Basecamp Tahoe City — Hotel in Tahoe City

I made my booking through the Chase Travel portal a month before my stay and was charged at that time. When I arrived, check-in was delayed due to nobody being at the front desk. When someone did eventually arrive, I was asked to provide my credit card for the $25 incidentals hold, which I did. The stay itself was fine, nothing remarkable. The morning of check-out, they texted me, using a wrong first name, instructing me to text when I was ready to check out. I replied to this text after turning in my keys, including clarifying my correct name.

An hour or two after checkout, I received an invoice for my stay. Upon reviewing the invoice once I reached my destination two days later (I had been on a cross-country road trip) and double checking my credit card transactions, I realized that I had been charged a second time. I replied to the email with the invoice explaining the situation and got no reply (email address was for the front desk, and did not say “Do not reply” anywhere in it). I called three days after that; nobody answered the phone, so I left a voicemail. I called again the next day since I still had not received any follow-up, and the woman who answered said that the manager was coming in later in the day and had been forwarded the email. I did not get a reply after that, either.

It has now been a week since my stay. This is still unresolved, and though I was hoping to get it sorted out before leaving on a backcountry trip next week, but that now seems unlikely. It is looking like I will have to go through my credit card company to have the charge removed.

I am not sure what the problem is on their end, or if they are always this unresponsive. It would take just a few minutes for someone to send a quick email reply saying that they were looking into it and to provide an ETA, but they have not communicated at all. This was my first time in Lake Tahoe, and while I enjoyed my short time in the area, I definitely would not stay at this...

Positives first: It’s a mid-20th century motor lodge in the center of Tahoe City. So, it’s a motel (you know old school single story travel lodge style building). But refreshed and nicely redecorated in simple tahoe/cabin style decor. Typical “All who wander are not lost” pictures they sell at the local home decor shops, and a big hand drawn style cartoon type map of the lake tahoe region on a big canvas wall hanging. Simple, kitschy vibe. Grocery and pharmacy across the street, walking distance to shops and the lake. Room was clean and quiet.

Negatives-Room was COLD. Low temperature outside last night was 20 degrees. Heater was not working…at all. No discernable heat emitted at all settings, speeds, configurations, etc. My wife took a hot shower to try to get warm enough to fall asleep before the chill got through. Didn’t help. No extra blankets or bedding in the room. Just the single blanket on the bed. Fortunately I keep a large wool army blanket in my truck. So I doubled that up on my wife and that helped enough for her to fall asleep at 2:30am. Lesser negative, wifi did not reach the room, cell coverage was actually better. So we survived the night, waking up to a still cold room. We packed up and I checked out. I received a brief “hello” from the person standing behind the monitor at the counter. “Checking out?” “Yes, room 122” “Your all set” So I paused, and since she didn’t inquire at all about how our stay way I politely mentioned,” Oh, the heat in 122 doesn’t work and there are no extra blankets in the room. It was very cold last night. You may want to have that looked at”. The response? An unflinching “Hm.”. That’s was the limit of her interest in our stay.

There are many good reviews for this place which I am sure are valid. This was my experience. Definitely not a repeat...

The Good: Basecamp is located just on the edge of Tahoe City, highly walkable, and only about a 15 min drive to Palisades. The breakfast is generous with tasty waffles (though it does not start until 815, so if you want to make first chair or be able to park easily at Palisades or Alpine, you’ll likely have to skip). The main lodge is cute, with a nice atmosphere and beer selection. The rooms are relatively large, so if you’re looking to shove the full 4 adults in a room to save money, you’ll still be somewhat comfortable.

The Bad: The rooms were a bit of a mess— the sheets were full of holes, carpet was muddled in color and had rips throughout, and cobwebs were in all the corners. All in all, it felt much more like a motel than a hotel in terms of quality.

Worst of all, it was horrifically loud. Our room was directly next to some sort of pump that went on all night, sounding like a cross between shoes in a washing machine and an industrial wave machine. We were barely able to sleep, waking every few hours. We reported this to the staff after the first night, and the woman looked at us was disdain and said she would send maintenance. That never arrived, so we requested it again that night. The man said he was unsure why it didn’t come, but would come the next day. Again, maintenance never came. On our final morning, the woman at the counter said there was no maintenance on the weekends, so she was unsure why it was promised.

Throughout, we texted the number provided for assistance to try and get this resolved, and no one ever replied. The system seemed to be completely unmonitored.

All in all, I’d...