Bally's Lake Tahoe — Hotel in South Lake Tahoe

DO NOT STAY HERE.|I actually always look at reviews here first and I took a chance on this place with "ify" reviews because it had changed hands from Mountbleu to Bally's and it looked like the closet and easiest place to stay when going to the Tahoe Blue Event Center. IT IS NOT WORTH IT"A LOCATION. the Tahoe Blue Event Center was a perfectly lovely place to see a concert. clean, efficient, helpful. Bally's was none of these things. We arrived at 5pm just 1 hour after check in begins. This was a Event night right next door so you think they would be prepared. there was 1 young front desk person who did not really know what to do no manager or other staff in sight and a line of about 50 couples who - since we had plenty of time to talk and become aquainted in this long line had been there for 2 hours aleady.. people were understandably agitated and incredulous at the lack of proper staffing - so we put our bags back in the car and headed to the Lucky Beaver for a burger. We came back at 6:45 - 15 minutes before doors open to the show( we were hoping to change and freshen up haven driven up for this one night stay after the show as a date night) the line was still a good 30 couples deep no chance to make it so we went over to the show... I called a 1 800 # to inform them I would be checking in after midnight now so they would not give my room away... We came back at about midnight after the show there was STILL a line of about 10 couples - the staff had changed but this poor lady was again all alone.. there was a drunken lady who had also been trying to check in since 4pm that was yelling and demanding to speak to a manager or security and even though she swore and yelled no support staff came. those of us in line tried to reach Bally's on a 1 800 # no one answered & we could here the phone ringing non stop to no avail at the front desk as the one lady tried to check people in. We finally got a room key at about 12:45... you have to walk to the other side of the casino and go up the far elevators to the rooms. When we finally go to our door we swiped the key and opened the door at 12:45pm mind you only to find another couple... getting ready to leave as they too had just checked in but the bed was unmade and the room was dirty so they were headed back down to complain... they had given us a key to a occupied room... so all four of us headed all the way down to the front desk again only to wait in line again.. yes at 1 am where a couple who had checked in just ahead of me was also mad and demanding a new room as their room was also dirty .. we all waited and complained and debated leaving but it was late or should I say early in the morning and we had hoped for a restful night after the show. We finally were given a new room.. it appeared somewhat clean however there was hair in the sink area and a huge hair ball in the shower drain and debris on the floor and lots of dust from lack of cleaning in the underside of the open shelf night stand.. at this point we hoped for the best as we lay down to catch a few Z's. We could not get out of there fast enough in the morning.. it was difficult how to figure out how to get the room key to let us out of the garage security arm we pressed the button that said help- no one helped it finally miraculously let us out. we were eating eggs as the Zephyr Cove resort by 8:30 ... We tried to call Bally's number several times that day to reach a manager and talk about the situation as I am sure so did a lot of very mad people we saw that day- no one ever answered, one time I got hung up on by a person who said please hold and one time I was transfered to another extension with NO voicemail so I ws nevcer able to even discuss what had happened. How scary for the couple we walked in on and just how dissapointing since the Event Center is right next door and SO lovely. I also wrote them to tell them not to refer people to this hotel.. Please for your own safety DO NOT stay here!!! I would have been happy to discuss this with a manager but it has been 6 days and no one reached...

I would like to preface this by saying I have 70,000,000 hits (Yes 70 million) on my Google maps reviews and pics and the large majority of my reviews are 4-5 stars. Suffice to say I am very fair with my reviews and certainly understand the difficult job folks in hospitality have on a daily basis. That said.....read on before you stay here. I used to come to Ballys Montbleu for an annual event prior to covid and hadn't been back since covid hit and since the "Montbleu" was removed from the hotel name, presumably from an acquisition by new owners. It was a great place to come for business or pleasure back in those days. In 2023....not so much. It was one negative thing after another. It started before we got there. We were coming for 4 nights for a business conference and to mix some R&R into the mix. We called ahead 2 days before checking in to schedule a massage for my wife and I. First strike: Their advertised full service spa isn't full service at all. In fact, all they had was facials. The guy whom I talked to said they can't find anyone to do massage. Wow! When we arrived to check in at about 7:00pm, we asked the clerk to call the steak restaurant in the hotel, Ciera to make a reservation for us since it was getting late. The receptionist/clerk, who had zero interpersonal communication skills, told me we would have to call when we arrived in our room. I said well if you aren't too busy, I would appreciate if she call NOW so we don't have to wait when we got to the restaurant. She actually said well we are busy. I looked back and there were zero people in line behind me. I was pretty incredulous at her response and I asked for a supervisor. She asked a supervisor for permission to make me a reservation and she was told the steak house was not open from Mon-Wed. Since we were checking in on Monday night - strike 2 and 3. (lousy service and no where to eat in the hotel except the cafe) I understand she was probably new but the lack of sufficient training was completely evident. 2nd day I went to the Cafe Del sol for lunch and was told it was a 20-25 minute wait. The hostess added she can get out a to go order pretty quickly. Awesome! I opted for that. However, after waiting a full 30 minutes I asked if she forgot me. She said I'm so sorry I'm here by myself and totally forgot. She brought my to go order which had obviously been sitting in the box for at least 20 minutes and was cold. Unreal. On the 3rd day of our stay, we woke up to a hot room. I called the front desk and I was told the air conditioning in the ENTIRE hotel was out of service and no estimate when it will be repaired. I went down to the conference where I was an exhibitor (where people were losing weight it was so hot) and around 9:30am and again at noon when we had breaks, I went to my room to recharge and found it to be 79 degrees and 81 degrees respectively in my room. The A/C wasn't back up and running until around 5:00PM when I got to my room and it was still 77 degrees but at least the temp was coming down. Finally, upon check out, we were told by conference staff to make sure to ask the front desk for the conference rate on parking because they were told they were having computer problems and the special rate wasn't being applied. Sure enough when I brought it to the attention to the person behind the front desk, she seemed put off that she had to manually input the discount. I asked how we were being compensated for the discomfort of no a/c in 100 degree weather the day before. (middle of July during heat wave). Her response: "I'm not authorized to do that." I was so fed up I just walked out without any more hassle. needless to say, if anyone asks.....I'll say absolutely not. DO NOT STAY AT BALLYS LAKE TAHOE! To management: send your managers to hospitality school so they can train their employees in simple social skills like learning the words, "Certainly and My Pleasure." It used to be that way here and it was a pleasant resort to stay in. These days "Resort" shouldn't be anywhere in the description of Ballys...

