Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe

I want to give a special shout out to Christopher Warren, from reservations, but I should probably discuss the hotel in a more broad sense first. I love snowboarding. I love Tahoe. I love Northstar. And I like nice hotels. So, maybe it wouldn't be too hard to impress me here. However, I have stayed at a variety of nice properties and it is easy for me to spot issues... I just couldn't here. First is the location, to be ski-in/ski-out on Northstar with a ski valet offers unparalleled convenience. Take a break or grab lunch in your room, walk right back out to the slopes... it is pretty perfect. I thought to be next to a gondola up to the mountain was nice, but this is infinitely better. The hotel itself is pretty impressive, architecturally. You enter on the ground floor of a grand timber atrium and there are multiple levels of bars and places to eat, which is cool, but also offers a great place to relax and grab drinks or food. Creating all these breakaway nooks with fireplaces creates a variety of cozy environments, which you look for in a mountain hotel. I would say it is one of my favorite hotel lobby bars due to this dichotomy of the grand atrium and break out spaces. Tired of looking around inside? Well you can look outside, to the slopes, which is pretty damn cool too. The staff and service are what you would typically expect of a five-star resort. Fastidious, courteous, paying attention to detail, and generally going the extra mile. If you are a dog person (I am), I would say the resort is more than pet-friendly and borders on pet-encouraged. It creates a very laid back environment... or maybe I just love dogs. Great for kids too, with an impressive on-site arcade and kids facilities. I could do without the timeshare sales being so prominent in the lobby (it would be nicer to have a more useful amenity), but I can find a gripe anywhere. The rooms are nicely appointed, as you'd expect, with real wood, stone, and glass elements. Flat screen smart TV's... all of that. I think the views offered from each room, onto the trees and mountains are really what is special here. I prefer Asian food, but the on-site French restaurant is quite good and has a particularly impressive breakfast buffet option. Other amenities, such as bath bomb-making workshops and nightly s'mores are pretty cool, given that ski hotels often have you looking for evening family activities once the slopes are closed. So, specifically speaking regarding Mr. Warren: he has been very helpful to me. I have had two circumstances in which I have had to ask for assistance working through issues that were no doing of his nor the hotels. He was not only helpful, but extremely responsive, thoughtful, and empathetic. I think that what separates a certain class of hotels from others is this human element, the ability to be nimble and flexible enough to solve problems and to do so quickly, efficiently, and while communicating sincere professionalism. I typically book at a nice hotel because of the high-end amenities a nicer property will offer me, but I come back again and again for the level of service and human interaction offered at these properties. Mr. Warren is a sterling example of the latter. Read less

Third time staying here in one of the best hotel in Tahoe. The property is as pretty as always with amazing valet services. Sadly, some other parts of the service is a disappointment, mainly due to understaffing and big event going on. Maybe it’s time Tahoe deserves more luxury hotel options. Good: - Beautiful property ground - Nice simple room decor with good house keeping. - Amazing car and ski valet service. - Nice spa and pool area overlooking the slope. The spa has attentive staffs. Bad: - S’more event got cancelled, and not-great staffs attitude. - As Marriott platinum member, virtually no benefits besides welcome bonus points.
We requested for 4pm checkout as per Platinum suggested time, and got offer noon checkout instead. I guess they have no incentive to do better.
Please note that this is not so busy Sunday. - Incorrect room charge appear in our bill, so better check your bill carefully. - Very slow service in the lobby. 15mins+ wait just to order, and forget about first-come-first-serve. Maybe due to ongoing event? The biggest disappointment in our stay would be that they cancel the s’more event. The check-in staff told us time and location of the event, so we went there a bit before the scheduled time. After an hour wait, the event was cancelled for their 10y anniversary celebration instead. We talked to several staffs while waiting and none of them knew about the cancellation. To rub more salt to the wound, the waitstaff suggested us to “buy s’more kits from them” instead. From guests point of view, the hotel let our whole party wait over an hour, screwed up our schedule, eventually cancelled event, and now try to sell us what supposed to be complimentary. I mean it’s okay for things to go wrong, either incorrect event planning, or just miscommunitation between staffs. But as a real 5-star hotel, the staffs should try to help resolve issue when it happens, especially when issue was caused by the hotel side. Definitely not the “not my problem” attitude we received. Overall, I understand that there is a big event going on, but the hotel should be more careful to let this affect the paying guests experience in the negative ways in which we received. Read less

