Travel Inn — Hotel in South Lake Tahoe

I had a terrible debilitating experience after my stay at the Travel Inn at South Tahoe California this morning, June 4, 2021. The room was fine. The stay was good. But at 11:00 AM this morning, after I dropped of the key in the key drop, my eye caught the curbed recreation area in the parking lot, an area about 15’ by 45’. There were two invitational tables with benches and umbrellas. There appeared to be a display of some sort in front of the tables, consisting of a blanket, or tarp, with decorative circles, and a device that looked similar to a sun dial I once saw on a tourist walk at the Quality Inn in Ukiah, Ca.

I thought I should be a good tourist and check it out. I approached what looked like perhaps a sun dial. I stepped a little closer to try to scrutinize it, but I couldn’t figure it out, so I started to walk away. At that moment a lady who I assumed was a proprietor, came running out screaming at me, in a dialect that I could barely understand.

She said, “what are you doing? Can’t you see this is a …. (I couldn’t decipher what she said) and she pointed to the tarp that was slightly disturbed by my stepping on it. The circles appeared to be something like 6” tortillas spread out very neatly all over the tarp, as if perhaps to be sun dried, but I don’t know. I said “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I had no idea. This looked like a public display. I thought the device might be a sun dial.”

Then a man, came out from the office screaming at me with heavy profanity, repeatedly calling me obscene names, and told me to get the @%^& out. I said “I see two tables with benches and umbrellas. This looks like a recreational area.” He called me some more names and told me to get out.

At that point I started to call him out. I made solid eye contact, pointed my finger, and said “you don’t talk to me that way.” I had more to say but at that moment this man approached me, screaming like a maniac, and I felt my safety at risk. I turned and walked toward my car without looking back. He followed me, screaming.

This was extremely disturbing. I am 74 years old and I do not remember ever being yelled at and cursed at like that in my life. I don’t even know what I did wrong. These people were evidently engaging in some cultural project, or ritual, on the premises of their business in the presence of customers. At the very least there had to be caution tape or something to designate the area they did not want disturbed. If I did damage to that project I would have eagerly compensated them for any damages I did, but that communication was impossible due to their thick dialect that I couldn’t understand, and their screaming which I was not about to try to match. This cursing and this abhorrent behavior is terrible customer relations, as well as human relations, and I think the management should be made...

Had a 1 night stay on a Friday night, and just wanted a cheap , clean place to sleep for the night. The pluses - the room was cheap for Tahoe on a Friday night, it was clean, and did have a good enough bed, tv, and shower, and heat( more on that later). ||The minuses - at check in , you’re expected to fill out a check-in form that looks more like a police booking form - sorry, I’ve already paid for the room and given you my ID & a credit card at check in, you don’t need my DL #, my shoe size, and my cat’s name. Also, there’s a little sign that says they put a $100 security hold on your credit card - huh ?? Everything in the room together probably isn’t worth $100 total. My two biggest issues with the room were (1) there is no thermostat, so the heater is always on - and by midnight, I had to open the bathroom window to try & cool the room down below “Sahara in July” (2) the room is very small, but does have a tv, a cable box, a microwave, and a small fridge - but they’re all plugged into the same power strip in the only accessible electric outlet in the whole room - so it looks like something you probably had rigged up at your very first apartment, which was also your first very big fire hazard. I had to plug my cell phone in at the bathroom outlet ; there was one more outlet just outside the bathroom, but it was so worn out it wouldn’t hold a plug. |So , bottom line is I got what I paid for, but next time I’ll pay $15 more and stay at the Days Inn next door, which is a much better...

The heater lacked a cover or thermostat, seemed dangerous and got very hot. The bathroom layout did not look to be to code. I did not have a measuring device with me so I used a coat hanger for the photo.

Ice and snow cleared from portions of the parking lot, but not from in front of my room. They looked at my disability and told me very firmly not to slip on the ice. They did not sand it. They did not salt it. They did not scrape it. I grew up doing all those things to make ice safe or at least safer.

I must apologize for the previous version of this review. At the time of my stay I started getting little red spots that could have been caused by insect bites. I continued getting the spots after I got home and thought I had taken insects home. But, it seems to be an unrelated medical issue. While the kind of spots I have can be caused by insects, if that was the cause they would be healing. I have also had two exterminators come out and give opinions.

So, there are problems at Travel Inn, but I was under false impressions about an important one. I did not intend to write a false or misleading review and have returned to remedy the problem as best I can. I am intentionally not naming the insects to avoid searches finding the mention of...