interesting locals. Washington Hotel offers a lot of history about the Gold Mining era and the scenery is awesome.