Okay, bear with me on this one as it's not so plain and simple.

First off, the facility. Bally's has several attractive amenities: -Indoor pool (and hot tub) -Gym -Spa -Arcade -Escape Room -Axe throwing -Several Restaurants

There's more but you get my point.

The attractions are hit or miss. We didn't use all of the facilities but here's our experience from the ones we did:

The pool. Fairly straightforward process and the staff was friendly. The heated pool's temperature is acceptable, but barely. The hot tub on the other hand is awesome. Perfect temperature and a plethora of powerful jets to choose from. Noise level is high, but it's indoors so expected. What kills the vibe is you're not allowed to bring the towels outside of the pool facility, so basically everyone 'dries' themselves off and proceeds to drip pool water down the hallway into the rest of the resort. This is clearly evident as soon as the chlorine smell hits you in the face upon entering the resort from the garage, and carries over to the entire property.

The Arcade. It's relatively small, the claw machines are calibrated so nobody wins, and the rest of the machines are poorly maintained. Don't waste your money. Avoid at all costs.

Cafe Del Soul. Surprisingly decent! Generous portions, excellent customer service, and overall a great place to eat diner style offerings. I recommend coming here if you just want to stay in the resort or need a quick bite. One thing to note however, they charge you $5 for to go orders.

Ciera Steakhouse. Excellent. Expensive, but worth it. Note that there is a kids menu, but it's Chicken tenders and fries, full stop. Splurged on a $55 filet for our son (super picky and basically on a tenders and fries diet) and he killed the whole thing. It's not cheap, but if you can afford it, do not visit Stateline without eating here. A+++

Now for the actual hotel part.

Avoid.

Check-in was fine. The front desk staff were very friendly and pleasant to interact with. But that's basically where the experience drops off a cliff.

After getting our room keys, we walked to the elevators, only to find a line as long as a six flags rollercoaster. For the amount of rooms this place has, there's simply not enough cars to funnel people up to their respective floors. This obviously is a design flaw of the building, so management gets a pass on this one. That said, it's frustrating as hell and I wouldn't recommend staying here if you have a short fuse. Also, there are no stairwells remotely close to the elevator, so study those evacuation maps!

The rooms are...fine. Recently updated furnishings and a HUGE bathroom. However, the carpet was filthy and the toilet was on life support (and eventually died).

I'll try to keep the rest brief.

The vending machine ate our money. My wife called the front desk and they were completely unhelpful. Eventually, she was directed to the CASHIER'S CAGE IN THE CASINO to get our money back. For two dollars. Yes it seems trivial, but when you're teaching your son a lesson on spending money, it's frustrating as hell.

The card in the room that lays out all the ways they're cutting corners lists the rooms only being cleaned upon request. So I made a request(~11:30am) and this was literally the response I got from the front desk, "oh uhhh I don't think we can do that. Is there something specific you need?" Long story short, someone knocked on our door, dumped a full stack of towels and sheets and took off. This is Bally's housekeeping service people. Avoid.

The toilet was on the Fritz during our entire stay(eventually overflowed). Every time we tried to call the front desk, we were put on hold indefinitely. One time we called back and they ACKNOWLEDGED that they forgot about us on hold! Ridiculous.

I want to be clear that all the staff we interacted with were very friendly, and Bally's does have a lot to offer in terms of a resort, but when it comes to the actual lodging, do yourself a favor and stay anywhere else but here, especially for what...