Historian Inn

My girlfriend and I were planning a quick trip to Tahoe for some skiing, and wanted to spend an extra day exploring the area. We stumbled across the Historian Inn, and since it looks like a cute place in an interesting town, we made a reservation for one night. Then my work decided to mess with my schedule. I immediately wrote to the hotel and asked if we could change the cancel the reservation or at the least — work with them down the road when my schedule became clear again. They responded that I needed to check with
, which is where I made the reservation through. I contacted
, whom told me that in fact it was the hotel I had to contact for a refund. They said that they would contact them on my behalf. They did, I heard nothing, I contacted
again, whom said they would try again. They tried again, the agent at the hotel said that the manager had to make that call. I heard back afterwards that since the reservation was already cancelled, there would be no refund. This makes no sense. Like they’re saying — we would have given you a refund, but since you already cancelled, we can’t. Maybe the don’t understand how a credit card refund works? I’ve wanted to work with this hotel, to stay there again when I am able. It looks like a cute place. And I understand the importance of having reservations and keeping them, but I’d have hoped that my being upfront and giving as much notice as possible would be a good faith thing with this reservation. Events outside of my control have transpired — please work with me. But no. They just want my $ 56 cancellation fee. I think I’d still like to explore Gardnerville with my girlfriend when I get the chance, but I won’t be staying here. You got my $ 56 dollars, but you lost all future business. It’s a chump move you made.

I would of gave this place more stars (for it being a cute hotel), but I had an absolute nightmare of a visit with the staff (Cara). It just kept getting worse and worse.
The place is def cute, but I would say they have a staff training problem and generally they are being cheap on the little details. More on that later.
So I booked the place on Expedia 3 days before Valentines Day. I was all confirmed on Expedia and with the hotel.
Me and my girlfriend get their on valentines day weekend for our first anniversary and they say they oversold and my 2 night stay is not going to happen. «Cara» was working. She DOES NOT belong in hospitality. She has absolutely no customer service skills what so ever and didn’t look happy working at all. She basically said too bad, I can’t help you with our mistake, please leave. She was def a woman of few words.
After a bit of coaxing she said we could stay Friday night but that was it. I didn’t get a good feeling from her at all, but against my better judgment me and the GF agreed. We’d been driving hours and just wanted to relax.
We asked her if she had any advice on things to do in the area or places to eat. She didn’t have much to say. The only thing she offered was Taco Bell was just down the way. WOW. She didn’t even offer to show us the package of free visitor map’s on the counter that visitor bureaus give out to get people acquainted with the area when they arrive in a new town. Nor did she apologize for overbooking the hotel. She didn’t even offer to help us find a different hotel or give any advice on potential hotels to book with. We were the only ones in the office, so it wasn’t like she was busy…
So we unload our car and walk up to the second floor. We notice the cement stairs are cracked where the support is. We could feel the give. It was scary walking up. I’ll post pics.
Got in the room. It looked cute. Nice country feel, fridge, microwave, free wifi, bed felt very nice and sheets were nice. The girlfriend pulled back the sheets and found multiple long hairs on the sheets as well as short curly hairs (I am assuming pubic hairs) on the pillows. BARF… She smelled the pillows and it smelled like Body Odor. Their flyer says they only wash the sheets every 3 days. I guess we got 3 different people BO on our pillows plus some pubic hair! You could tell the pillows were super old. They were «flat» and had sweat stains.
They advertise «good for you amenities» on their hotel flyer. This basically means they recycle the soaps and shampoos. Our half used bottle of lotion in the room was def used by a previous guest (cheap). They have those large wall mounted shampoo/​conditioner pump bottles in the shower that could be tampered with by a previous guest.. I’m not a fan of those at all. Someone could put something in then. Totally a safety hazard. They only gave us one bar soap. So no soap for the shower and sink. Gross & cheap.
Our room had cobwebs in it. The door molding had dust all over it. Part of the shower nozzle had fallen off. The cleaning crew would have just needed to push it back on, but they missed it. The shower did have good water pressure but would have loved one of those ones where you could have held the shower in your hand. Something that should be in a hotel label «luxury» and upscale.
So we needed to find a hotel for Saturday. We called expedia to tell them what happened. Expdia customer support is lacking as it’s outsourced to another country. We told them the hotel oversold and we had no room to stay in. They called the hotel and spoke to Cara. First Cara told Expedia she had no record of our reservation on the Expedia system, then she said the computers were down, then after that she told expedia to call he manager in the morning she doesn’t want to deal with it. In the middle of this I get disconnected by expedia customer service.
I call back and speak to a manager with Expedia. Explain the situation. They call the hotel, because the previous Expedia rep didn’t put in any notes. The Expedia Manager says Cara won’t tell her anything about the situation.
Expedia ended up getting me hooked up with a room for Saturday and paid the difference between Historian inns rate and the new spot. Kudos for them! But I did spend 4 hours on the phone with Expedia between the two calls I made to get this resolved.
So time for night night. Friday night the parking lot was extremely loud and the room next to us was having a party. Techno music pounded into the wee hours of the mourning. So we didn’t get much sleep. Not a great night.
So we get up in the morning for our luxury breakfast. The only thing offered was hot oatmeal. We got our oatmeal. It was barely lukewarm. No milk, no juice, only thing you got was oatmeal. Everything else was an up charge.
I spoke to the manager in the morning about the situation. The only thing she said was that doesn’t sound like Cara at all. No apology, no nothing.

