Pepper Tree Inn, Tahoe City CA

The guest who said this place was a hotel from hell is absolutely correct.

I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have ice and we were told to go get ice at another hotel three blocks away. It was also very strange that there was nobody available at the front desk for most of our stay and when we misplaced our keys we had to take matters into our own hands and literally “break into our own room” through the super flimsy screens.

After asking for a late checkout for all these inconveniences one of their staff had the audacity to say that they would call the cops on us if we overstayed even by a minute. Its been a while but I just wanted to make sure everyone is warned about how terrible this place is and also wondering how they’re still in business based on all the horrific experiences people have experienced here.

Stay at your own risk….

This place is so run down it should just be bulldozed and the next hotel owners can build from scratch. We stayed midweek for two nights at a cost of almost $500. For that we got a room with a bathroom that last saw renovations by a lazy DIYer in the mid 1980s. The bathroom had no vent fan, no shower curtain, very old flecks of paint on the tile, towels with holes, peeling wall paper, and no functional electrical outlets. Outside of our 4th floor room there were some random cheap plastic chairs that would get blown along the exterior walkways and occasionally tumble down the exterior flight of stairs. While we were there the one small elevator only worked for about 8 hours, and after it broke no signs were posted on the upper floors. After waiting 10 minutes for the elevator doors to open one morning I went looking for the stairs. One set of exterior stairs terminated in an impassable 8 ft tall pile of snow. The other set of stairs was in a mostly-emclosed stair tower with dim lighting and spider webs. Our room itself was disappointing and the bed/mattress looked to be older than I am. The hotel had signs up saying they were having staffing shortages and the front office was only manned for a few hours each evening. They did have a phone number posted on the door that we could call for an offsite manager if we needed assistance. We called. No one answered. When we first checked in on arrival the guy who gave us our room key seemed polite enough. His hoodie with the large label "SEX WAX" was just creepy enough though that I was glad I wasn't traveling alone. Overall, this was truly the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. But to end on a positive note, Lake Tahoe was beautiful. So I do recommend visiting the lake, just stay somewhere, anywhere, else.

This hotel is really close to Palisades. It has everything you need if you are just looking for a place to crash and nothing too fancy. The bed was comfortable, bathroom was clean with nice hot shower. Room had microwave, refrigerator, tv and free coffee, tea for our stay.

The view of the lake from the top floors is awesome.

Warm and cosy - much better than a motel. Nice linen, proper sheets and bedding, they’ve tried with the furniture, alpine touches with the artwork. Modern plug and usb sockets, very efficient heater. Big fridge with a microwave and simple coffee maker. Room felt safe, secure and insulated - couldn’t hear other guests

Great communication, front desk is staffed from 3-11pm but very communicative via email and text outside of these hours.

Underground and some covered parking - great for winter!

Fantastic location right in centre of Tahoe city - views of the lake. Can walk anywhere you need

Great value!

The view of the lake is incredible, and the hotel is well located. That said, the room itself is pretty gross. I walked in and it smelled like a swimming pool, the heater did not work, the tv was also pretty broken.

We had a terrible night. The AC was turned down at 2 am and back to 6 am. We got cold since it was freezing at the night. It doesn’ provide baby crib, breakfast even though we can see a dinning room there.

The room was ok but the location is great. This was the view from outside our room.
The heater kicked on all night and was loud.the bed was quite firm.

Great location with lake view and restaurants within walking distance. The room was clean and organized with decent wifi speed good enough for streaming and zoom meetings. The staff was friendly and offered text messaging service. I booked it through Expedia for a reasonable price and I'm very satisfied overall. Definitely will book again if the price is similar to competitors.

The employees were really nice and the view was beautiful, but there were mosquitos in the room and there was no air conditioning.when we booked the room, in the website it said that they had a pool but when we got there the pool was full with dirt.

Rooms noisy, and no AC, we couldn't open a
the broken window so had to leave door open, to cool room.asked front desk and he said, yes some of windows are broken, nothing he can do.he didn't even ask what room, so assume they feel no need to fix.

No AC, no room service, bad Wi-fi, VERY rundown, little to no amenities, falsely advertised pool (hole full of dirt), and most importantly bugs. On our first night, we woke up early to itchy bites all over, but blamed it on mosquitoes. However, we had several small bites in a row and bites on our hands and fingers. There was no front desk service, and after we called the emergency number, there was no answer. The next day, we woke up at 3 am to terrible itching on our faces, legs, and all over. We applied itching ointment and went back to bed. Everything was swollen red. The next day we called the office several times with no answer before leaving the motel. Later we contacted the motel again and got refunded for the two nights we did not stay there, but not the two nights we actually stayed at the place. The location was the only good part of the stay.

We were recommended this hotel for a wedding that was in Sierraville and a bus was being provided to the wedding. So, in spite of the bad reviews everyone booked this place. On check in, we immediately had issues with our key plus the pool was filled in with mulch? After going down to the desk to get new keys so we could enter, our TV didn’t work. The front desk said they would send someone. That someone was the front desk guy. Obviously not knowing how to fix the problem, he was equipped with new keys for another room. We had to rush to move to our new room because our ride to dinner was waiting. We ended up leaving our invitation and the wedding card & check. We realized it the next day when we were leaving for the bus. When we received the items from the front desk the card had been opened by the maid apparently looking for cash. We were livid. First of all, what kind of people is this place hiring. The front desk guy never apologized for the employees actions. I wanted the managers address. He gave me two emails of people who aren’t even listed as management. This hotel is so subpar for a $300 room per night. We feel ripped off. The room was uncomfortable, we didn’t sleep because of the heat. (No air conditioner). The lights didn’t work, the elevator was out. The stairs were filthy with cigarette butts and trash. Just a run down, uncaring hole in the wall. Never, ever going back.

Pros and cons
Pro: location, location. It is right on the main street in Tahoe City walkable to just about everything. And if you have a room above the 2nd floor you will have a nice view (across the street) of the lake.
Good sized mini fridge.
Cons: rooms are very dated (dark green old carpet) walls are thin, no room service so make your own bed, coffee is not restocked in the room so one cup only. Toilets don't flush well. The pictures on the website are absolute false advertisement. And if you have issues - good luck. I got locked out of my room at 7am (card didn't work) and no I did not let it get close to my phone. No one is at the front desk through the night and until 8am. I called the "emergency number" and heard back 35 min later. Was in my room 45 min later. Also LOCK EVERYTHING up (bring it in the room) including all bikes. When we arrived there was a sheriff on site asking about a car break in. Then a few car alarms at night. If you like heavy blankets, bring some. Hair dryer didnt work so bring your own. And if it's gonna be hot - no AC, there is a small fan provided in the room.

Again the location is super, and people are nice enough if you can get a hold of them. If you are used to a low end Hilton you may just want to stay at Sqaw for the same price nightly and drive the 5 mi into town.

Haven't gotten room service, even when I place the "room service" card on my door, just tried to renew my key cards because I misplaced them, no one was at the front desk, I called and texted nothing no one answered and its already 8: 45am. I get to miss my lunch now and have to try to get my cards renew later again if anyone is there.

Staying at Pepper Tree Inn has been an awesome experience! Very accommodating, the bedroom was lovely and bed was comfortable, and the location is amazing!