Kit Carson Lodge & Restaurant — Hotel in South Lake Tahoe

While this property used to be lovely, but rustic, it is no longer habitable and priced extremely high for what you receive. We arrived to find our cabin parking area and deck full of construction debris. This is after pulling up to the resort check-in area in horror as the entire deck surrounding the restaurant was under construction, trees and wood chips strewn all around, and construction tools and trucks all over the property. We found out at check-in that the restaurant was not open for breakfast. We should have been made aware of that, and that was not mentioned on the website. We were celebrating a family birthday with several family members so were excited to stay, but were hesitant upon arrival with all of the commotion and debris--they clearly were not ready to be open for the season. We ended up staying for 2 of the 4 nights we had reserved since we had driven all the way up there, and did not know the extent of the horrible conditions. ||||Upon unpacking and settling in, we discovered that the stove was not turned on and we had no hot water. Also, the BBQ was thrown off into the dirt, there were flies in the window seals, one window had no screen, and the heater was not working (in early June is was quite cool at this elevation). For the first 3 hours of our stay we had numerous workers and maintenance folks in and out of our cabin to fix everything. We canceled the second 2 nights with other family members, which was a huge disappointment. We also had a lodge room, which had no toilet paper, no trash pails, and no drapes. For the entire 2-night stay, neither place had hot water, and we had to switch to another lodge room because the one they gave us had a noisy drip all night long from the shower onto a metal floor piece. ||||The resort is very pricey for the subpar conditions they offer. The restaurant (we only had one meal there) was no better. The help did not know if there were any specials, did not provide us a wine list, and served the baked potato with no butter, salt or pepper, or other sides. We had to continually ask for things and many items on the menu were not available--they later told us those items were only available at lunchtime (perhaps they should specify that when seating). ||||We found out the second day that there had been a recent change of ownership (May 2022). That explains why nobody returned my calls for a week before our arrival. We were told upon checking out early that we would be refunded for the 2 nights we did not stay, but they couldn't credit my charge card at that time because of the change in ownership. After I got home I tried calling to find out about the check that would be mailed to me but nobody could help me and advised that the owner would call me, but of course he never did and I was ghosted from that point on. Eventually, I had to contact my credit card company and file a claim. I finally got a refund almost two months later, but no money back for the horrible condition of the place and the big bucks we paid for the sub-par conditions. I spent a lot of time planning this vacation and birthday celebration, had a horrible stay for 2 nights, then had to spend another month trying to get my refund. It was very unsettling for me, and perhaps the worst part was that the resort, staff and owner, could care less. They just lost a long-standing customer but they've done nothing to make me whole.||||While the setting is beautiful the lodge and accommodations, as well as the current staff, are not worth $300 - $400 per night. They should not have opened this year, and they should have advised folks like myself who had reservations, that they were going through a change of ownership and the resort was under construction and then given us the option to keep our reservation or reschedule. They also should have updated the website to reflect these facts. Very poor...

While the old reviews give the Kit Carson Lodge a solid average, it's worth noting that the reviews from the past year aptly describe the current state of this place. The setting on Silver Lake is wonderful, but even that doesn't offset the many negatives. Posting a thorough review here so that others aren't surprised by the experience. Here is a summary of what we encountered:

-The website and online booking system was broken so I ended up booking by phone. The lodge doesn’t handle reservations but instead its ownership (Amador) handles this. I was incorrectly told our room would include a queen or king bed. It came with two twins crammed into an “L” shape. We were switched to a cheaper, “hotel room” after bringing this to the manager’s attention). -Heater would not turn off and there was a bad smell of propane. -Paint is chipping everywhere on the windows (see photo). -The sliding screen door was installed upside down and did not function (see photo). -No curtains or blinds of any kind in the room. (see photo) -The neighbors' deck is adjacent to the bathroom window, which must stay open due to the heater not turning off, as the heater requires both windows to remain open. The neighbors smoked on their deck throughout our two-night stay, with smoke filling our room. (We eventually closed our window at the risk of the heater warning.) -Spider webs covered the room upon entry -Tree sap covered most of the deck and it was not usable. -Water pressure and water heat were about a 3/10 at best, which would be fine it not for the high nightly rate -No ceiling fan for ventilation, despite the room description mentioning a ceiling fan. -Walls are incredibly thin - could hear everything next two us. -When checking in, the manager told us he “didn’t think” there was parking available near our room. We ended up hauling our luggage from near the fire pit all the way to our room. When we got there, we noticed around 10-15 vacant parking spots as the lodge was at around 40% capacity. -When booking, we were told the restaurant would be open, especially for breakfast; this was not the case, leaving us to drive 25 minutes to find a suitable option. -We were told WiFi was available in rooms when booking via phone. That was incorrect. -A coffee maker was available in room but to use it, you need pick it up and walk across the room as there is no three-pronged outlet nearby. The only option is one on the floor by the bathroom. -Our toilet was broken with several parts missing and rust in spots (see photos).

We rented a canoe as the kayaks were mostly broken and paddle boards were unavailable. The canoe appeared around 30 years old and was worn down. The views on the lake are stunning but not worth the high pricing for rentals.

I suspect the lodge was once a wonderful place to bring family, but under new ownership it is not the same. The only reason we didn’t up and leave was because there is zero cell service anywhere and we couldn’t risk missing wedding festivities at a...

We stayed in the Mackinaw cabin with our dog. Lets start with the room. The comforter had blood stains on it. We could tell it must have been from the last guest as it was still red and it was obvious that the comforter had not been laundered since. We got the spare comforter out of the closet and that one had an unidentifiable stain on it as well (SO gross) I went to the front desk and the young man seemed quite uninterested in what I needed. I told him what was up and housekeeping came with fresh blankets in a short amount of time. There are 2 faux leather chairs in that room. They both should have had wood peg type legs that screw into the wood but one was missing them. That made the chair very low to the floor and not comfortable for an adult to sit in. We deemed that our dogs chair and threw his blanket on it so at least he was happy. The door knob on the bathroom needs to be tightened and seemed it was going to fall off at any time. The last night of our stay the water stopped working. Husband went to talk to front desk but no one was around. He found a waitress in the restaurant and told her what was going on and she replied "yeah there's no water in the kitchen either" and walked away. It went back on hours later. I washed dishes the next morning after breakfast and heard a strange noise. I looked under the kitchen sink and it was leaking. We went to the front desk again to let them know and to turn in our key to check out. I told the same young uninterested man about the leak. He said nothing and took the key. Seems a large family is running this place (NOT the owners) they all avoid eye contact and do the minimum to make sure guests are happy.

Positives: Restaurant food was excellent. Pricey but good. Had the rib eye and seafood pasta. Our waitress was outstanding and other than the cashier in the store they were the only employees that seemed to care about the guests. Beautiful location. The deck on the cabin we stayed in had a partial view of the lake with a table and chairs. Cabin itself is small but if you like places with character and knotty pine you'd enjoy it. The bed was decent. We hiked and saw lots of wildlife, flora and fauna. It's a very peaceful area. Other than needing new management its a nice place...