I have a favorite hideaway in California’s...

I have a favorite hideaway in California’s Mother Lode country: Jane Way’s Sutter Creek Inn. I mention it because next month, millions of blooms will flower at nearby Daffodil Hill, a spectacle that draws huge crowds annually to the Sierra foothills. With the floral show--and because of the popularity of the inn--travelers should book shelter now. Nineteen rooms in an old-fashioned cottage as well as cozy units in the garden. I discovered Sutter Creek Inn shortly after Jane Way opened for business 26 years ago. Although less than 40 miles from Sacramento, guests get the feeling that the calendar never got beyond the 19th Century. The two-story frame is set in a grassy yard facing Main Street. In summertime there’s the sweet smell of wet honeysuckle and roses. Hollyhocks bloom. Guests nap in hammocks strung beneath magnolia and redwood trees. Nine of the 19 rooms have fireplaces. Others feature swinging beds. Of an evening, guests gather in the parlor beside a fire and an antique grandfather clock that ticks away the hours.

Breakfast at Sutter Creek Inn is a banquet. (This isn’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill B&B.;) Fruit bowls, juices, Spanish omelets, fried potatoes, ham, eggs, biscuits, muffins, coffee from France. The menu changes daily, with Jane Way holding court at the breakfast table each morning.

Sutter Creek is a classic example of dozens of peaceful Mother Lode towns. Inns/antique shops line Main Street. Visitors do side trips to Gold Rush towns with names such as Coloma, Volcano, Fiddletown, Drytown and Jackson. At Jackson, the National Hotel has provided shelter to wayfarers since the 1860s. With its antiques/Victorian furnishings, the National is a fixture in the Mother Lode. Rates range up to $100. The latter is for a Saturday night spent in the Bordello Room with its red-blocked walls, huge bed and bath. Included is a $30 meal credit and a midnight visit by musicians and bar patrons doing a lively rendition of “When The Saints Come Marching In” as they enter/exit the room (with the occupants’ OK).

Mountain men whoop it up in the saloon. Lanterns glow behind the bar. Entering the National Hotel is like passing through the twilight zone. Not fancy. But loads of fun.

Jane Way’s Sutter Creek Inn, P.O. Box 385, Sutter Creek, Calif. 95685, (209) 267-5606. Rates:$48/$97.

National Hotel, 2 Water St., Jackson, Calif. 95642, (209) 223-0500. Rates: $25/$100.

For a list of other inns/hotels, plus details on dates of the Daffodil Hill floral spectacle, contact the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, Jackson 95642, (209) 223-0350.

A Letter From France: William T. Fleming, Jr., a career diplomat stationed in Abu Dhabi, writes from his new home in France: “My family recently purchased La Maison de la Resistance, a lovely turn-of-the-century home in Normandy. Since it is not possible for us to spend more than a few weeks each year in France, we are interested in sharing our home with other Americans eager to learn what it is like to live in a small medieval town in rural France--not just what it is like to be a tourist.

“Our balcony looks across miles of lush, rolling countryside; the view from the front of the house takes in ancient stone walls and towers of the terraced medieval town of Domfront. The name of our home was taken from the previous owner’s role as a leader of the French Resistance during World War II (Allied pilots downed over Normandy were hidden in the home). The house is filled with character and is tastefully decorated with period pieces. Although La Maison de la Resistance exceeds the normal standards of quality and comfort found in rural European inns, guests will be disappointed if they expect a totally modernized, sterile edifice. They should be prepared for faded wallpaper, carpets worn over the years and little nicks and scratches on the woodwork that give character to this historic home. The weekly rate is $1,250 (peak season) and includes part-time cooking/housekeeping provided by the owner’s delightful femme de M e nage. For eight people occupying the home, the cost comes to slightly over $20 per day per person. Furthermore, rental fees are payable in dollars, thus avoiding any foreign exchange fluctuation risks. This is an ideal base from which to explore attractions of the region.”

For a brochure with additional information, write to France Authentique, P.O. Box 350, Pensacola, Fla. 32592.

