Seven Idaho Historic Hotels Where You Sleep In Rooms Over A Century Old

One hotel on this list has run without grid electricity since the 1940s. Guests there read by 12-volt lights powered by the sun, and I love that detail more than I can explain.

Another spent the 1918 flu pandemic working as a makeshift hospital. A third began as a 1904 mansion built as a wedding gift from a father to his son.

Idaho has quietly held onto these buildings for more than a hundred years. You can still book a bed inside them, pull up the covers, and fall asleep where miners, railroad travelers, and honeymooners once did.

Some sit on lakes. Some sit in old mining towns.

One sits so far up a mountain road that it only opens part of the year. I can’t think of a better way to meet the past than sleeping in it overnight.

Which room would you pick first?

1. Blackwell Hotel

Most wedding gifts end up in a closet. In 1904, F.A.

Blackwell commissioned a whole mansion for his son, and you can sleep in it today.

The house sits on Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, right in North Idaho’s lake country. It opened as one of the city’s first traditional bed and breakfasts in 1984.

A 2011 renovation turned it into the boutique hotel and event venue you see now. The goal was to honor the original architecture rather than bulldoze the past.

Inside, you’ll find 10 guest suites with a sleek, stylish look. Many of them include clawfoot bathtubs and original artwork, which feels right for a mansion of this age.

Breakfast comes with your stay, so you won’t need to hunt for coffee first thing. Later, a hot tub waits for tired legs after a day on the lake.

There’s also a game and movie room for lazy evenings. The grounds hold gardens and a gazebo, and a wraparound porch gives you a place to sit and people-watch.

Free in-room Wi-Fi keeps you connected if you must check email. Honestly, though, a 120-year-old porch seems like a better use of your time.

Address: 820 E Sherman Ave, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814

2. The Harkness Hotel

McCammon has fewer than 1,000 residents, yet it holds one of southeastern Idaho’s most surprising overnight stays. The building went up in 1906, and it still stands on Center Street.

You won’t find a cookie-cutter chain room here. The quarters are individually decorated, so your room likely won’t match the one next door.

The restoration walked a careful line. Owners kept as much of the original construction and architecture as they could, then added modern comforts on top.

Call it a cross between renovated and restored. You get the bones of a building more than a century old, plus the amenities a modern traveler expects.

The rooms are known for their size, too. That’s a nice change if you’ve ever squeezed a suitcase into a tiny highway motel.

A spa and a salon sit on site, which feels like a bonus in a town this small. You could book a treatment and never move your car.

McCammon sits along the route between Pocatello and points south, so it works as a road-trip stop. It also works as the whole trip if a quiet main street sounds like the goal.

Address: 206 Center St, McCammon, ID 83250

3. Riverside Hot Springs Inn & Spa

Long before anyone called it a spa, folks knew this 1914 inn as “The Honeymoon Hotel.” That nickname tells you plenty about the mood in Lava Hot Springs.

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During the 1918 flu pandemic, it also served as a makeshift hospital for the community.

Today the inn is strictly for grownups. Guests need to be 20 or older, so the soundtrack leans quiet rather than cannonball.

The real draw comes straight out of the ground. Three private indoor soaking rooms and one outdoor soaking barrel use chemical-free hot mineral springs water.

That’s a pretty great way to end a day on the Portneuf River. You also get a full-service spa with massage therapy if soaking alone won’t cut it.

There are 18 guest rooms, and each one is decorated in its own way. The history shows up in the decor, so the age of the place feels front and center.

Hungry? The Portneuf Grille handles dinner, while Cafe & A’more covers breakfast.

The inn runs year-round, which means winter soaks are fair game in this corner of Idaho.

Address: 255 East Portneuf Street, Lava Hot Springs, ID 83246

4. Ryan Hotel

Silver miners needed somewhere to sleep, and in 1903 Wallace gave them the Ryan Hotel. More than 120 years later, the beds are still in use.