They have 2 night minimum stay. Was told to call a «few days before or just show up on the date» («80% chance we’ll get a one night room»).The point of making a reservation is just that. We are busy & would like to reserve a room. Shouldn’t be my responsibility to continually call to see if you’ve lifted you’re dated policy. I’m sure you’ll have rooms to spare, sadly you forget you’re in the hospitality business. Even in this small town, there’s other options. So I’ll see you’re 2 days & give you 0.

Non-​responsible front desk, non-​responsible hotel! Take it serious before you book if you come for a comfortable trip! Never come again!

The rooms we clean and in good order at a very reasonable price. Wifi never worked because they changed the password and the staff didn’t understand that or how to fix it.
They were very nice otherwise. Breakfast wasn’t much, just oatmeal and yogurt.
One thing that bothered me was they never made up our room. I don’t mean changing the sheets I mean making the beds, fresh towels, refill tissues.

Very big rooms that are nicely furnished and dogs are welcomed. Free coffee in the bistro. The place is being refurbished.

An update to my original post… The owner contacted me asking me to contact her so we could discuss my stay. I called, tried contacting her, left a message and have never gotten a response.

We had the privilege of staying at the Historian Inn this past week! We took our two poodles, Winston and Lulu with us for the first time ever on a road trip. We enjoyed the comfortable and laid back atmosphere the Inn offered. The staff, Devon, Geri and Justin were extremely accommodating, very friendly and most importantly, Winston and Lulu loved them all and the comforts of the room. We all cannot wait to go back to visit!

A good place to stay, just stay on the 2^nd floor. My 2^nd floor room had wood/​laminate flooring instead of carpet, usually a plus but here the flooring was no installed correctly with gaps in the planks. The gaps showed the lack of padding underneath so every step I took sounded like dropping a brick, sorry 1^st floor!?!
The gaps also were holding dirt and other ‘stuff’ (I didn’t get close enough to identify it). It was obvious that the floors had not been cleaned any time remotely recently, which I confirmed when I wiped a section with a clorox wipe.
A nice place to stay, if you’re on the 2^nd floor and you keep your shoes on!

What a wonderful hotel. We stayed 3 nights and can’t wait to return. The staff Devon, Lacey and Rhonda were friendly and helpful. The room was always clean and stocked after our daily excursions. Our room was recently remodeled and fresh but keeping the charm of this old western style structor.

Nice rooms yes, however… Is it right to charge the guests 160.00 a night and yet not pay her maids for 4weeks. Who works for free?

