1. Donner Lake Inn

1. Donner Lake Inn

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Truckee, CA

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Donner Lake Inn

4.9 (59 reviews)
Closed 7:00 am - 9:30 pm

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And here's the happy couple.
Michael L.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I had a weekend totally free, which is an extremely rare occurrence for us, so we decided to escape the heat of the Sacramento Valley for a weekend. As I was looking for a place to stay, I came across the listing for the Dinner Lake Inn and was very interested, but the listing said we needed to check-in by 6 pm. And my wife wouldn't get home until that time and we would still have to drive a little over an hour to get there. So I was disappointed, but was able to find and book a hotel room in Truckee. The next day, I called the Donner Lake Inn to get some info on fishing the lake and mentioned that I was interested in a room they had available, but we wouldn't be able to make their check-in time and would probably wouldn't arrive until 8 pm. The kind voice on the other end of the phone was Mindy and she was more than accommodating for us, so I booked the room for 2 nights and was able to cancel the hotel. Upon arrival, we were pleasantly greeted by Paul, who showed us to our very cozy room and told us about breakfast in the morning and a Happy Hour in the afternoon. The room was so relaxed and comfortable feeling that all of our stress from the week instantly melted away. The tasty breakfasts that we were treated to each morning were expertly prepared by Mindy and Paul themselves. As a chef myself, I can fully appreciate the love and dedication they put into presenting us with such a pretty and delicious breakfast. We were fortunate to share the table (socially distanced, of course) with one other guest and had very pleasant conversation with him over breakfast. This was no run of the mill continental breakfast. After enjoying activities for the day and the splendor of the lake, we came back to the Inn for the Happy Hour and were served a nice glass of wine and some nibbles prepared by Mindy on their deck. No other guests came up and so we spent over 2 hours just chatting with Mindy and Paul like we were old friends. To say that we had an enjoyable stay at the Donner Lake Inn would be a huge understatement!!! It was such a pleasure to meet Mindy and Paul and have this charming couple welcome us into their home and treat us like family. We look forward to making a return trip soon!!!

Getting ready to rent a canoe on Donner Lake.
Steven B.

Very impressed with their adherence to Covid guidelines. They've reduced the number of rooms available to allow thorough cleaning between visits including minimum 24 hour vacancy in each room. Hosts and guest wearing masks, except when guests are eating. Plenty of space between tables (30 feet for breakfast). Hosts are constantly cleaning contact surfaces: doorknobs, banisters, etc. We are older and in a high risk group, so we appreciated their diligent efforts to protect everyone. Food is still excellent and it was great to spend a few days in the land of the tall pines and beautiful Donner Lake. Managed to find a boat rental in Donner State Park and rented a canoe for several hours each day. Even the staff at the boat rental followed Covid guidelines, sanitizing life jackets and paddles. Bottom line: A great B&B in a beautiful location that is working hard to keep guests stay safe while enjoying the great outdoors.

Creek next to the B&B

A winter wonderland getaway! Thank you to Paul and Mindy for the hospitality . This B&B was amazing and will definitely be coming back soon. Even though covid regulations were still implemented we still feel like we got the full experience. The room that we choose was Bear's Lair and it is exactly as described and shown on the website but much bigger/very spacious. The beautiful room has a window that you can't not stop starting out of , it has such a beautiful view. Breakfast was amazing and definitely kept us full for the morning, Paul was able to bring us coffee and our "to go" breakfast to the room. The room was also very cozy and the heater definitely kept us warm at night. We also took a morning walk and 5 min down we were able to see Donner Lake it was breathtaking! Downtown truckee is only 15 min or less away from the B&B and it has some really good restaurants we got to enjoy for dinner. I can't wait to go back soon, we shared our experience with our family and friends they are also exited too stay here soon !

Electric "wood" stove, thermostat controlled, kept the room toasty. Wide window seat great spot for admiring the woods & creek.

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Thanks so much for staying with us! Hope to see you again soon.

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Ask the Community - Donner Lake Inn

Doing anything special for New Years?

