Outside Inn — Hotel in Nevada City

My family and I had the most bizarre & disappointing stay at the Outside Inn over the weekend of June 21st. This is long, so bear with me.

First let me say that I’ve been putting off this review as I was hoping to resolve our issues directly with the hotel but that’s not coming to fruition. This is my first ever negative review of any business, but due to the lack of care, lies and strange communication from the owners, I feel compelled to write one.

After checking in and settling into our room, we noticed the pool had been shut down by the county. We were in town with our 8 year old for a wedding and booked the hotel with another young family. Our main reason for staying at the hotel during the hot Nevada City Summer with 3 young children was the pool. And it was HOT that weekend (near 100). When we asked the front desk they assured us it would be open in the morning. It was not, nor did it the entire 3 nights and 4 days we were there. Each time we asked the owner about it he would ramble incoherently about how the regular inspector was out of town, that the Interim inspector was clearly an idiot who barely spoke English, and how he was concerned about where this country was going (?!?) He repeated this ad nauseam each time I tried to speak with him, clearly trying to avoid any professional or meaningful conversation about what this meant for us as hotel guests (I’m in hospitality and I would have offered credit to stay another time when the pool was up and running). On night 2, with a heat wave in full effect, our AC stopped working. When I brought this to his attention he came in, put his hand over the unit and shrugged. He said it was because my windows were open (I had literally just opened them after having the AC on for hours while I was out to dinner and returning to a hot room). When I told him I just opened the windows he just mumbled and walked out of the room.

Since I was helping with the wedding we were in town for I didn’t have a lot more time to spend discussing this further with the owners until our departure on Sunday. After we talked to them about our grievances, they offered us $5 a night compensation. We said that was not enough and that we’d be fine with a credit if they didn’t want to give us straight money. The woman at the front desk told us to email owner to talk further since she wasn’t the owner. When we emailed the owner he said he would give us $15 a night, which we still felt was unsatisfactory. I emailed a second time further explaining our grievances (at this point they still hadn’t even acknowledge that they didn’t deal with the AC) to which they replied with a full on LIE that their pool actually isn’t open until July and that the inspection was scheduled to make sure it was ready for said opening. The first time we talked to the woman at the front desk, she explained that the county inspectors came unexpectedly, but that she was glad that they had come on a Thursday so that she could get it taken care of before the busy weekend, so I know this is a lie. Plus, Nevada city is notoriously warm in June so it would make no sense for their pool to not be open until July (especially this year as it was hot early in the season - I’m sure the season is flexible so them saying this was a way to get out of paying anything back to us). This latest response also didn’t mention any compensation (or the AC, again) so I’m assuming at this point they are not willing to do anything to make things right. It was such a weird and insulting response that I felt compelled to write this review. We will NEVER...

The Outside Inn was built in the 1940s and has remained essentially as is since then: very retro, very quaint. It reminded me of the types of places where we stayed while traveling when I was a kid (I'm 78 now).||Our group occupied several rooms for 5 nights. An open courtyard in the middle is garden-like, with picnic tables, Adirondack chairs, a little waterfall, and oddball decorations: a very pleasant place for us to gather and talk in the mornings.||I stayed in the "Autumn" room. It was tiny (11.3 x 9.2 ft) but adequate for one person. Everything was very compact and at my fingertips.||The room was rustic but acceptably clean. The bed was comfy and the cover was a soft cozy quilt. The furnishings were "shabby chic" and homey. The tabletops were small and it took some ingenuity to find a place for all my stuff, but once I did, I felt at home.||The electrical outlets were "challenging": not enough, and most already used by lamps, appliances, and other fixtures in the room. But I figured it out and got what I needed plugged in.||The bathroom was tiny (4.25 x 4.25, plus a 2.5-sq ft shower). The shower was the size of an old-fashioned telephone booth, but the room's hot water heater was in a space right next to the shower, so hot water was immediate and plentiful. A openable window over the sink helped make the bathroom seem bigger, brighter, and airy.||Each room had its own designated parking space right outside that room, so parking and loading/unloading was easy and convenient.||All in all, I thought the Outside Inn was a fun place to stay. I would gladly stay there again the next time I am in...

Four nights at The Outside Inn was sheer perfection for my 75th birthday celebration! All of the rooms offer something unique and all are homey and inviting. Having a kitchenette was a plus, allowing for dining in as well as dining out. The shady grass area with hammock and barbecues in the center of the property very lovely, and the pool a wonderful respite from a hot day of fun in beautiful Nevada City. The mattress and pillows were perfect for our needs. Not too hard, not too soft! The wonderful, attentive owners, Gita and her husband, live on site and thus were available for any needs we had. The beautiful bottle of red wine that they gifted me for my birthday was much appreciated! The hard work and care that they put into this property makes it shine!|Nevada City, Grass Valley and the entire region wonderful for exploration. The tiny town of Dutch Flat (restaurant opening soon in the historic hotel, plus well curated tiny history museum) a fun destination. Lola’s restaurant & River were dining highlights. Don’t miss a performance at the oldest theater in California, the Nevada Theater, with extraordinary interior wall murals. The Native American Nisenan Arts & Culture Gallery worth a visit. Empire Mine State Park offers multiple walking tours as well as extremely well done Visitor Center highlighting both the beauty that came from the gold mining money VS the horrendous, dangerous conditions of those bringing it out of the ground. |It was a true joy staying at The...