We have stayed at this property three times. The first trip was in October of 2018 and was a magical stay. We stayed here in May 2019 and were disappointed with the service and the cleanliness of the resort and rooms. The resort is located on a beautiful property and we decided to come again. This stay was our worst and more than likely our last- the hotel is just poorly managed. The General Manager contacted us after our last stay and offered to make a return stay magical. The GM is no longer there and his assistant Keegan is very kind. She provided a room upgrade free of charge and offered to have a dessert delivered to our room for my husbands birthday- no dessert came more than likely because they decided to not do a turn down service for us for us... We were missed completely for turned down service, charged $70.00 for onsite dinning at a restaurant we didn't eat at (we will be credited once a review is done- the charge occurred prior to our check-in), trash all over the planters, dirty dishes on tables in the Living Room restaurant were common and no one visited the pool area when we visited for three hours- no drink service available no restocking of towels etc. I took a picture of the unlocked drink cooler by the pool because I was so outraged with the cleanliness.. This isn't a 5 star property and the staff isn't trained how to handle issues. The parking is a bit high at $45.00 but the valet staff is fantastic. The additional $45.00 resort fee is what I take issue with as the resort is not well kept- they offer cider in the afternoon- it was empty, they offer coffee in the morning and at 7:45am it was empty and then removed at 8am without being refiled. We ordered drinks at the bar and they sent us to the restaurant bar to get nut mix because they were out.. at $18.00 a drink (they were very good) I don't think I should have to sit at a table being held up by a napkin or fetch my own snack mix. The pictures say it all- more concerning is the staff doesn't seem to care. We really want to love this hotel but its understaffed and unclean. When I checked out I voiced my concerns w/ paying a resort fee for a property that had food floating in the pool and no clean towels and Michelle at the front desk didn't seemed phased at all. I asked for a contact from Marriott corporate I could escalate issues to- none was provided. This property could be something special but instead is being run into the ground. Read less

Long-time reader, first time poster. I've been at this hotel several times and stayed this past weekend. It is a lovely facility -- beautiful views, clean and cushy rooms, terrific staff. I am posting here specifically to thank Manzanita Chef Brandon, who truly went above and beyond! I have some significant dietary restrictions. When dining out, this almost always leads to me getting offered a slab of meat with salt, pepper, and olive oil, some bland starch, and some steamed veggies. It makes me sad, and I often dread dining out. Not this time! I shared my list with our server Spencer (who was also terrific), and he went back and forth to the kitchen several times to confer with Chef Brandon, gauge my preferences, etc. What I received was the best meal I've had in the past two years (which is as long as I've had these restrictions)--incredibly flavorful, gorgeous to look at, perfection in every way. (It almost brought me to tears!) Everyone else's food was also delicious, and the experience was wonderful. Chef Brandon and Spencer, I hope this message gets to you both and that you know how much the experience meant to me. I also want to thank the rest of the staff that made the stay lovely. The banquet staff were so friendly and accommodating, as were the front desk staff and housekeeping. I apologize for not getting their names -- but they were all fantastic! Read less

We went to the ritz to visit my son who decamped from California due to the fire. After at least a 4 mile us their driveway I found that they charged $50 to park for whatever amount of time a day. Then their opposed great restaurant had terrible service that I would give a zero to. We waited at least 30 minutes fir our food which still came out wrong. There was almost no one in the place and about 12 people Working. They are just not with it. Read less