The Ski resorts all have plans for New Years. The Donner Lake Inn is fully booked for the holidays. Thank you.

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Review Highlights - Donner Lake Inn

Paul and Mindy, the innkeepers are very friendly and you can see their passion to receive and help their guests.

Mentioned in 39 reviews

Read more highlights

Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe - standard 2 dbl bed room

Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe

(217 reviews)

$$

We enjoyed our stay at the Hampton Inn. We needed a place that was conveniently located near Soda…read moreSprings for a good value and we came across Hampton Inn. We arrived shortly after check-in time on a Wednesday and were able to get our keys without too much trouble, although the lady that was checking us in didn't seem too suited for customer service - she gave off sarcastic, "I don't want to be here" vibes. Our room itself was cozy, clean, and comfortable. Some of the items could have been better stocked before our stay, such as the tissues - I think we only had a few of them in the box so quickly ran out and had to request housekeeping bring more the next day. Housekeeping isn't done daily so you do have to request it manually if you need anything. There were a couple of water stains on the ceiling but nothing too major. All toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, lotion, and hand soap are provided and the quality is actually pretty decent. I was very impressed with the complimentary breakfast included in your stay. You have hot items like eggs, potatoes, and sausage as well as cereal, muffins, bread, oatmeal, and a waffle maker. The hot items rotate, too, so you don't have the exact same breakfast each day of your stay. Staff was friendly, and the common area was very comfortable with a fair amount of seating. I believe coffee is also available all day. There was a power outage during our stay that lasted around 6-7 hours but luckily it happened in the middle of the night so most people probably didn't even realize it and it didn't impact our stay at all. I just happened to notice when I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed lights not turning on and some electronics not working.

This was a great stay in Truckee!…read more Appreciated the great service at the counter and easy check in. Breakfast is included like all Hampton Inns and is fine for a bite before the snow. I will definitely stay here again, only thing they don't have is products besides the basic shampoo/conditioner/body wash.... I like having some extra toiletries but not a huge deal.

The Truckee Hotel - Super comfy king size bed

The Truckee Hotel

(125 reviews)

$$

For my first visit to Truckee and the Sierras, we wanted to stay "in the middle of it all" in…read moredowntown Truckee. We found that the Truckee hotel was just that - the perfect place to relax, walk the town and just chill out. The booking process was easy, and we received text updates from the hotel on the day of check in. We received the code to the door to get in, and our key cards were waiting for us as promised. Our room was on the third floor - lots of stairs! The hotel did text and ask if we were ok with stairs - since it is a registered historic venue, it is was it is:) We found our room (American, queen bed with private bath) to be spotless and lovely. Old-timey clawfoot tub with shower in bathroom, and the sink was outside the bathroom - the sink had separate hot and cold faucets . We had our own Keurig coffee maker, pods, tea bags, and breakfast biscuits. Windows were open, with several fans they had brought in: the temps reached mid-80's while there, and the building was quite hot. On the second floor alcove there is a breakfast area with packaged breads and biscuits, coffee maker with Peets regular and decaf pods, many different kinds of Stash teas, cold and hot water dispenser. Small microwave as well. No fridge. In this area there is a door that opens to the outside balcony, where we sat and looked out over the town, sipping coffee and relaxing. A nice respite from the heat. The hotel sits above Moody's restaurant, which can get quite loud in the evenings. The sound was not an issue inside the hotel though. Nor did we hear anything from any adjoining room to ours. Things to know: First of all, this is an old hotel, beautifully maintained. Observations about it are my own, not blaming the hotel. Just want folks to know the ins and outs of this old beauty! First of all, the floors in our room sloped in areas, so it can feel like you are off balance or having a stroke! Kind of an adventure! Second, we were on the third floor, and the stairs going to the third floor are deceptively steep, and stairway is not well lit. Seems like it could be a bit dangerous. I did give this feedback to the management; they are faced with the hotel being a historical building and alterations can come at a steep price and impact. That said, maybe a lamp nearby, or stick-on lights? Just be aware when using the stairs. These are just my observations, not at all a reason to avoid staying here. All in all, it was a lovely stay, despite the heat. Will visit again when it is cooler out!