Finding a nice hotel that accepts our two 100+ lb Rottweilers can be tough. The folks here happily welcomed us all with a very minor $ 20 charge! The room was big, amenities were great, staff was just wonderful! Highly recommend this hotel!

2 stars for the lovely town and the awesome friendly hotel staff. Where this hotel majorly dissapoints me is the carpet! Its spotted, dirty and i can tell that sime pets have peed on it! As soon as i enter the room from outside or bathroom, there it is the pee smell! I have my own dog here and she is extremely well potty trained. I am worried that my pet would get the smell and go on the wrong track. For all these reasons i wanted to stay just one night and cancel out second night but they wont refund! So i have to stay in this smelly stinky room because this place is quite pricy!

We stayed at the Historian Inn during memorial day weekend after visiting the Bodie Ghost Town. Very nice rooms, the beds were extremely comfortable. The have a mini fridge, coffee maker and microwave. The rooms were a decent size and the bathroom/​shower was standard. The complimentary breakfast that is offered is a yogurt parfait or oatmeal with coffee or tea. Everything else you buy. I bought the kids izzie drinks and it was 550… wow! They also don’t offer free toiletries if you forget. Beware! I stopped my kids before they tore into any snacks or drinks. They have snacks and drinks (alcohol, too) in the rooms with a price list. There are signs that state the price of the robes, coffee mugs, wine glasses. I would stay again but maybe look for a better price on it. $ 159 is steep but the holiday had a play in that I’m sure.

This hotel is so nice. Large, clean rooms with extremely comfortable beds with plenty of clean towels. The staff is very friendly and welcoming. I enjoyed my stay and will certainly come back.

This hotel is a lot nicer than I expected! Comfortable space in the rooms, and the bed is extremely comfortable. They offer a lot of in room snacks for a pretty decent price. The staff is really friendly and offer a lot of good info on local restaurants and things to do. They’re very helpful and super nice. I enjoyed my stay and will come back!

Extremely comfortable beds, the staff was very friendly and welcoming. The hotel rooms were very clean and rustic looking. I enjoyed my stay for sure!

Got it thru
with a 70 $ credit. Nothing special, felt like a remodeled Motel 6 but the clerk said it was built in the last 10 years after a fire. Beds were comfortable but would certainly shop around if paying full price.

We were doing last minute plan for memorial weekend. We looked online on Monday prior to memorial weekend. When I looked at the pictures it looks like a nicr, clean quaint place to stay. And to top it off they allow pets… ;) I told Snoopy… he will get a road trip soon. He was so happy he wagged his tail. And even help me packed by sitting inside the duffle bag while I packed.
So we got here late around 10:30 on on Friday night. The room was spacious and clean. Snoopy checked the perimeter with his sniffing nose. He was glad that the place was spacious.
The website says 2 queen beds. But we later on figure out that it wasn’t. Snoopy my little man was hogging the bed. And my other man was hogging on my right side of the bed. I was sandwhich in between.
The next night, he moved to the other bed. It made me feel like we are old couple that slept at different beds.
The market café was a ok… not really surprised. But if you are looking for breakfast just go down the street to Wooster diner.
Overall, we will come back again if we are visiting Tahoe area.

Good reviews prompted us to stay one night at the Historian. Another reason for staying here was it was right across the street from JT Basque thus only a 15 second walk. After a few picons before and after dinner along with wine, it is best not to get behind the wheel of your car and drive any distance.
The check in did take a little time. The 2 ladies behind the reception desk were admittedly new to the job and a little unsure about the procedure. Given a little more time on the job, they will be fine.
The room was spotless, except for several stains on the carpet when you come in. If you are a light sleeper you had better ask for a room in the back. Our room was overlooking Highway 395 (Main St.) and we loved looking across the street at JT. The traffic noise was moderate and really didn’t bother us.
The bed was comfortable and the room was nicely furnished. The breakfast, which used to be a take away paper bag of some food items, has evidently been discontinued.
If the spots could be cleaned this place would be a 5 star.