Meeks Bay Resort — Hotel in Tahoe City

This place is could be great. The location cannot be beat. The resort is right on Meeks Bay and has a beautiful, wide, sandy beach. The water is relatively shallow in the bay, so it is a bit warmer than most of the lake, making it ideal for swimming, paddle boarding, and other water activities. The beach can be crowded on the weekends, but on the weekdays, it’s not too bad, even in August. There is a snack bar right off the beach that serves burgers, wraps, and things like that. The food is pretty good. There are picnic tables and grills set back from the lake, under the pine trees. It is a really great spot.||||The resort has rustic cabins and lodge rooms on one side of the resort and then a campground on the other side. The paved bike path ends right at the resort, so it is a comfortable walk or ride to the nearby state parks and to Tahoma. There are also a variety of hiking trails very close by. ||||Unfortunately, the management of the resort seems to be pretty disorganized and it doesn’t look like much is invested back into the property to maintain it. ||||We rented Cabin 5 for 3 nights. Check-in is at 3, but we couldn’t get into our cabin until 5. We tried to check in at 3:30, were told the cabin wasn’t ready yet, but that housekeeping was almost finished. Then when we came back at 4 to check on the status of our cabin, we were told it wouldn’t be ready for another hour. The front desk staff didn’t seem to know what the status was with the cabins, and they didn’t seem to care either. They seemed kind of annoyed and put out when I asked about my cabin. It was weird. Finally, at 5 when the front desk staff said the cabin still wasn’t ready, I asked for the keys anyway and went to the cabin thinking that at least we could use the outdoor space while we waited for housekeeping to finish. When we got to the cabin, it had been cleaned and there was no sign of any cleaning staff at our cabin or any of the neighboring ones. I suspect that our cabin had been cleaned a while ago, and that we were left waiting due to general disorganization and disinterest on the part of the front desk staff. It was frustrating.|| ||The cabin itself was decent but could be much nicer with a little effort. The cabins are old, so you expect that windows and doors will stick, exterior paint to peel, and all of that – it’s part of the charm – but the furnishings were also old and worn and there was deferred maintenance everywhere. The mattress in our room was saggy and the bedding was showing serious signs of wear. One of the kitchen curtains was a piece of fabric tacked on the window frame. One of the wooden steps up to the cabin had split and hadn’t been repaired. There was water damage in the bathroom. Things were just sort of shabby all around, and the really unfortunate thing is that most of the issues didn’t seem to be that hard to fix – the whole place just needs some TLC.||||Overall, we had a pretty decent stay and enjoyed ourselves, despite the rocky start. This resort is almost great – and it could be amazing with a bit...

So... we were really excited to camp here. The pictures of the beach and the location look absolutely gorgeous, so we put down a deposit for a three night stay. Upon arrival, we found the entrance and were really excited. The place looked beautiful. We drive in and park next to the office/store. Check-in is at 3PM and we arrived around 4PM. On the door, the hours show that the office closes at 5PM. Our first impression is that the guy at the front counter looks completely miserable. Nevertheless, we get our car tag and drive in to find our spot. We realize we don't have any firewood, so we walk back to the office/store to ask if we can buy some firewood. On our way back we check out the bathrooms. The shower requires tokens to operate (@ $2 per 4 minutes of water). When we get to the office, we ask if they sell firewood, and the guy at the counter just says, "No", to which I ask, "well do you know where we can get firewood?" He simply responds, "No". Another woman in the store tells us they sell firewood at the grocery store up the road. We buy $10 worth of shower tokens and walk back to our car to unpack.||||When we got back, we notice that the bear-proof cooler storage is filled with trash, including raw meat, and various extremely smelly food. There is also some litter on the picnic bench. At this point, the way we had been treated so far made us feel extremely uneasy and so we drove back to the office without unpacking anything. We let the front desk guy know that our camp site wasn't checked or cleaned prior to our arrival and about the condition of the storage container. He tells us the maintenance guy isn't here, and kind of just shrugs, as if to tell us: too bad. I asked him if they could move us to a different tent site, and he just sits there silent for a few seconds before telling us to go talk to the manager. He leads us to the manager's office, and I explain the situation to him. He is a lot more empathetic sounding and tells us that he'll get someone to clean it up immediately. I tell him we're going to drive back into the nearest town to buy some firewood and that hopefully it'll be clean by the time we get back. We leave and return about an hour later to find that nothing has been done and the camp office is now closed. We sit there in dismay and frustration trying to figure out what to do, as the sun will set in about an hour or so, we won't have enough time to unpack and pitch a tent and cook dinner before dark, and we cannot use the storage to keep our cooler, so a bear might come and break into our car.||||We threw the towel in and left... Basically, it feels like the guys who run this place don't even care. If you choose to go camping here, you should call ahead to ensure your campsite is prepared for your arrival, and also be warned that you'll be camping less than 20 feet from your neighbors, and also be prepared to spend $4 every time you want to take a shower. Really sad... The beach...

So... we were really excited to camp here. The pictures of the beach and the location look absolutely gorgeous, so we put down a deposit for a three night stay. Upon arrival, we found the entrance and were really excited. The place looked beautiful. We drive in and park next to the office/store. Check-in is at 3PM and we arrived around 4PM. On the door, the hours show that the office closes at 5PM. Our first impression is that the guy at the front counter looks completely miserable. Nevertheless, we get our car tag and drive in to find our spot. We realize we don't have any firewood, so we walk back to the office/store to ask if we can buy some firewood. On our way back we check out the bathrooms. The shower requires tokens to operate (@ $2 per 4 minutes of water). When we get to the office, we ask if they sell firewood, and the guy at the counter just says, "No", to which I ask, "well do you know where we can get firewood?" He simply responds, "No". Another woman in the store tells us they sell firewood at the grocery store up the road. We buy $10 worth of shower tokens and walk back to our car to unpack.||||When we got back, we notice that the bear-proof cooler storage is filled with trash, including raw meat, and various extremely smelly food. There is also some litter on the picnic bench. At this point, the way we had been treated so far made us feel extremely uneasy and so we drove back to the office without unpacking anything. We let the front desk guy know that our camp site wasn't checked or cleaned prior to our arrival and about the condition of the storage container. He tells us the maintenance guy isn't here, and kind of just shrugs, as if to tell us: too bad. I asked him if they could move us to a different tent site, and he just sits there silent for a few seconds before telling us to go talk to the manager. He leads us to the manager's office, and I explain the situation to him. He is a lot more empathetic sounding and tells us that he'll get someone to clean it up immediately. I tell him we're going to drive back into the nearest town to buy some firewood and that hopefully it'll be clean by the time we get back. We leave and return about an hour later to find that nothing has been done and the camp office is now closed. We sit there in dismay and frustration trying to figure out what to do, as the sun will set in about an hour or so, we won't have enough time to unpack and pitch a tent and cook dinner before dark, and we cannot use the storage to keep our cooler, so a bear might come and break into our car.||||We threw the towel in and left... Basically, it feels like the guys who run this place don't even care. If you choose to go camping here, you should call ahead to ensure your campsite is prepared for your arrival, and also be warned that you'll be camping less than 20 feet from your neighbors, and also be prepared to spend $4 every time you want to take a shower. Really sad... The beach...