The Good: The location in downtown Truckee can't be beat. The historic nature of the building is…read morecharming. There's a great indoor communal space and outdoor deck on the second floor. The Bad: The room was "tired" and depressing with grime in the bathroom and carpet. The price was way too high for the poor condition of the room. The Ugly: I was literally burned when the shower suddenly went from warm to scalding hot for a few seconds. When I reported this to the staff, I was told this had never happened before. Insensitive as well as hard to believe.

The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe

The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe

(543 reviews)

$$$$

Should read 4.5 stars but I'm rounding up!…read more We had the most amazing ski vacation at the Ritz Carlton. We spent 4 nights here and did not leave the property except to ski 3 whole days. Here's my notes: ***Seriously ski-in ski-out: The hotel is located on a ski run, so we literally traded our shoes for our boots at the mountain concierge and then grabbed our skis/poles from the concierge outside and started skiing down the mountain to our desired lift. No need to hop on a slow gondola or walk a distance to get to the snow. ***Some fun hotel perks: The hotel does a smores thing at 4:30 pm every day and we thought it was a very nice event. They gave everyone a plate with a graham cracker and piece of chocolate, then your choice of marshmallow (they had strawberry and regular). They also gave us a cup of hot chocolate with a little liquor if you were so inclined. They also had Kids events and we had our little guy paint a pinecone. He had a great time with the very nice guy running it and who knew painting a pinecone could be so fun? ***The restaurants: While we had high hopes for going out to Truckee to check out some cool restaurants, we were so tired from skiing at the end of each day, we never made it out. We loved the food at the Lobby Bar (I think it's called the Living Room) and their new taco restaurant which is called Montesa. Both are expensive (for example, get ready to pay $11-13 for a taco) but we really liked the food at both places. We also ate at Manzanita which is the high end restaurant and the service was amazing plus our little guy LOVED their kids buffet. We on the other hand thought the food was just okay and I don't think we would do this again. So why 4.5 stars and not 5 stars? ***Communication could be improved. We asked directions to the Smores event and a staff member told us it was at the Backyard restaurant and it's not there. In addition, because we pushed out our trip by a day due to the weather, we lost the room upgrade we had secured. It was not the Ritz Carton's fault that we lost this, but there were a couple places where we told the Ritz what was happening with us and they could have told us that they could not guarantee our upgrade. ***Service times at the Lobby Bar restaurant were extremely slow. There was one night where we waited for our food for at least an hour and a half. We will be back!

We booked a family stay at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe for myself, my wife, and our six-year-old…read moreson. A few days before our trip, our son was diagnosed and tested positive for RSV. I called and asked for a reservation modification given the circumstances, and I was completely open to alternative solutions: a date modification, Marriott Bonvoy points to rebook on our own, a refund, or anything reasonable. We just wanted some flexibility. What followed was the usual runaround. We called the Ritz-Carlton directly, they told us they couldn't help because we booked through American Express. So we called Amex, whose concierge team was empathetic and professional. They reached out to the Ritz-Carlton on our behalf. After waiting 24 hours and following up, we were told that Ritz-Carlton management responded via email and declined to allow modifications to the reservation and still expect us at the property unless we pay a $750 cancellation fee. We presented a positive diagnosis of a contagious virus, were willing to accept any reasonable accommodation; a date change, points, anything, and the answer was no. This raises a serious concern beyond our personal frustration. If the Ritz-Carlton would rather a family show up carrying a contagious virus than accommodate a date change, what does that say about their commitment to the health and safety of their guests and staff? How many other sick guests have they pressured to check in rather than lose a night's revenue? What about employees who may face the same inflexibility when they're ill? For a brand that markets itself as the gold standard of hospitality, this experience seems like the opposite.

Donner Lake Inn - bedbreakfast - Updated July 2026

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