Two factors led me to choose Best Western Cedar Inn & Suites Angels Camp, California for a hotel stay in what is regionally called California ‘Gold Country’. Angels Camp is one of dozens of towns in the Sierra Nevada foothills founded during the California gold rush era.
Most importantly, Murphys Irish Day, 11 miles uphill on California Route 4, was our destination for the day to meet friends and Angels Camp was the closest place I could find a hotel room. I did not know Murphys Irish Day on the 3rd Saturday of March each year attracts 20,000 or more people to Calaveras County, a county with only 45,000 residents. Most lodging in this part of Gold Country are B&Bs and cabin rentals.
In Angels Camp, besides a Travelodge and Worldmark timeshare condo, Best Western is the only chain property for points.
The second factor for choosing Best Western was the current Best Western Rewards promotion for one free night after two stays February 4-April 14, 2019.
The only available room at Best Western Cedar Inn & Suites when I booked in mid-February was a 2 bedroom suite with three beds for $179.00. On other dates a reward night would have cost 20,000 points. There was no reward night availability. In fact, I received a call during the day while we were still drinking in Murphys asking me if I would definitely be checking in for the night. We met people over the weekend who found themselves in Calaveras gold country on a Saturday with no available lodging anywhere in the area.
We ended up not arriving to the hotel until 10pm after our day at Murphys Irish Day. I had no idea what to expect with the hotel suite, especially since this hotel is not a Best Western Plus or Premier designated hotel.
I was pleasantly surprised.
Lobby
A seating area with a few chairs and couch separates the lobby area from the breakfast dining area.
Room 110
The entry room has a bathroom near the doorway to the left with a sink and toilet and a closet to right. The entry room has a couch and one King Bed.
The one disappointing aspect of the two room suite is there was only one room with a shower. The entry room had a gas fireplace.
The TV cabinet furniture had an appealing look.
The King Bed in the entry room was across from the fireplace. Five other inebriated people entered the room with me and sprawled out on the couch and bed. I never snapped a good view of the entire room.
The second room had two beds and the bathroom with tub/shower. There was no door in the second room for direct access from hallway.
The bathroom above is similar to the bathroom near the entry door to Room 110, except no tub in other bathroom.
Hotel Facilities
Calaveras County is an outdoors adventure kind of destination for many visitors. Calaveras Big Trees State Park is one of the original tourist attractions in the state dating back to 1850s. This is where the first giant sequoia trees were discovered and promoted as a tourist destination.
The point being that a nice amenity to be found at Best Western Cedar Inn & Suites in Angels Camp is a laundry room if you have been soiling your clothes on a hike, a mountain lake swim or spelunking in caves at a place like nearby Moaning Cavern Adventure Park.
It only cost $1.50 for the washer and $1.00 for dryer and 75 cents for detergent.
A small fitness center is located in pool area.
Best Western Cedar Inn Breakfast Room
The primary reason I can think of that keeps Best Western Cedar Inn & Suites from having a ‘Best Western Plus’ designation is there is no kitchen facility on site. All the breakfast foods were packaged.
eggs and sausage microwaveable dishes on top shelf
The notices on the table request guests give the breakfast at least a 9 of 10 when reviewing the hotel in Best Western’s follow-up guest review by email. Since they do not have kitchen facilities, by county regulations they can’t serve anything that requires washing dishes.
In a way, this turned out to be a nice feature since I knew my wife would not make it to breakfast. I was able to load up a plate of microwaveable food to take back to the room, where we had our own microwave for heating.
Angels Camp, California
Being the one person in our party who stopped drinking by mid-afternoon on Murphys Irish Day, I took a 90-minute walk around Angels Camp in the morning. The one time I had been in Angels Camp previously was for the Calaveras frog jumping annual event in 2014.
‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County‘ is a Mark Twain story that is still used to place Angels Camp, California on the map of tourism. It’s all small town fun.
I described the experience of participating in the Calaveras County frog jumping contest in this 2014 article.
Loyalty Traveler - Mark Twain’s legacy in Calaveras County, California (May 23, 2014).
And Murphys Irish Day here.
Loyalty Traveler -Â Into the green foothills for tiny Murphys, California big Murphys Irish Day 2019
My next stay at a Best Western will be next week to earn my free night.
Loyalty Traveler - Why I booked a hotel room I don’t plan to sleep in (March 14, 2019).
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