Historic Cary House Hotel

BEWARE this hotel. NOTE: I'm publishing this review here even though I booked the hotel through Expedia, because Expedia doesn't present the option to review the hotel, unless the hotel sends the customer a link. It had a 8.2/10 rating on Expedia, which is why I chose it. Now I understand why. Expedia allows hotels to vet their own ratings! Don't trust Expedia's "customer" ratings!! This place is disgusting. It is literally the worst hotel I've stayed at anywhere in the world, with the possible exception of student hostels in developing countries 35 years ago (but at 30x the cost of those places). The lobby smells of "history" as one of the other guests commented. The front desk staff is largely unavailable (they are not there in the evenings after 8pm or mornings before 8am), and surly when they are available. We waited on our room being "cleaned" and when we entered, there was an overwhelming smell of bleach. It smelled as though the entire place had been sloshed down with buckets of bleach. Our eyes began watering within a minute of entering. We left as soon as possible, opened all the windows while we were gone, but it was not much better when we returned. There was hair in the ("newly cleaned") shower drain, and the water had a suspicious (metallic) smell, so we forwent taking showers. When we threw back the covers on the bed, the we found long human hair (not ours), rumpled sheets, threadbare bedding, and pillows that were probably 30+ years old). All the bedding was synthetic and looking at least that old. Plugs fell out of the outlets. We didn't shower in the morning either, but we couldn't get out of there fast enough. Ridiculous that a hotel that charges $200/night cannot replace its pillows in 30 years and have a room properly cleaned.

Unauthorized charges This hotel had bad service. The room was worn! The WiFi didn't work, and the air had been turned on yet. We didn't stay the night. We were assured all charges were removed from my card, but we were charged for one night. I have called repeatedly to the hotel and the manager but can not get a response to discuss the erroneous charges. I will not return here and do not recommend.

Unreachable Hotel The room was good. Check-in and check-out were easy. But the hotel is impossible to reach once you’ve checked-out. So don’t leave anything in your room and drive down the road. We had to drive two hours back to speak to someone! Once we got back, the staff was helpful.

I will not return... Four things I know are true: 1. Ghosts aren't real. 2. Historic buildings have paper thin walls without soundproofing. 3. Wall mounted TVs in these buildings is a terrible idea. 4. Bring earplugs if you stay here. Other than that, yes it's a great location!

Sometimes Historic just means Old Much like my beloved ‘Niners in the 2024 Super Bowl, this hotel had a lot of good things going for it, but just fell short of being great. First, the good stuff: Easy to find, with surprisingly ample and convenient parking considering the old-timey downtown location. Great location for exploring downtown Placerville, and near enough to the highway for exploring the larger vicinity. We were in the “Merlot” room, which faces the street and has a window on the 2nd floor balcony. I imagine that could be pretty noisy during peak season, but it wasn’t bad when we were there. The room was clean and comfortable. The lobby is lovely and inviting, with some very interesting memorabilia/newspaper articles about the history of the hotel. Now the not so good stuff: The furniture in our room was old. Not antique-old, just old-and-tired-old. Yes, the end table was an antique, but two of its feet were missing, so it sat all wonky and crooked and basically untrustworthy as a table. Both the kitchenette and the bathroom decor were quite dated (late 80’s? Early 90’s?) and for some strange reason there were two mini fridges; one integrated into the kitchenette and the other just hanging out in the room. Weird. The kitchenette was not well stocked, so if we had wanted to use it, we really couldn’t. When we arrived to check in, the gal at the desk sighed a lot and acted like we were really inconveniencing her. I overheard her on the phone with another guest, and they seemed to be really annoying her as well. It’s really too bad that she literally was our first impression of the hotel. I had heard that the hotel was haunted. I can only say we didn’t notice anything unusual (which also disappointed me, but ghosts don’t always play by the rules, do they?) so I can neither confirm nor deny that claim. I can’t say we won’t ever stay there again, but I’m certainly not in a hurry to do so. It was fine, but not grand. Good, but not great. Underwhelming to be sure. With a tiny bit of effort, it could be so much more! Just like my ‘Niners! —maybe next year…