Swiss Holiday: One of the season’s best bets is a seven-day Swiss vacation starting at $568 per person (double occupancy). Three destinations (the Bernese Oberland, the Valais, the Graubunden). A choice of nine villages (Davos, Verbier, Zermatt, Grindelwald, Wengen, Saas Fee, Chateau d’Oex, Arosa, Murren). Zermatt is the joy of the jet setters. Murren (high in the Alps) is reached by funicular (no cars, no cares, with great skiing/walking trails). The Valais features 50 peaks above the 15,000-foot level. Davos, with its superb skiing, is the site of the world’s largest open-air ice rink. The holiday package includes shelter, breakfast/dinner, airport greeting (at Zurich), a first-class Rail Card, taxes/service charges. Breaks down to about $57 a day per person. Hard to beat in this day of skyrocketing prices.

Details from Swiss Holidays, 10866 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 560, Los Angeles 90024, (310) 441-1516. Other information from the Swiss National Tourist Office, 222 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 1570, El Segundo 90245, (310) 335-5980.

Berlin Hotel: Adam Tyson of Temecula asks for the name of a hotel “outside downtown Berlin with a gymnasium.” Try Hotel Sorat Humboldt-Muhle. In the Tegel Forest in the northern sector of Berlin. Seventy-five rooms. A couple of suites. Guests ride in the forest, soak in a sauna, go biking, work out in the gymnasium. With all the interest in Berlin this year, this one’s a sleeper (excuse the pun) that hasn’t come to the attention of too many tourists.

Hotel Sorat Humboldt-Muhle, An der Muhle 5-7, Berlin. Rates from about $135.

Other hotel listings from the German National Tourist Office, 444 S. Flower St., Suite 2230, Los Angeles 90071, (213) 688-7332. (Beginning April 1, the GNTO is moving to 11766 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 750, Los Angeles 90025.)

Potpourri: Buy a round-trip APEX ticket, LAX/Sydney, Australia, on Northwest Airlines and get a six-day bonus tour for only $1 extra (accommodations, sightseeing, a luncheon cruise in Sydney Harbor, etc.). Details from Brendan Tours, (800) 421-8446. At the same time, Brendan is offering a rental car in Australia for $99 per person per week (based on two vacationers traveling together) . . . An updated schedule of the B.C. Ferry system (with 26 routes in British Columbia) is available from B.C. Ferries, 1112 Fort St., Department L&L;, B.C., Canada V8Z . . . For a booklet on adventure travel, contact Mountain Travel-Sobek, 6420 Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito, Calif. 94530, (800) 227-2384 . . . Details on English-speaking doctors overseas from the International Assn. for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT), 417 Center St., Lewiston, N.Y. 14092 . . . To swap houses with someone overseas, contact Intervac U.S., P.O. Box 590504, San Francisco 94159 . . . An item in last week’s Tips on the Hotel Express travel club, a private marketing group, failed to note that membership in the marketing club costs $49.95.

Reader Recommendations

California--Stacey Powells, Hollywood: “My son and I went dog sledding with Paul Marvely, Dog Sled Adventures, P.O. Box 7791, Mammoth Lakes 93546. Marvely puts his love of the outdoors and his obvious love and respect for his dogs before anything else and shares his enthusiasm with those lucky enough to enjoy a ride with the team.”

Hawaii--Bridget and Mark Fenton, Hawthorne: “To see ‘hidden Hawaii,’ contact Crane Tours, 15101 Magnolia Blvd., H10, Sherman Oaks 91403. This will be our sixth consecutive summer on one of their trips. We have done both backpacking and the hiking tour.”

Virginia--Jean Brown, Kensington: “On a visit to Virginia, our B&B; reservations were arranged by Guesthouses, Box 5737, Charlottesville 22905.”

England--Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Hallbach, El Cajon: “Gourmet Turkish food at the Sofra Restaurant, 18 Shepard St.”

We regret that only a select few recommendations can be used. They must be brief (typewritten or printed). Only one recommendation per reader, please.