Squaw Valley Lodge

We are from the Bay Area and frequent travelers to Tahoe. We even used to own a home in the area. Although there are lots of places to ski in Tahoe, Squaw is our favorite because it has a good amount of terrain for every ability level. This resort could not have a more perfect location, right at the lifts and walking village.

We had never stayed at SVL but chose it because Xmas of it's convenient location and the hope that we would avoid the holiday traffic on the roads. We arrived on Xmas day to find no snow and the mountain was even closed entirely due to wind. Sooo....we hunkered down, went sledding and played board games. The next day the storm arrived and we had lots of fresh powder for the rest of the week.

This is an interesting concept for a vacation property. You have the concept of condo's with the facilities of a hotel. Our unit had a mini kitchen (no oven) and daily maid service. There's a large lobby, front desk, concierge, pool/hot tubs, massage facilities, small gym, vending machines, tennis court (in summer) and game room. The covered parking right at the lifts was a definite plus. Everything appears well maintained.

I had to remind myself that these were not timeshares but individually owned condos. Each unit is maintained, decorated and appointed differently. We went with another family and got to see the big differences between 2 separate "loft suites". We peaked in to open doors and saw completely different models of condos. Some gave a great "homey" the appearance. There are many different configurations. Ours was clean and comfortable. Bathrooms were great.

The staff was friendly and personable but I do have to admit that they assume a different amount of autonomy because it is a condo rather than a hotel. The power went out in the entire valley.......totally out of their control........... and although they handed out light sticks for safety, there was no overt attempts to serve the needs of the guests as they would do in a 4-5 star hotel. We know the area well but any new to the area travelers were kind of stranded.

We are very familiar with the Village at SV and have to agree that they have had not had the success that they had hoped for in attracting the quality and variety of restaurants, shops and nightlife. We had the image of other Intrawest locations (Whistler, Vail, etc.).It should have been a week at a "active" walking village.......... without the need to get into the car. But, the choices here are slim. It was not that crowded and they did not have the foot traffic on this major holiday week. We have also visited in the summer to a very quiet scene. Only time will tell how the village turns out.

The overall convenience to the ski area and caliber of the accommodations makes it worth it's weight in the winter!