Emerald Bay Village — Hotel in South Lake Tahoe

My wife and I have driven past this quaint motel (located before the "Y" on your way into town from Sacramento) for years and not really paid attention. We had our usual favorite lodges, nearly all of which were within a couple miles of the casinos. But during a spur-of-the-moment trek this past weekend, I decided to give it a try.||||My decision was, in part, influenced by reviews at online reservation sites Expedia and Trip Advisor, which we generally positive. I have to agree. My wife and I stayed two nights, and it suited our needs very well.||||The Positives:||1. It's away from the main strip (Tahoe Boulevard), so if you want a place to stay without the heavy automobile and pedestrian traffic, this is a good choice.||||2. It's pet friendly, so your dog can come with you. Of course, there's a fee and a refundable deposit, but these are lower than rates at other motels. There also does not appear to be a size limit on your pet, although the owners do state that you should make other accommodations if your dog barks too much or is aggressive toward others.||||3. The rooms are reasonably priced; they almost run the risk of being so low that you might pass on the place because you assume it's a dive. Don't worry, it's not. ||||4. The new owners -- a delightful couple who have been in the motel for about a year -- have done quite a bit to upgrade the appearance of the rooms. The interior, along with its genuine antique wall decorations, log-cabin interior paneling and hardwood floor gives the room a very cozy appeal (FYI: The room image on this page is actually for the room we stayed in).||||5. The room's gas heating system was adequate. I'm not sure how effective it will be when it starts to get really cold, or if the room has good insulation for height of summer and winter. Guess we'll have to come back again to find out.||||6. You don't have to head into town to find a place to eat. There's a great cafe, Ernie's, across the street; a couple other restaurants down the road heading toward the Y, and more food in the Raley's/Kmart shopping center at the Tahoe Blvd./Emerald Bay Road juncture. And yes, there's a Starbucks and a McDonald's in the area, for those who need to feel like they're truly in a civilized place. ||||7. If you like dogs, you'll love Cooper, a mid-sized ball of energy that gets excited every time someone approaches.||||The Cons:||1. The rooms are small, at least in our unit (#6). It may remind you of a college dorm room in terms of size. However, you can easily make your way around the queen-sized bed at night without bumping into anything, even if you line up items like suitcases against the walls. A sizeable walk-in closet helps compensate for lost square footage.||||2. Yes, the shower is tiny, maybe 1 1/2 times the size of a phone booth (for those who remember such things). Someone who is above plus-size may have some difficulty maneuvering inside one. They're also not recommended for someone with a fear of the dark, as the only light comes from within the bathroom, and that all but vanishes when you draw the shower curtain. The water temperature is also a bit hard to control -- you have separate hot and cold lines, just like in the old days, but it's difficult to tell how far you need to turn either one to get the water temp you want.||||3. The bathroom toilet is very low to the ground. This is not the fault of the owners; it's just the way they made bathrooms 60 years ago. Good size for kids, though.||||4. There is noise in the room at night. In our case, it was simply the sound of the gas heater doing its thing. We had no problem with it, but some people may insist on earplugs or headphones, or even to keep the TV running while they sleep. ||||5. Speaking of which -- the TV could use a remote with a sleep timer, to prevent keeping the set on until you wake the next morning (assuming you're the type who needs television to fall asleep to).||||6. Parking wasn't a problem for us, as we came on an off day before the weekend rush. But there appears to be just enough space for one car per unit, so you may not want to make your unit the gathering point if you plan to do anything with friends later.||||Bottom line: This lodging is more than worth the money. If you're the type who is going to gripe about room size or the type of soap supplied in the bathroom, forget it. If you're a realist and remember that you're not likely to spend most of your time in your room while on vacation, you can be perfectly happy here for a couple days. So...

