The Golden Hotel has stood at the corner of Highways 20 and 281 in O’Neill since 1912, a Colonial Revival landmark on the National Register, and it comes with the best bar story in Nebraska lodging: Al Capone reportedly stayed here in the 1920s while visiting relatives in the state.
O’Neill is the self-declared Irish Capital of Nebraska, and the Golden sits at the center of all of it — the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, the repainting of the World’s Largest Shamrock, the whole green-painted-town spectacle. The rest of the year it’s a comfortable, unpretentious base for the Elkhorn River valley and the Cowboy Trail.
Don’t expect luxury; expect character, fair rates, and a front-row seat to one of Nebraska’s most distinctive small towns.