My husband and I payed $250 p night for a k.sized bed with lake-view room which we booked in advance from the UK for New Year's Eve '04. We were forced to book 3 nights and charged on our credit cards upfront. (No other hotel asked this in our entire 17 day trip around the Bay area).

When we checked in after our 7 hour drive on New Year's Eve, we found the staff incredibly unfriendly and inexperienced (they all seemed to be teenagers who resented their job). We had to drive to the room (they are all in separate out buildings) which was on the second floor with no lift access. The corridors which lead to the rooms are open to the elements- snow and ice built up on the stairs and landing and was never cleared away during our stay. There were disturbing signs hanging everywhere saying that chemicals used on the site were carcinogenic and lead to birth defects in pregnant women- not very relaxing! (I never saw these signs in other establishments although apparently they are a requisite in California.)

The room was really small and cramped. The shower room and toilet was tiny and run-down and looked directly on to the outer corridor through a frosted glass window. We had not been told at the reservation stage that the room would only have a shower and not a bath tub, which we would have preferred. Bizarrely the sink was inside the bedroom. The sound proofing between the rooms was dreadful and there seemed to be a beer swilling party crowd hanging out above our heads and next door. It was very depressing. The TV had very limited channels, mainly local. The only saving graces were the fire place (on thermostatic control), the view- but not worth all that money.

The complimentary breakfast was a joke- everything was miniature- mini bagels, thimble-fulls of yogurt and no cereal. Service was non-existent. I bought my own oatmeal after the first day and asked if I could have bowl and the staff refused to give me one, which I thought was a bit mean having spent money in the restaurant the day before. I then directly asked a chef behind the counter and he eventually conceded. (By the way, not very good restaurant for dinner either).

The activities desk was closed up until the last morning of our stay- and advice about the area and skiing was in short supply from the front desk. To be fair, by the last day there seemed to be an adult on reception who was pleasant and the free internet access was useful. We did ask to see another lake view room with a bath tub and were offered a room with a view of a car park right outside the window in the direction of the pier. This was not a lake view at all, so we chose to stay put.

All in all terrible value for what we paid; this was not the standard we expected.

Just to compare value in the Tahoe area, we moved down the road to the Lakeland Village Resort which was paradise by comparison. We were offered a special rate for an apartment for $87 a night, which included a living room, dining room and kitchen, balcony (also with a partial view of the lake), gas fire, and HBO channels on TV and continental breakfast and a very helpful front desk. (The peak time had passed by then, but we found out that it would have still cost less than the TCL to stay there during New Year's.) If we hadn't found this hotel, the TCL would have marred our enjoyment of this stunning area. We checked out a number of other hotels too and they were all much better value, if we hadn't paid in advance we would have moved sooner.