My wife and I have driven past this quaint motel (located before the "Y" on your way into town from Sacramento) for years and not really paid attention. We had our usual favorite lodges, nearly all of which were within a couple miles of the casinos. But during a spur-of-the-moment trek this past weekend, I decided to give it a try.||||My decision was, in part, influenced by reviews at online reservation sites Expedia and Trip Advisor, which we generally positive. I have to agree. My wife and I stayed two nights, and it suited our needs very well.||||The Positives:||1. It's away from the main strip (Tahoe Boulevard), so if you want a place to stay without the heavy automobile and pedestrian traffic, this is a good choice.||||2. It's pet friendly, so your dog can come with you. Of course, there's a fee and a refundable deposit, but these are lower than rates at other motels. There also does not appear to be a size limit on your pet, although the owners do state that you should make other accommodations if your dog barks too much or is aggressive toward others.||||3. The rooms are reasonably priced; they almost run the risk of being so low that you might pass on the place because you assume it's a dive. Don't worry, it's not. ||||4. The new owners -- a delightful couple who have been in the motel for about a year -- have done quite a bit to upgrade the appearance of the rooms. The interior, along with its genuine antique wall decorations, log-cabin interior paneling and hardwood floor gives the room a very cozy appeal (FYI: The room image on this page is actually for the room we stayed in).||||5. The room's gas heating system was adequate. I'm not sure how effective it will be when it starts to get really cold, or if the room has good insulation for height of summer and winter. Guess we'll have to come back again to find out.||||6. You don't have to head into town to find a place to eat. There's a great cafe, Ernie's, across the street; a couple other restaurants down the road heading toward the Y, and more food in the Raley's/Kmart shopping center at the Tahoe Blvd./Emerald Bay Road juncture. And yes, there's a Starbucks and a McDonald's in the area, for those who need to feel like they're truly in a civilized place. ||||7. If you like dogs, you'll love Cooper, a mid-sized ball of energy that gets excited every time someone approaches.||||The Cons:||1. The rooms are small, at least in our unit (#6). It may remind you of a college dorm room in terms of size. However, you can easily make your way around the queen-sized bed at night without bumping into anything, even if you line up items like suitcases against the walls. A sizeable walk-in closet helps compensate for lost square footage.||||2. Yes, the shower is tiny, maybe 1 1/2 times the size of a phone booth (for those who remember such things). Someone who is above plus-size may have some difficulty maneuvering inside one. They're also not recommended for someone with a fear of the dark, as the only light comes from within the bathroom, and that all but vanishes when you draw the shower curtain. The water temperature is also a bit hard to control -- you have separate hot and cold lines, just like in the old days, but it's difficult to tell how far you need to turn either one to get the water temp you want.||||3. The bathroom toilet is very low to the ground. This is not the fault of the owners; it's just the way they made bathrooms 60 years ago. Good size for kids, though.||||4. There is noise in the room at night. In our case, it was simply the sound of the gas heater doing its thing. We had no problem with it, but some people may insist on earplugs or headphones, or even to keep the TV running while they sleep. ||||5. Speaking of which -- the TV could use a remote with a sleep timer, to prevent keeping the set on until you wake the next morning (assuming you're the type who needs television to fall asleep to).||||6. Parking wasn't a problem for us, as we came on an off day before the weekend rush. But there appears to be just enough space for one car per unit, so you may not want to make your unit the gathering point if you plan to do anything with friends later.||||Bottom line: This lodging is more than worth the money. If you're the type who is going to gripe about room size or the type of soap supplied in the bathroom, forget it. If you're a realist and remember that you're not likely to spend most of your time in your room while on vacation, you can be perfectly happy here for a couple days. So...

A REAL DISAPPOINTMENT. We stayed at the Emerald Bay Village in their standard 2-bedroom Bayview cabin. The place looked like it had been recently remodeled with a new bathroom, kitchen cabinets, counters, and flooring. That's where the niceties ended, and the reality kicked in. Overall, the cabin was very small and felt cramped. The queen beds literally filled the bedrooms leaving just enough space to walk around them and no space for anything else. Fortunately, there was a small walk-in closet to put my suitcases in - although it was cold, dark, with no interior light, and a door that could open only until it hit the bed.

The bed had a white comforter and right in the middle of it was a large yellow stain the size of a dinner plate. After seeing that, I didn't feel clean in this place. Add to that, dirty baseboards throughout, counters not cleaned behind kitchen appliances, a dirty mini fridge, a kitchen faucet with no water pressure and only a weak stream of water coming out ... and the worst, a filthy plunger in the bathroom with strands of someone's long hair wrapped around it. I wished I could just check out and leave.

The bathroom was updated with a trough-like sink, fancy faucet, and tiled shower. Nice, trendy, but not necessarily designed with overnight guests in mind. There were no drawers to put anything in and no counter to put anything on. I used the back of the toilet tank and the toilet seat to hold my toiletries. We had 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels - that's it - rather stingy for a 2-bedroom cabin that I paid $280/night for (plus tax, a service fee and a cleaning fee). The soap dispenser was almost empty. Oh, and only 1 light bulb in the vanity fixture would stay on, while the other 2 flickered on and off (tightening the bulbs didn't help). Add to that, the handle to the faucet fell off into the sink.

Who's cleaning and maintaining this place? It's not my job to "reach out" to the host to point these issues out. Remember, I'm the guest. I'm on vacation. And besides, it seems no one answers the property's phone number (Georgia area code) - they text - so don't plan on reaching a live person.

I don't understand all the 5-star reviews for Emerald Bay Village that say it was "clean, comfortable and convenient". My cabin experience was neither clean or comfortable. And while it may be convenient to stores, the cabin was right near the main highway, and we could hear traffic late into the evening.

Look at other critical reviews for Emerald Bay Village on sites like Expedia.com and Hotelsone.com and just be cautious about booking...