It started as a residential hotel for working miners in the Silver Valley. A renovation came in 1933 after the nearby Tabor Fire, then another in 2013.

Now it runs as a boutique bed and breakfast in the heart of downtown. You can walk out the front door and stand inside a mining-era town that still looks the part.

Fourteen rooms are filled with antique furniture, and each has its own decor. Some include clawfoot tubs for a long soak.

Most rooms have private bathrooms. Three share facilities, so check which kind you’re booking before you pack.

Mornings bring complimentary coffee, muffins, and fruit. It’s a simple start, and it gets you moving fast.

That matters, because Wallace is a big biking town. The hotel offers secure bike storage and rentals, making it easy to ride the area trails and come back sore and happy.

Wallace has fewer than 1,000 residents. Still, few Panhandle towns pack more history into such a small grid.

Address: 608 Cedar St, Wallace, ID 83873

5. Idaho Hotel

Forget plugging in your phone overnight. Silver City has been off the electric grid since the 1940s, and the Idaho Hotel runs on solar power with 12-volt lights.

The hotel predates Idaho statehood by a wide margin. It was built in 1863 in Ruby City, then taken apart and moved to Silver City in 1866.

After sitting closed for decades, it was bought and reopened in 1972. Restoration has kept going ever since.

You’ll find 13 guest rooms with vintage furnishings. There are no in-room outlets, TVs, or private bathrooms, so guests use shared showers, sinks, and flush toilets.

Look closely at the woodwork. The hand-grained wood dates to 1882, and an 1898 addition holds two stories of bedrooms.

Lunch features American classics and homemade pies. Family-style dinners happen too, but only with advance reservations.

Here’s a fun one: a tunnel under the hotel connects to a former mine. Few hotels can claim a mine for a basement.

The season is short, usually Memorial Day Weekend into early October, weather permitting. The road up into the Owyhee Mountains is rough, so check conditions before driving.

Address: Silver City, Murphy, ID 83650

6. The Historic Northern Hotel

Railroad passengers needed a reason to come north, so Walt Williams built a lodge in 1900. That lodge is now the oldest hostelry in northern Idaho.

It sits in Coolin, a tiny lakeside spot in Bonner County. Back then, the Priest Lake area was growing on mining, timber, and tourism.

Other lodges from those early statehood years are gone. This one remains the only survivor.

It wasn’t always a sure thing, though. The building stood vacant before an early 1990s restoration brought back its original look.

Workers uncovered the original cedar paneling and floor planks along the way. You get to walk on those same boards today.

The two-story log hotel has seven rooms and suites. A large living room holds antiques and a huge stone fireplace.

Outside is where Priest Lake steals the show. A private dock lets you swim or tie up a boat, and a big deck looks right over the water.

Shaded picnic tables, lounge chairs, and a stone fire pit round out the lakefront. Better yet, the hotel stays open year-round, so a snowy visit is on the table too.

Address: 220 Bayview Dr, Coolin, ID 83821

7. The Avery Hotel

Boise loves its shiny new towers, yet one of its best beds sits inside a building from 1901. Downtown has changed around it many times over.

The structure carries old names, including the Manitou Hotel and the Tontine Building. Today it goes by The Avery, and it bills itself as Boise’s first and only historic boutique hotel.

That’s a bold claim in a city growing this fast. It also makes this the easiest stay on the list to reach from the Treasure Valley.

The building has been restored, so the rooms you book have stood for more than 120 years. You get period bones without a long drive into the mountains.

Guests can choose rooms or suites. Dining happens on site, which helps after a long day of exploring the capital.

Main Street puts you close to downtown Boise’s shops, restaurants, and the Capitol. You can leave the car parked and wander on foot.

The hotel operates year-round. That makes it a solid pick for a winter weekend when Silver City is snowed in.

Think of it as the city kid of this list. Same old soul, just with sidewalks and traffic lights.

Address: 1010 W Main St Ste 100, Boise, ID 83702