Suzie

sf7307 - I clicked on the link you provided while at work and now I feel that it constitutes cruel and unsual punishment - expect to hear from my lawyer.....

sf7307

I know I know. Evertime I need a "fix", I look at that picture

con_brio

I clicked on the site as well. That may be where we spend Labor Day. (PIll go to the others as well, but wow. That's awesome!) Thank you so much. Looks great! And the perfect antidore to the frustrating day that I've had today! Many thanks!

sf7307

con_brio, a few things to note about Brockway Springs:

1) the pool is a walk -- about 1/5 or 1/4 mile down the road (but still within the development) from the condos.

2) the place is not a high-end resort. The condos are pretty plain. They're fine, but not fancy. What's great about it is the location.

3) the development is a walk down the hill to Kings Beach. Kings Beach is a funky little beach town -- motels, restaurants, city/public beach, places to buy beachwear and pool/beach toys, that kind of thing. Not at all upscale! (We love it, though).

4) Don't waste your time at the Brockway Bakery -- what they tried to pass off as a croissant was a joke!!

con_brio

Well, this is a bit harder than I thought. Brockway looked perfect, but the addition of a booking fee and cleaning fee make more sense for a week than 2 nights. Sunnyside has a minimum of 3 nights and Red Wolfe has no vacancies. We are zeroing in on N LT because we have an 8:36 am train from Reno and a rental car to turn back. Kings Beach seems to have a bunch of hotels so we thought we'd just pick one when we got there. Is that nuts? If so, which one would you recommend? Or should we just stay at the Best Western and plan on waking up at the crack of early to drive to Reno?

sf7307

Sorry, I don't know the motels very well. BUT, I don't see why there wouldn't be motels in Kings Beach that are just as good as the Best Western in SLT. They're all just motels after all -- check TripAdvisor ratings.

toncasmo

i don't know about that sf7307. the best western in SLT is a really nice property. the motels in kings beach are more of the "no tell motel" variety! i've been to both and that's my take...but i am partial to SLT

sf7307

I was just looking at TripAdvisor ratings -- which I know are no guarantee (THAT'S an understatement!) but the Best Western only gets 77% "recommend", whereas, for example, Ferrari's Crown Resort in Kings Beach gets 88%. Again, I don't really know because we never stay in motels in the area -- we always stay in condos either on the lake or at Northstar.

Suzie

I personally think the Best Western in SLT is far superior to the accomodations in Kings Beach. But like everything here and on TA it's just an opinion.

elnap29

If you are going for Labor Day weekend, it would be best to get a reservation beforehand, not wait until you get there.

elnap29

I once rented a cottage at Franciscan Lakeside Lodge (near Tahoe Vista, North Shore). These are privately owned but managed and rented by FLL. We had a cottage RIGHT ON THE WATER, had our very own private beach and a little pier for walks out onto the lake and for entering the water with our little blow-up raft. All our windows opened to that big blue of the lake. It was heaven!
Each cottage was different, so it would be essential to ask a lot of questions. Not all are right on the lake. The one we had was not fancy but was very clean and comfortable. It was all about the location!

elnap29

Try also The Cottage Inn at Lake Tahoe. These are very nice and would be easy access to the road you would take to Truckee to catch the train.
http://www.thecottageinn.com/home

sf7307

elnap, the train is from Reno -- and they have to go there to return a rental car, apparently.

con_brio, if you can catch the train in Truckee instead, it would be much much more convenient to North Lake Tahoe.

elnap29

oops. Well, the more info the better, I guess. Good luck with this, con_brio.

con_brio

Thanks for the info. I will just go ahead and reserve somewhere. Re the train at Truckee, we do have to return the renktal car. But we can just get up early and drive to Reno.

con_brio

Am looking at shooting star and cottage inn. Any recommendation?

Suzie

Cottage Inn near Tahoe City? It's not on the lake but it's in a nicely forested area right off the road. Nearby is great dining at Sunnyside. You can catch breakfast or lunch at the Firesign Cafe. We stayed there one night and it was comfortable.

Don't know anything about shooting star B&B. If you want a lake front B&B you can check our Chaney House or Shore House.

http://www.chaneyhouse.com/

http://www.shorehouselaketahoe.com/

con_brio

I'm booked!!! Thank you so much for all of your help and suggestions. You got me looking in the right area for lakefront and I actually found a lakefront room at Maurelatos Lake Resort. (I think it's near Brockway Springs--but I booked the rest of the trip today too so I'm overloaded and may not be thinking straight. They had two left. It looks perfect (from the website). I really appreciate your suggestions and have already written down the restaurants you suggested.
Also, thank you for being so patient. I will be restarting chemo when I get back so this trip is very important to me and the Lake Tahoe view has been a dream for a long time. Thanks. (and I tried to pay it forward by giving reams of good advice to someone coming to DC). Thanks again, Ellen

sf7307

Congrats! I just read what you wrote on the DC thread, and it was an excellent post (we were in DC a few weeks ago, but have been many times before, so don't quite feel the need to see every single site in a couple of days!!) And I sure hope the chemo goes well!!

elnap29

Terrific! Maurelatos is right next door to Franciscan Lakeside Lodge and I think it will be a nice location for you.
Enjoy the Big Blue!