Big Pines Mountain House

Location: Most reviews emphasize proximity to downtown, restaurants, attractions, and Heavenly’s gondola, with easy access to walking areas.

DO NOT STAY HERE. Horrible. I’ve stayed in a lot of crappy budget hotels in my day, and didn’t have high expectations, but this was laughably bad. I paid almost $200 (which I get is a budget rate in south lake tahoe during the summer) but really wish I would have spent $50 or even $100 more to avoid this dump. -When checking in, front desk agent was bothered and snippy with me for no reason and gave me no basic check in info (like that I would need a voucher before walking all the way down to the beach) - My room felt so dirty and had standing water on the bathroom floor, a dirty old piece of pizza box on the closet shelf, and unpainted patches all over the walls. -booking touted “private beach”- which is actually a shared private beach that is about a 10 minute walk away. -I walked down to the beach to learn from the attendants that you have to get a voucher from the hotel. It is then $5. -I walked back to the hotel to get the voucher but no one was in the office and it was locked. -no info binder or phone in the room (probably because they don’t want you calling them with all the issues they have) - Walls and ceilings were incredibly thin. I could hear private/normal level conversations through the walls. Could not wait to get out of this dump. Barely slept and left early in the morning.

You get what you pay for. It was quiet, good parking. And although it’s not fancy it’s clean and everything worked well. And location is pretty central to anything you need. I’d stay again . Also the staff was very friendly. For a weekend you cannot get a better deal for your money with a Full kitchen in it for under $100 each night.