Inn By The Lake, South Lake Tahoe

My wife and I stayed one night after making a reservation thru the Entertainment Book. We paid $136 for a "standard queen". The bed was smaller than our queen at home. The toilet had dirty brown stains in the bowl and leaked all night causing the tank to refill about every five minutes. The place was almost empty but yet we were given a room that faced the back parking lot where a trailer park was located just over the back fence. The TV was a 19" older model. The room was small. No continental breakfast and I could not get the internet service to work. Very poor value. The night before we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express for $105 and everything was perfect. Two queen beds, flat panel TV, clean room, free internet service, and a full breakfast included in the price.

Stayed at this "motel" while in Tahoe to attend a wedding. Preparing to attend the wedding I found out the hairdryer did not work. Called front desk to ask for another as needed to be at wedding in 45 minutes. They said(unsympathetically) they would have to send a maintenance crew to fix the dryer as they had no other dryers to replace it. 30 minutes later 2 men arrived (they did not seem to understand English). I ended up going to the wedding with semi-wet hair. The sink was scratched and dirty, 2 small bugs in bathroom, not unfriendly front desk staff... I would never stay here again. The name sounds charming but it is little more than a tired plain-Jane motel.

My wife and I were very pleased with the Inn By The Lake. While it is not a five star property it is a FINE property to stay at if you're visiting South Lake Tahoe. When I entered the lobby to check in, they had a sign welcoming us that also announced that we were celebrating our anniversary. A nice touch. The staff was very nice, friendly and helpful. The rooms while a little dated, were large, clean and comfortable. Our room was a king with lake view and although the lake was a little far away, we very very pleased with it. Our balcony overlooked the pool and hot tub as well as the lake. While some have complained about the noise, we did not experience a problem with noise. Maybe because we stayed the week before Memorial Day and the whole area was just so quiet and peaceful.

Everything about this place is great!!! From the location right across the lake, extended continental breakfast, on site fitness, bi-level hot tub (nice!), bowling on property for kids!!! Inn by the Lake is definitely somewhere I would come back to and recommend to any and all that love and appreciate the beauty of Tahoe!!!

I REALLY LIKED THIS PLACE. MY HUSBAND AND I SPENT $175 ON A ROOM THAT FACED THE LAKE. IT WAS VERY NICE. THE ROOM WAS VERY BIG. WHAT I DIDNT LIKE WAS THE FACT THAT I HAD MY FRIENDS STOP BY IN THE EVENING AND WE WERE ALL TALKING ON THE BALCONY ADMIRING THE VIEW WHEN THE FRONT OFFICE CALLED ABOUT A NOISE COMPLAINT.WE WERE NOT LOUD AT ALL. OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS ENJOYABLE.THERE WAS 3 SINKS IN THE ROOOM, A HEATER AND PHONE IN THE BATHROOM.THE BED WAS SO AWSOME..! NICE PLACE

INN BY THE LAKE WAS JUST WHAT WE WANTED FOR OUR VACATION THAT WE EVEN STAYED TWO EXTRA NIGHTS! FROM THE MOMENT THAT WE ARRIVED THE SERVICE WAS GREAT AND THE STAFF WAS VERY FRIENDLY. THE ROOM WITH A VIEW WAS TOTALLY AWESOME..NOTHING COMPARES TO STEPPING OUT ON YOUR BALCONY WITH THE LAKE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU...IT WAS BREATHTAKING. ALTHOUGH YOU MUST CROSS THE ROAD TO GET TO THE WATER, THERE WAS A SMALL BEACH THAT WAS RELATIVELY PRIVATE WHEN WE WERE THERE {JUNE}. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN WADDING IN THE WATER, WATCHING THE SUNSET. JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED...PEACE AND RELAXATION. INN BY THE LAKE ALSO HAD BIKES THAT YOU COULD USE FREE OF CHARGE AND WE TOOK ADVANTAGE RIDING FOR THREE HOURS ONE DAY. WE WILL BE BACK AGAIN IN THREE YEARS AND THIS IS THE PLACE THAT WE WILL STAY, THERES NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

I was not impressed with the room, the shams were soiled and wrinkled, made you wonder what condition the bed roll and spread were in. The toilet was stained. My cousin used her credit card to reserve the room, but I wanted to pay for it, the clerk took my card, did the transaction and handed my card and the reciept back to me. Now my cousin has found her card charged, and mine is not, this will be one of those nightmares to get settled. Only one computer in the lobby, and the young kids were always on it.

If you stay here be very careful of the non-smoking policy. Seriously, the contract you sigh allows them to arbitrarily charge your credit card $50.00 per day if they think you smoked in your room. They just charge your credit card after you leave. I got charged $150.00 for a three night stay where I did not smoke in the room. I smoked on the balcony of my room using their provided ashtray and I suppose some of the smoke was blown in with the wind. When I got the $150.00 bill and called them about it they said "you should have closed the door". Maybe so but, if they have that as a policy they should openly state it. The screen door also fell off after one night and the refridgerator made awful noises all night. I turned it off. Also, the maids clean your room and then leave your room door open for anyone to walk in. They do not wait to see if it closes and latches. Mine was left open twice. The breakfast room is very crowded and the server/cleaner is always wiping the counter down while you are trying to get something to eat.

I thought it was going to be a little more fancy than a normal hotel, hence the name "Inn," but it was like any regular motel. Our room was kind of noisy- the mini fridge ran all night long. The matress abd pillows were really lumpy. The pool was nice, but the hot tub was out of order. The lake is across the highway, so you can walk to it, but it took at least 10 minutes before we could actually walk in the cross walk.

The staff was excellent and the location was great. We did not want to stay close to the casinos, but we wanted to have access to the restaurants in the area. Inn by the Lake was the perfect place for us. It was only a few miles from the casinos, but very close to hiking trails also. Our room was small and older, but it was very clean. The staff at the front desk was a tremendous help also. We wanted to spend four days doing nothing but hiking, and they helped us pick great trails. They loaned us one of their hiking books for the Lake Tahoe area. If we ever go back to Lake Tahoe, we'll definitely stay at Inn by the Lake again.