Myself, my son(15)& his friend(16)will be travelling to Tahoe from the UK in late January 1999 for a week's skiing. There is a bewildering variety of choice of condos, rooms and packages and I'm having trouble making the optimum choice. Our minimum requirement would be for 3 separate beds. Can anyone make any suggestions based on their own experiences which will help me "cut to the chase"?

Patrick--Will you be going to the North Shore or South Shore of Lake Tahoe? This will make a difference as to specific lodging recommendations and will hopefully bring in more useful information. Will look for your reply at the Fodors site. Cheers!

Becky, thank you for your interest. Our preference is for the South Shore and if it helps,our budget is reasonably generous (travelling that distance should entitle one to some minor comforts). I look forward to hearing any thoughts you or anyone else may be able to offer.

I would suggest you go to a search engine, enter "Lake Tahoe" and "rentals" and choose a really nice cabin to spend your week in. There are some luxury homes up there that could really add to your enjoyment of your skiing week.

Along the same lines as the cabin renting, there are tons of condominium/apartments at the east end of southshore up on Kingsbury Grade. They provide quick access to the Stagecoach Lift - an alternate entrance to Heavenly Valley. Just be absolutely certain that you get it in writing that you will have a view of something other than a staircase or a 20 foot pile of snow.
I think that a great, convenient in-town place is the Embassy Suites - not a casino, but adjacent to it, and good access to the main lift entrances to S.Shore
Another beautiful area to stay, north of South Shore is Glenbrook. This would be a very different experience of Tahoe. They have a central rental agent on-site. Glenbrook is a planned community in an historic Tahoe Bay. Int he 19th century, Lake Tahoe was virtually stripped of its virgin timber to build the mining structures for the silver boom on the Virginia City Comstock. Most of the timber came through Glenbrook and was hauled up Spooner Summitt (US Highway 50 on your map) and taken down to vast lum ber yards in Carson City. From there it was hauled up over the Virginia Range to the east to virginia City, Silver City, Gold Hill etc. Water went the same way, from a source on the summit ridges by gravit flow down the valley and back up again to virginia city
Anyhow, all the trees grew back, and Glenbrook is an absolutely beautiful place. Not cheap. There are condos and small houses - and it is beautiful. You are a short drive from south shore, and you would have a vacation very different from what most people see who visit Tahoe. If the snow is good you can snowshoe or cross country ski almost right out the door. No neon, no commercial stuff.
Also, don't know what kind of skiers you are. But if the weather is good, you may want to take a day drive down to Kirkwood on the Carson Pass. Pretty spectacular skiing - but don't go if the weather is even threatening, let alone bad. The weather patterns over Carson Pass bring incredible loads of snow. It is no fun being stuck there in bad snow.
In fact, do your utmost to rent a 4-wheel drive vehicle, adn beweare that rental cars do not come with chains. However, if weather conditions descend which make chains mandatory on a 4 wheel drive vehicle, you should be plopped in front of your fireplace, not driving around! If the standard rental car places say their 4 wheel drives are booked, trying Enterprise Rental Cars. You might have to dial Reno , Nevada directly . US area code is presently 702. In December it becomes 775. Book early and firmly for 4-wheel drives.
Finally, you really should drive around to Squaw Vallely(Olympic Valley) at least one day. It's not my favorite place to ski because it is so huge. But it has incredible skiing, tons of facilities, great views - and it's historic, the site of the 1960 winter olympics. There is a gondola which takes you up to the almost top-of-the mountain facilities known as "high camp". Restaurants, ice skating and and swimming! On a sunny day, it is unbelievable.
Come down from Squaw in the late afternoon and drive yet a bit further out of the way into the historic town of Truckee (historic for the western US). This is the last stop before the trains begin the final steep ascent up Donner Pass - where the early wagon trains went in the opening of the west. It's a great little town with shopping the kids will enjoy, and a number of good restaurants. One of our favorites is the Truckee Hotel. There is an incredible cookware store on the main street for the coooks in your life. And there is the Truckee Variety Store - not to be missed for the unbelievable number of trinkets and silly things for children of all ages - a source of favors for birthday parties, gag gifts and Christmas stocking stuffers for many years. There's art galleries and clothing stores, mountaineering supplies and other stuff. The western extension of town has a great restaurant next tot he Safeway Grocery Store called the Trattoria, and a very good bookshop call ed the Bookshop at Hooligan Rocks.
I could go on. You'd never know we live in this area and love it.

If you need a city-break, Reno and Carson both have stuff to see and do. Carson City has the basic government structures, state museum etc. Virginia City, further east, is mining town that survived. It's not as lively in the winter as in the summer, but it might be an interesting thing forr chilrden to see. Down in the Carson Valley (at the foot of the Kingsbury Grade coming out of the east end of South Tahoe) is Genoa, which was an early Mormon settlement. There is a reconstructed fort, and a small museum in the old courthouse. I don't know the open hours. Just north of Genoa is Wally's hotsprings - which are open for soaking all year long.
In Reno, we have a nice small art museum downtown, the Nevavda Museum of Art. We also have the Harrah's Auto Museum right on the River, which any teenager would enjoy, and there is the Atmospherium/Planetarium at the University of Nevada.
Have a great trip. Hope this is helpful.

Hello Patrick. To narrow it further--do you want to stay right in the touristy town /casino area right on Lake Tahoe, or do you want to be outside town? For in-town condos right on the lake, there are motel/condo places such as Lakeland Village. For out-of-town gorgeous scenery/mountain areas, you have received some great advice from other writers. Another recommended activity: a ferry ride on the Lake(friends from UK did it last New Years, took aboard a bottle of champagne, and loved it.) Are you flying into San Francisco? If so, make sure to request a rental car appropriate for the drive up. At that time of year, the roads (and law)may require chains on tires. Happy planning! Cheers from Oakland, California