Marriott's Timber Lodge — Hotel in South Lake Tahoe

October 2022 Experience – Good and Bad

We’ve “owned” our Marriott Timber Lodge timeshare for about 15 years. During that time, we’ve brought and met friends and family up at Lake Tahoe. It’s been really great.

The way it works (or used to) is I’d make our annual reservation on the Marriott “Owners” website, noting all our preferences: high floor, view of the gondolas, and, if possible, a deck (only a small portion of the rooms have a deck, but it’s really great to sit out there and sip your coffee in the mornings).

We arrived yesterday, October 8, a little later than usual, because we stopped to show our granddaughter the Manzanar historical site, which is an important part of American history. When we arrived, we were welcomed, “Welcome back!” This is something we’ve grown used to and something we really enjoy hearing, after a long, ten-hour drive. Then I started the check-in process. None of our requests were fulfilled, not one. I was told that there were no requests in the system; nor was my phone number or Marriott number or anything else. Interesting, since they know where to send our maintenance and property tax bills every year and our $1600 annual check for maintenance to them seems to clear just fine. We were actually first assigned a room overlooking the transit center. We were put there the first time we visited, before we knew the lay of the land. These rooms enjoy the continual sounds of buses arriving and departing, as well as trash trucks, and the like. No thank you. I told my husband this. His response: Hell, no.

The front desk supervisor, Mallory Wolfe, was very solicitous and told us she’d work with managers in the back to get us a great room. Well, the new one is better, but let’s see how our requests were handled.

High floor? Nope. We are in the Alpine building on what the elevator thinks is the third floor, but is actually one floor above the pool. That would be the second floor. Can’t get too much lower.

View of gondola? Nope. We have a view of the street in back of the building and the parking lot of the condos behind the Timber Lodge. Quiet now, but it’s the main exit from this property and others. On the plus side, we did see a bear roaming down this street last night, so that’s something.

Deck? Of course not. Only a few of the rooms have this extra benefit; certainly not the ones on a lower floor facing the street.

Mallory the supervisor was, as I said, very nice about all this and even brought us a bottle of wine. She brought it to our room and asked how we liked our new room and view. I welcomed her in and showed her the view of the street and parking lot. She seemed surprised. She said it is considered a prime room, but that maybe it’s only during winter months when you can see snow on the mountain. It is fine, and I'm sure we'll enjoy our visit, but it’s not what we requested.

What really bothers me is the advice she gave me: In the future, contact Ally Marschak, the “Rooms Controller,” who will ensure that we get the room we want. Okay, what? I’ve been an owner for 15 years and have made requests. 90% of the time we’ve gotten what we requested. Now, as Mallory said, “The room you want is in high demand. They are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.” Huh? Now I must contact an individual to make sure I get in the queue for a good room? How about giving me this person’s number and email when I made the reservation eight months ago?

The rooms (we got a two-bedroom) are nice, if dated and worn. The same uncomfortable couch and chairs we’ve come to know and, if not love, then at least recognize. We love this place in general and will always bring friends and relatives with us when we come in the future. I do want to warn you, though, that being an “Owner” doesn’t mean...

