The rumor circulating in Saratoga has been that many celebrities, from Hollywood and beyond, have stayed at the two Saratoga hotels—the Inn and the Oaks Lodge—through the years.

The rumors are true.

Some come to stay when they perform at the local concerts, some just visit to enjoy the serenity of Saratoga.

"Olivia Newton-John stayed at the Lodge when she was performing at Montalvo," says Lea Ann Hernandez, co-owner of the Oaks Lodge. Robin Williams has also stayed at the Lodge on occasion.

Actress Olivia de Havilland, a former Saratoga resident, has been a frequent visitor to the Inn. "She has her permanent residence in Paris," says Jack Hickling, general manager of the Inn. "But she has been staying with us on and off."

When Havilland came to Los Angeles for a presentation at the Academy Awards in 2004, she decided to visit Saratoga.

"She always stays at our suite that is named after her," Hickling says.

Other notable visitors to the Inn include Kenny Loggins and Natalie Cole.

"Comedian Steve Allen also stayed with us several years ago. He was visiting Saratoga because he was part of a comedy night at the Plumed Horse," Hickling says.

When Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton checked into the Inn, he did so under an alias. "He is a secretive kind of guy. He wanted total seclusion," Hickling says.

Hotel staff at the Inn have fond memories of Tony Bennett.

"He was performing at the Mountain Winery. He wanted to go somewhere and paint. We suggested Hakone Gardens," Hickling says.

Bennett spent his entire afternoon at the gardens.

"When he left, he told us that we run a very nice hotel here," Hickling says.

Violinist Yehudi Menhuin was a regular visitor to the Inn before he died in 1999. "There was a special aura about him. He was here often because he grew up in the Bay Area. His mother used to live in Los Gatos," Hickling says.

About 10 years ago, Hickling got a tantalizing call from an agent in Los Angeles. Eddie Murphy and an entire movie crew were coming to the Bay Area to shoot Beverly Hills Cop ll. "Eventually they selected a hotel in San Jose," Hickling says.

Some weeks later, Hickling got a call from the hotel in San Jose. "They wanted to know if we had rooms available. Filming had not finished on time and they were refusing to leave. They had a lot of unhappy guests," he says.

Hickling says that he felt fortunate that the film-crew had not chosen the Inn.

Hotel staff say that their guests enjoy the serenity and quiet of Saratoga. Serenity and congeniality have always been the selling points of Saratoga's hotels and lodges.

In the 1860s, Pacific Congress Springs on Big Basin Way was one of the most well known resorts on the West Coast. The largest building at the resort was Congress Hall with 63 rooms. For nearly 40 years the resort was a place for many important events in the area. In 1903, a fire caused by a defective chimney put an end to all that.

In the early part of the 20th century, Lundblad Lodge on Oak Street became a popular destination. There have been several other resorts that sprang up in the last 100 years and disappeared with the passage of time.

"Some people would use the railroad to come to the Saratoga resorts. Some would use a stagecoach," says April Halberstadt, curator at the Saratoga Historical Museum.

"Saratoga was always easily accessible because of the railroad. Many wealthy families had summer homes here," adds Willys Peck, longtime resident and historian.

The two hotels in Saratoga are carrying on a tradition of rest and rejuvenation.

Nestled near the Saratoga Creek is the Inn at Saratoga. Visitors to downtown Saratoga can see a little bit of the Inn as they walk on Big Basin Way. It's a clever piece of architecture, built into a hillside, and resembles the design and style of a New England inn. The Inn is actually four stories high and the real extent of the building can only be gauged from Fourth Street where the main entrance of the Inn is located.

A little further down Big Basin Way is the Saratoga Oaks Lodge. It has been owned by the Hernandez family for the last 50 years. Originally a motor court, it now has 25 rooms including four suites.

The Inn was created by an investment group in the mid-1980s. But even though construction was completed, the group was unable to get the hotel doors open. "The shell was complete but the rooms were not outfitted," Hickling says.

While dining at the Plumed Horse, a former Hyatt employee noticed the building and walked over to investigate. On finding that the hotel needed a management team, he quickly assembled one. The Inn opened for business in July 1987. The team managed the hotel for five years before selling to the current owner in April 1993.

Hickling has served as the hotel's general manager under the direction of both owners and has seen the growth of the Silicon Valley during his tenure. He says that not being in the heart of Silicon Valley has been beneficial to business.

"A lot of business clients prefer the picturesque surroundings of Saratoga. They can look out into a creek instead of looking out into a parking lot or a freeway," Hickling says.

Hickling adds that some people visiting the South Bay on business prefer driving a little bit more to ensure that they can stay at a place like the Inn.

But it's more than just business people who frequent the local hotels. Saratoga's reputation as a weekend getaway still attracts a lot of guests. The summer concerts at Villa Montalvo and the Mountain Winery are the biggest draws during the summer.

And then there are the weddings.

"Saratoga is a big wedding destination. We have Hakone Gardens, the wineries, the Saratoga Foothill Club and numerous churches, all of which are great wedding spots," Hickling says.

People visiting family and friends in Saratoga also stay at the hotels frequently.

"We are everybody's extra bedroom," Lea Ann says. "This place used to be a motor lodge when my family bought it. My mother ran the place by herself until 1979. After that, we began to hire resident managers."

She says that in the early years, many people building their dream houses in Saratoga would stay at the Lodge. "They were people working at Lockheed and IBM. Most of them were from back east and they were building custom homes in Saratoga," she says.

A large number of Japanese tourists visiting Hakone Gardens have stayed at the Inn and the Oaks Lodge over the years.

"Every couple of years, we have a delegation from Muko, Japan—Saratoga's sister city—staying with us," Hickling says. "European tourists have found our mountainside hotel very congenial."

Lea Ann's brother, Paul Hernandez, co-owns the Lodge. He is at the hotel four or five times a week. "Most of our customers are people who come back year after year," Paul says.

Both hotels have tried to keep themselves updated in terms of new technology. But their owners wish that there was more to choose from in terms of retail businesses downtown. "We have some of the best restaurants in the area. But there is not a lot of choice when it comes to retail," Hickling says.

Both Lea Ann and Hickling agreed that the free shuttle to Villa Montalvo on concert nights has been a step in the right direction.

As times change, the management teams at these hotels are working to keep Saratoga's reputation as a destination city alive. And the one compliment they crave from visitors is to be told that the Inn or the Lodge felt like home.

Over the years, there have been several interesting visitors to the local hotels. A mathematics professor from Berkeley would check in to the Oaks Lodge often. "He was kind of eccentric. Sometimes he would write notes on the wallpaper," Lea Ann says. The Hernandez family discovered a lot of his notes and formulas on the wallpaper when the room was renovated many years ago.

Some years ago, Hickling was faced with a peculiar situation at the Inn.

"One time a newly married couple checked into a room. The groom went outside the room to get some ice from the ice machine. When he tried to re-enter the room, the key broke and the lock jammed," he recalls. It was the '80s. There were no key cards. Hotels used individual keys for different rooms.

Hickling spent the rest of that Saturday evening trying to find a locksmith. "I had a frustrated bride inside, and a frustrated groom outside," he says.

A locksmith was found a few hours later and he finally managed to open the door.

Hickling pacified the couple by buying them dinner at the Plumed Horse.