Cloran Mansion Bed and Breakfast — Hotel in Galena

We love the Galena area. The small town shops are fun to check out and it is nice just to walk around. There are many great restaurants as well.

The owner of the Cloran, Paul, was the BEST host. My husband and I wanted to do a spontaneous getaway after a stressful week of our daughter being in the hospital. I found the Cloran Mansion Bed and Breakfast on-line and got lucky that John's Room was available. Paul asked if we were celebrating anything. I had told him my birthday because I was sitting with our daughter in the hospital for my birthday. He asked if anyone had allergies.This was important to me because I'm allergic to many foods as well as cats. Many B & B's have cats or dogs, so it was perfect that he confirmed and catered my breakfast around my allergies.

Paul welcomed us and showed us around. As you enter there was a entry table with homemade cookies and muffins. Yum! Upstairs was a little area with hundreds of DVD movies, a freezer with ice, microwave, popcorn bags, and snacks all available to us as guests. The dining room had a beautiful hutch with wine glasses and other China that you could use as well. There were two Breakfast option times: 8 a.m. or 10 a.m. I loved this option, so we could sleep in after a long hard week. It was great that others could get up and start their day. We never heard the other guests from inside our room. The dining room had a big table that could sit up to ten guests, but in the bay window was a table for two as well. Very nice if you are celebrating a special occasion for a couple.

When he showed us our room to the lift of the door was a table with a birthday cake, plates and gold forks. That was a special touch that we appreciated so much and it was moist and delicious, too! We had the most comfortable queen size bed, a gas fireplace, a nice size TV with cable, and a bathroom with a two person jacuzzi tub. The towels were thick. There was bath salt for the tub, a special black towel for make-up removal, blow drier, tissues, and the usual haircare supplies. They didn't miss a thing.

Our breakfast was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!! It started with juices, coffee, and fresh fruit.. Then we had cinnamon roll pan cakes, English muffins with homemade jams from one of the local shops. After that Paul brought out Zucchini cakes. These were my favorites. These were not sweet. It was a veggie with sour cream and chives garnishing the top. I asked for the recipe and he printed it off for me at check out. We had sausage patties and made to order eggs as well. Some folks had scrabbled, I had mine over medium and they were perfect! If you left hungry it was your own fault.

We will definitely be back. Oh, the price was right too, but we were off season. It may be more in the prime months. I'm sure they book fast in the spring, summer and fall (the best time with the beautiful views), so call ahead. I know we will next time.

Thank you Paul and staff....

I want to state that I tried to deal directly with the owners privately. I am well aware that there is a large amount of good reviews.When they charged me an additional $38.00 over the $200.00 gift certificate is when I realized they have gotten away with being mediocre and money hungry far to long.My husband and I have spent over 30 nights away from home in this last year, I have never had an experience like this. We arrived at 3pm and got out of bed, packed, and drove over 2 hours home in the dark at 1015pm. That is how bad it was, we couldn't force ourselves to "ride it out" til morning. The decorating is distasteful and uninspired with colors reflecting the 80's peach, green and rose. There is a large amount of Asian beetles flying throughout the room, a few bees as well from a nest in apple tree outside window. The mini blinds do not operate properly, when you do get them up, they are cock eyed and a cloud of dust appears.The Jacuzzi tub is small, out dated and takes forever to fill, . because water lacks adequate pressure and temperature.The small black hairs by faucet really freaked me out! There is a rusty mark, from the rusty non functional led candle in corner of tub and towels were musty, dusty as well. There isn't a comfortable chair in the room. The rug by the side of the bed bunches up the minute you step on it. There's some dollar store cheap popcorn available and large selection of DVDs to watch on your super small 20 inch TV. The ceiling fan makes a loud clicking sound that is sure to keep you awake as you wait for it to fall on your head.The entrance way was a cluttered mess, The dining room table you couldn't put another thing on it, but I'm certain you can write your name on several surfaces in the place.Clutter and dust everywhere, poorly maintained by the elderly couple who stated they like to go golfing.The owners act like they are doing you a favor by allowing you to stay there! He was very arrogant and pompous as he wasted several minutes explaining how to use the cable service which was clearly explained on a card by TV. Which he then pointed out!! He truly enjoys the sound of his own voice. When Carmine attempted to discredit my complaints he became blaming, stating the ceiling fan was fine on low. He seemed to be gloating that he had taken my money!! I did not ask for anything in return for my dissatisfaction, good thing since they offered nothing and actually charged me more money after I complained. Stay at Alice Snyder House for around $100.00 a night! The Steamboat house is light and airy at around $150.00 a night. Stay away from this...

I came here with my wife to stay 2 nights, and it was wonderful. We stayed in the Sara Suite which was very cozy and beautiful. The bay windows are gorgeous. All of the furniture is very antique and elegant minus the tv stand. The jetted tub was very nice with a hand held shower head which is a plus. The vanity was cute with antique mirrors, and other beauty tools. The carpet is very dense and soft. We loved the large standing mirror in the bathroom. The fridge was filled with complementary beverages which was a nice surprise. Along with great coffee and tea choices. We came during the Spring time so it still gets cool at night so we put the fireplace to good use, and it works great. Overall the room was fantastic!

The Innkeeper and wonderful Chef Paul was great. You can tell he's really passionate about what he does as an Innkeeper and enjoys it. The breakfast was surprisingly delicious. This isn't our first time to Galena and we know that there are great places to get breakfast. However, be assured that if you stay here you're getting some of the best breakfast in town. So enjoy it! The dining room is very elegant and formal. All of the silverware and dishes are beautiful. Paul does a great job of making you feel at home! For example one day for breakfast when I came out of the room I left the door open, and then my wife had to remind me that we're not at home. He also ran into Paul's wife and his assistant which were both nice and friendly.

The front yard is beautiful with a gazebo, mini waterfall fountain with benches out there so you can just sit out there and listen to the running water which can be relaxing. I did not spend a lot of time out there though, because it was still a little cool, but we still enjoyed it.

It's hard to find any negatives, but I did think of two. The lighting in the bathroom could be better and the mattress could be better. To me though these are very minor issues, because I could say the same thing for most hotels / inns that i have stayed at. I could still see fine in the bathroom and I still slept like a baby. My biggest problem is that this place was too good. I had plans on my next visit to Galena to explore other B&B's, but how could I. It's like home away from home plus some of the best breakfast in town. We have to come back. This place is an...