The National Exchange Hotel on Broad Street is one of the few original Gold Rush-era hotels still operating in California. The building dates to 1856, rebuilt after the town's first great fire, and the lobby retains a period atmosphere that no amount of Victorian-themed decor in a newer hotel can replicate.
The hotel has had various names and owners over the decades but remains a living part of Nevada City's working downtown rather than a curated exhibit. The bar on the ground floor is a good place to drink after walking the historic district, and the rooms are genuinely old without being decrepit. If you're spending a night in Nevada City rather than just passing through, staying here puts you at the centre of everything worth seeing.