Dow Villa Motel

This was a nice place, It took me awhile to get the A.C. to come on but when it did it worked well. The room was large, ours had two beds and a convertable sofa. There sheets were cotton but heavy with starch or sizing. Internet was good. I would like to have seen more electrical outlets, when sitting on the couch, I had to use an extension cord to the bed for power.

This was the best place for my husband and I to spend the night on our way to Death Valley. Spotless clean, very comfortable. Staff is excellent, friendly and knowledgeable. We will continue coming back. With being in central of town, the restaurants were within walking, good home town cooking! Thank you Lynn for your hospitality.

Note: This review is for the historical hotel, not the motel. They are part of the same complex but there are some differences in physical plant. The Dow Villa Hotel used to be where film stars stayed in the 1920s. It's not upscale anymore, but it's probably the quirkiest place to stay in Lone Pine. Alas, this is a low bar as most of the limited accommodation here is motels. So. Room: Very clean, nice size. Not all rooms have en suite bathrooms. When the hotel was built, pairs of adjoining rooms shared a bathroom. As people won't go for that anymore, the bathroom is assigned to one room. If you're booking two rooms with friends/family you could ask if you can have adjoining rooms and share the bathroom; the doors are still there so they *may* be able to do that, but I didn't look into the non en-suite rooms to be sure. Bed was comfortable. Note that because this is a historic building they give you *actual physical keys*. There is no tea/coffee maker or fridge. Staff: Solidly helpful. They do have a 24/7 desk. I didn't ask them for a lot, so I can't speak to their knowledge. But they all seemed nice and friendly. Amenities: The pool is open 24/7. We didn't use it personally. There's an ice machine in the back entrance. Parking is free and seemed to be sufficient for the number of people staying there. Tea/coffee is available in the lobby. They also have a small library of board games and random books in the lobby. Location: Right in the middle of Lone Pine. Easy walk to several nice restaurants and some shopping, including places you can buy camping gear you forgot. Special notes: The hotel is not air-conditioned. The motel rooms are. However, even in a raging heatwave, the swamp coolers kept our room perfectly comfortable. If you really need your room cool or are traveling during the monsoon, though, you might want to keep this in mind. Heating is through steam radiators, but I can't speak to how well it works. There are no thermostats in the individual rooms. There are no elevators. The ground floor rooms may be accessible, but I would recommend wheelchair users stay in the much more modern and accessible motel section. Make sure to request a ground floor room when you book if you need one. Despite this, definitely recommended. I would have liked directions to the ice machine instead of just signage, because as mentioned, it was really hot.

We stayed in the motel section of this facility and the room was clean and nice. The decor was charming and the room had coffee, a refrigerator, iron, and hair dryer. The staff at the front desk were friendly and the location is very convenient to walk to a number of eating establishments. My husband enjoyed the hot tub in the evening too. We would stay again next time we are in the area.

This review is for the 'Historic Section' only. I have given the newer AAA rated section a Five Star review elsewhere. I joke with my fiance that I own stock in the Dow Villa. I really hate posting this review, but you need to understand what the 'Historic Section' is. The descriptions of the 'Historic Section' on their web-site are honest. But you really have to believe them! No air conditioning in rooms; Lone Pine can get warm+. Cool when we there; the heating in the room is by radiator which the facility had not turned on for all the historic rooms. When the room radiators are on, I heard that you control the room temperature by opening are opening or closing the window. Guests are provided with a small electric heater which will do the job in the small rooms. We had to request the electric heater after the first night. No microwave in the room. My fiance spotted a communal microwave in the hallway. No refrigerator in the room. The staff will let you use the office refrigerator for your food. But I'm not sure that they could accommodate many guests storing storing food in the office fridge. The staff at the desk were (as they always are) great! The private bathrooms are small and functional. But small. Obviously the original hotel did not include private bathrooms and these were retrofitted in. The larger shared bathrooms still exist. The rooms are small. Our first floor room for the first two nights was toward the small and a little crowded but OK. Our second room 219 was claustrophobic small. (We had extended our stay during the Lone Pine Film Festival week-end and we were glad to get any room.) Would I stay in the historic section again? During a blizzard yes. Otherwise, no. Your Mileage May Vary!

Lovely place to stay right next to the Sierras. Huge room and super comfy bed. No breakfast though. Get lulled to sleep by the crickets. Huge TV can be viewed from the whole room. Nice shower and ADA room.

We choose to stay in the historic hotel- so this review obviously covers only that part! The room was small and dark. No aircondition (bad idea in the summer). Very improvised bath. And the worst part was the horribly old and soft mattress. so it was basically a sleepless night. The personal was very friendly but that only helps so far in a hotel.

The hotel has an older and newer section. We stayed in the newer section. The room was comfortable and the bed was especially so. We were worried about noise with the proximity to the main road, but that was not an issue. One bummer was that a little after 5am the light shined through the bathroom window onto the mirrored closet doors and directly into our eyes.