Silver Queen Hotel, Virginia City

Every time I am in the Reno area, I drive over Geiger Summit to stay at the Silver Queen. This place positively oozes history (and a few other things as well), and I have never had a bad experience in my dozen or so visits. Granted, if you are looking for all the modern conveniences, you should probably go find a Holiday Inn somewhere. But if you are the adventureous type who prefers genuine atmosphere over kitsch, and don't mind the lack of telephones and televisions in the rooms, the Silver Queen might be the place for you. When you check in at the bar, ask for a von Mausheim "Blackthorn Cocktail", the Silver Queen being one of three places on the west coast that will prepare this most original of Martinis. Another suggestion- after checking in, park in back to avoid the stairs. (If you are not used to the 6200' altitude of Virginia City, they can be a killer- especially if you try a Blackthorn first)

I'm a local, but the woman behind the bar thought I was just another tourist wanting to use the bathroom. She kept shutting the lights off to the restrooms while people were inside, and made loud verbal comments about people coming in and not buying anything. She suggested that we "buy a postcard" if we wanted to use the restroom. She shut the lights off on her own employee who told her "that was the second time". If this woman is the owner, she is on a path to a failed business. If she is an employee, she should be fired ASAP. Not only is she being rude and disrespectful, turning off the lights will get her a lawsuit if someone is injured as a result. The place is a dump and the restrooms smell like rotten salmon. Tiles are missing and everything is dirty. There are probably a million safety and building code violations as well. There are lots of places in Virginia City to see. Most of them treat you well. Make a note to avoid this one. Better yet, walk in and ask to use the restroom. Then come back to this site and post your own comment. I'll just take my guests somewhere else when they come to Reno to visit. Mike B

My husband & I stayed at The Siver Queen Inn a few years ago. We had stayed at Sugarloaf Mountain Motel prior to this visit & had a ghostly encounter in Room #1 that nearly scared us to death! ( Horrible dreams for me - & an awful, deathlike odor that suddenly appeared in the middle of the night & seemed to be centered below the ceiling beams where the "ghost" had hung herself. This odor disappated & reappeared as we stood in the room trying to locate it's source. It was as if it were a big bubble of stink & you could literally put your head in & out of it! It finally faded away. Every photo of my husband taken in the room has an odd mark in different spots on each picture. Photos of me in the room don't show this) We wanted a more friendly type of ghost for this visit & the nice clerk assured us that their ghost was indeed friendly. The room was in the front on the top floor & had a great view of Virginia City's main street. It was nicely decorated with VERY high ceilings & a claw foot tub, etc.. A old barber chair was sitting next to the bed. I used it as a nitestand & had my water glass, cigarettes, lighter & my medicine sitting on it. All thru the night, I would wake & KNOW, without opening my eyes, that a man was sitting in the barber chair! I'd slowly open my eyes only to find an empty chair with only my "supplies" on it- which was fine with me! When morning came, I awakened to discover that everything had been moved to the floor in front of the Barber chair! It was all neatly arranged with no spilled water. My only explanation-other than a ghost-is that I moved the items to the floor during sleep! I am not known as a sleepwalker though, so this is unlikely. Unlike The Sugarloaf Mountain experience, this was a more "pleasant" ghostly visit. I told my children-who ALL want to go stay in The Sugarloaf Mountain Motel- Rm.#1- to see if they also have a ghostly visit- that I will rent a room at The Silver Queen & wait for them to come running down to my room in the middle of the night!