Hotel Jeffery - Coulterville, California

Kathy S

Unfortunately the hotel burned while we were there. Sara put us up across the street for the rest of our stay. Anyone who wants to donate to the restoration, here is a go fund me address:|| Gofundme.com/hegno4||||We had an experience similar to the one described on Yelp in May of this year. We stayed in the rooms next door. I heard someone say "hey" behind me in the hall and we also heard voices conversing. We were alone in the hotel and it was super creepy. Better than any haunted house. Hope the restoration can be accomplished. ||||My friends and I stayed here for three nights (deal from living social) and I must say, it was a wonderful experience especially for someone like me who loves the old fashion look to a hotel and creepy ghost stuff as well! In the morning, we explored the tiny town of Coulterville, eating breakfast and drinking coffee at the cafes. During the day, we drove up to Yosemite (about an hour and twenty minutes drive) and hiked. At night, we settled down to eat dinner at the Jeffery restaurant which had some pretty good stuff. We loved the fried chicken!! And then we went on mini ghost hunting runs. Since we went off season, there weren't many other guests at the hotel which meant we practically had the place to ourselves. Customer service was fabulous; every one was very kind, offering to suggest places to visit and what not. ||||Our highlights of the three night stay in Room 8:||- Radio static on and off randomly throughout the night.||- Lights flickering.||- Cold spots, lingering smells (especially in the infamous room 22).||- Friend locked the door to our bedroom, we went out to eat breakfast, we come back to find the door unlocked and slightly opening by itself (sounds like something from a movie right there!). ||- Turned off the bathroom light yet moments later, saw that the lights were oddly still on. ||- Strange whispers being heard, particularly one that sounded like "hey" from the wardrobe.||- Speaking of that wardrobe, it refuses to close to me; when I gave up, my friend tried and closed it easily.||- The friendly white cat that frequents the hotel loves room 8 and sometimes can be heard meowing outside in the hallway at night. ||||Why not five stars though? To be honest, the walls were super thin so we heard practically everything happening in the hotel at night. Well, not everything but you get the point. The last night at the hotel, a huge family checked in and stayed up till 2-3 pm running about. We heard every scream, every footsteps, every whisper....basically almost everything and it kept us up late. Oh and also the running water along with the drunk men throwing up in the bathroom next to our bedroom. ||||Besides that, I will definitely still plan to stay at this hotel in the future. It was fun and my friends and I built great memories in Coulterville. We were all quite sad to leave the tiny cute town, as well as Hotel Jeffery!

Paul Ellmes

We have stayed here twice now when visiting Yosemite, under 2 landlords. The cost was low, the atmosphere high (er). I believe this is the oldest saloon in California and great to be sleeping in a place that has seen and been a part of history. I sat where Teddy slept. I didn't see the ghost. it retains its charm and aside from air con, little seems to have changed. The museum across the road and the exhibits in the hotel are all worth looking at as is a walk around what is left of the old gold town. The food was good. There is a great breakfast place 5 doors up and another bar 3 doors up. In the area, we met gold miners and someone who told us of a local bathing pool off the beaten track. We heard of local pumas (the cougars must have been at home), saw bear paw prints and scat. We enjoy local spots and local company. This had all of that.

Kathy G

Super charming European style accommodations. Hotel has a lot of deferred maintenance when you look closely. Gruff check-in procedure in bar could have been friendlier. Shared bathroom setup for most rooms. Shared baths were not as clean as I'd like. Charming rooms and furnishings, good food, court yard seating on patio was nice. Interesting vibe in town and very out of the way.

Vivienne T

This really authentic old Western Hotel is not in the best of shape and certainly is nothing like its brochure. Stayed there recently and thought it reminiscent of a Russian boarding house, no luxuries whatsoever, heaters didn't work, no hairdryer and breakfast was equally unappetizing. Plastic cereal bowls, gallon milk jug shoved in a bowl of ice and orange juice likewise. Yes, the bar is the oldest bar in the State or perhaps the Country and is dark and dusty. Wouldn't go back!

Akshata R

An hour away from Yosemite National Park, this ancient hotel sits cozy with its haunted stories doing the rounds. I was there in May 2012 for the Memorial Day weekend when everything closer to the park was sold out or too expensive. The rooms were neat and clean and the shared baths were clean and well-maintained. I didn't try the restaurant though. The staff were friendly and will even play a prank or two on you to reinforce the haunted stories 🙂 No TVs, this is an out-in-the-boondocks experience in remote Coulterville which is but a ghost-town pit-stop on the way to Yosemite. I don't think I even found batteries in the local store! There is a pub right next door, so that might keep you up a while if you tuck in early (like me) but it might be fun if you are the pub-type. Tip: Don't take CA-120 up steep slopes to Yosemite, follow the winding backdoor path - ask anyone at the hotel.

Dawn J

We were going to a field trial (dog race) in the area and this hotel was recommended. After doing some research, we were a little hesitant. The hype made it fun, exciting and memorable. Clean, kind and the bar & restaurant was amazing. We slept good and quiet and we look forward after they clean up from the fire, staying again!!

rol e

Grate fun place. Bit like going back in time.Though really friendly place. Good food and beer. It really gives you a sense of what life would have been like in 1851. However still really comfortable.||Hope to take my own kids there oneday. Might try the winter. Probably even more fun then

Moonstruck

I stayed here with my ex boyfriend and his family over New Year's two years ago, when we went to Yosemite. The hotel was nice, food was great, the haunted aspect was pretty cool (I had a picture frame fall on my shoulder right when I was saying to one of our group that I wasn't afraid of any ghosts) and it was a pretty neat place.

There was one problem, however, and it ruined the entire experience for me.

The doors have three locks - the normal lock, an interior lock that can only be opened by keys held by the staff, and a chain lock on the top. At least, that's what my room had. Point being, one required a normal key, one required a staff key and could only be locked from inside, and there was a chain. Fairly standard hotel stuff.

On New Year's, we all were out having fun next door until pretty late, but not as late as most would since we were heading to Yosemite in the morning. The hotel's cat, Princess (a very sweet, older white longhair) had followed me into my room when I went up, and settled herself on the bed. I love animals so I had no problem with her spending the night with me whatsoever. In fact, I'm incredibly grateful she did. Around two or three in the morning, I went to bed, and not very long after - about two thirty or so - someone very lightly knocked at the door. I was half asleep already so I ignored it - it was soft enough that I figured it may have been someone else's door being knocked on, and I was just hearing the muffled sound. Then there was a scraping sound, the bottom lock - the regular one - was unlocked, then the one that requires a staff key. Someone tried to shove open the door, stopped only by the chain lock. Princess hissed, I yelled, and whoever it was ran down the nearby staircase. I ran out to see what was going on, and just barely saw two people - a man and a woman with dark hair in a ponytail - running down the stairs and away as fast as they could. My yelling didn't wake anyone up (most everyone there was a heavy sleeper and/or drunk), and I didn't really know what else to do but return to my room, relock all the locks, and ended up not getting any sleep at all because of how freaked out I was.

The next morning I told my group what had happened. My ex's mom went to talk to the hotel manager, but nothing came of it. No comps, no apologies to me, nothing. Not even an acknowledgement! I highly doubt those two had any good intentions - why the hell were they going around breaking into rooms that people were staying in while most of the occupants were out partying if they weren't going to steal something or do something of that nature? I was appalled at how little anyone seemed to care about an obvious, and potentially dangerous, problem, one that had me on edge until we left. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell will NEVER stay at this hotel again, and I don't recommend it to anyone who values their personal safety, privacy or belongings.