We are owners and traded our week via Interval for the week starting the Sunday of Memorial Day. Arrived Monday from Yosemite (skipped Sunday) and it was quiet and peaceful in Tahoe Tues-Friday. Our total bill was $15 ($10 for sheet change for our college kids who switched out on the sofa bed mid-week, $5 for cotton candy), valet was free for owners. There were free drinks afternoons during the week, no timeshare pressure, and space in a 2 bedroom to spread out our family with a kitchen. Yes, it is a timeshare so no free breakfast for Titanium, but we knew that going in and we still got elite nights. There is easy walking everywhere with plenty of practical shopping. We were fortunate with amazing weather. We thought the valet worked seamlessly with smiles and great service as long as we used the app 10 minutes before we left. The pool was lovely with plenty of shaded cushioned seating, heated to 88 degrees and a nice place to read and relax. Plenty of extra towels, washing machine, and shampoo/conditioner/body wash in the showers. There are odd alcoves near the widows in each room, but we just put our suitcases there. A room designer also dropped the ball in that the silverware drawer was partially blocked by the fridge but it was a very minor issue.||Tips:|Took Tioga Rd from Yosemite in late May - this was truly breathtaking|You can buy drinks at Fire and Ice and take them to the pool (no room charge). |Loved Pine Nut cycles (ebikes - rented the entire day for $50/each and rode 17 miles to Tallac (do not miss this cool historic site - buy tickets for guided tours 11a and 1p ahead of time) then lunch at Camp Richardson Store/Deli, then to Van Sickle Bi-state park for a great hike x 2 miles with nice bike paths for teens through South Tahoe)|There were 2 and 4 mile guided hikes to Van Sickle organized by the lodge - we did not do these but thought that was a great option.|Beautiful kayaking at Sand Harbor via clear Kayaks to Thunderbird on the east shore.|Early AM lake fishing for trout was a bit of a miss (only "caught" one - but ate it blackened at MacDuffs which was delicious).|Also enjoyed The Grove, Elements Eatery, and Beckett Tavern (great smoked meat and live music) for casual places with good food near the water and/or hotel. Caught sunset at El Dorado beach one evening which has great seating/views.|There is no beach easily within walking distance but this was not a big deal to us because we had a rental car.|Took a boat to Emerald Bay to tour to Vikingsholm - packed a lunch - this was fantastic and a must-do. There are really cool estates that somehow the state of California lucked into purchasing in the mid 20th century.|Waterfalls and snowcapped mountains are amazing in late May in Tahoe.|We thought Heavenly Gondola to top of mountain was a "skip" in the early summer - very expensive and not much to do at the top - "snow tubing" was underwhelming. |Had no issues with traffic this time of year. Easy walk to casinos if that's your thing.|Stopped by Virginia City on the way to Reno airport - took the 11:20am train x 35 minutes to learn about the mining history which was interesting and scenic.||Perhaps in July Tahoe is a madhouse but if you want peaceful, awe inspiring beauty in a low key atmosphere before kids are out of school consider late May/early June. The Marriott Timber Lodge was a comfortable, relaxing home base for us that exceeded our...

After staying with friends at the other Marriott in town a couple months prior and loving it, I decided to book a few days here with my husband for a romantic anniversary trip. Unfortunately, we were extremely disappointed with our stay at Mariott's Timber Lodge. We paid for half the trip in credit card points, half in cash, but even with that discount, this hotel does NOT offer value for the money. ||From the moment we drove up, the valets were walking right past us without even looking at us. My husband had to exit the car and flag down a valet who was standing not even 10 feet away but refused to notice us. The front desk staff was extremely friendly and helpful, but the good service started and ended there. We were made aware of construction on the hotel prior to booking, but not until we arrived were we informed that we had to keep our windows and curtains closed for half our stay "to maintain our privacy" because drones were going to be inspecting and taking photos of the outside of the building and the roof. No fresh air or view for us...||As we were pushing our full luggage cart up the ramp to get to the elevators, the "concierge" (more like a used car salesman) was screaming at us to come to his desk to sell us tickets to something. The "concierge" proceeded to call us the following morning for more hard sell (waking my husband up), followed by repeated spam text messages throughout our stay. ||The soaking tub in the bedroom was rickety (it made creaking noises when my average-sized husband sat down on the edge) and filthy (noticeable hairs and smudges on the bottom of the tub). The towels smelled bad. The toilet seat was both too small for the toilet and was installed crooked. And the toilet itself was oddly very low to the ground.||When we called down for more towels we were told that would be an extra charge, or that we could wash our dirty towels ourselves in the room. And that laundry detergent was included, but not dryer sheets. After we washed the towels ourselves, we noticed they smelled nice and fresh. I'm sorry but when you're spending about the same amount as a mortgage payment on a 4-night stay at a hotel, fresh CLEAN towels should be bare minimum of what's included and additional CLEAN towels shouldd be provided upon request. ||The bed was hard as a rock and yet also somehow unsupportive when shifting positions while you sleep. If your partner moves in the slightest, you will feel it and it will wake you up. Pillows were a weird half-size and extremely squishy and unsupportive. We both slept terribly.||The thermostat had a mind of its own and refused to stay on overnight. And since we couldn't open the windows because of the drones, the room got quite stuffy and overly warm.||The valets are dismissive, unhelpful...and TWICE (two different people) smelled so bad that we had to air out the car after they brought it around. I think they were passing gas in our car. We can't be sure, but it was disgusting.||The hotel is conveniently located, and the front desk staff is very nice and helpful. Unfortunately that's the only good I have to say about this place and we will never...