Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

Lake Tahoe on Points as a Family of 5 + a Full Review of the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe!

• Raya & Duane

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Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit card offers to earn a ton of points/miles so we can afford travel as a larger family.

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Lake Tahoe is easily the most beautiful lake I've ever seen, and I grew up in the Finger Lakes of NY state so I feel like that's a bold statement. The snow capped mountains provided a stunning backdrop for our family adventure using Hyatt points for a completely free stay. In this episode we navigate hotel renovations, secure a suite upgrade, and discover the magic of North Lake Tahoe's beaches and activities.

• Using 92,000 Hyatt points for a four-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe
• Enjoying complimentary shuttle service to nearby beaches despite hotel renovations
• Securing a spacious suite upgrade after addressing disappointing service
• Experiencing the hotel's impressive amenities including heated pool, hot tubs, and complimentary ice cream
• Renting e-bikes to explore the shoreline and discover Hidden Beach
• Dining at local favorites like Bowl Incline, Koi Sushi, and Big Water Grill
• Visiting Incline Beach and Burnt Cedar Beach with crystal-clear waters
• Learning about the geographical split with North Lake Tahoe in Nevada and South Lake Tahoe in California
• Battling unexpected sunburns due to the 6,000-foot elevation

If you ever get any value out of our podcast at all, please do us a favor and leave us a rating or review. That is super helpful and helps more people find the podcast.


Speaker 1:

In today's episode we're recapping our road trip to Lake Tahoe, including how we stayed entirely on points, what we did, where we ate and all that fun stuff. So listen in. Hi, I'm Raya.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Dwayne.

Speaker 1:

And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five podcast, where we share how we travel as a family of five around the world.

Speaker 2:

We will also share how we use points and miles to travel as affordably as possible and sometimes even completely free.

Speaker 1:

So if you're wanting to travel more with your family but you're not sure how, we'd love for you to listen in.

Speaker 2:

So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn a thing or two to get you closer to your next trip. Hello friends. Welcome back.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to yet another episode of travel party five podcast thanks for taking time to to listen to us.

Speaker 2:

We appreciate you jinx.

Speaker 1:

So last week we fully recapped our trip to yosemite national Park and this was kind of a split week vacation. So we spent the first half at Yosemite and then we drove from Yosemite to Lake Tahoe and spent the second half of the week in Lake Tahoe before making the very long drive home yes, so it was about a four and a half hour drive from where we were, from North Lake Tahoe.

Speaker 1:

Yes, so fun fact North Lake Tahoe is in Nevada and South Lake Tahoe is in California. I did not know that until we were on this trip.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like our second day in Lake Tahoe.

Speaker 1:

Dwayne was like did you know that we're in Nevada? And I was like no, we're not, we're in California. He's like no, no, no, we're not, we're in Nevada. And sure enough, I looked it up and he was right. So the state like line basically kind of goes through the lake diagonally. I also, fun fact, thought that we were staying in South Lake Tahoe and we were not. It was North Lake Tahoe. So it was four and a half hour drive from Rush Creek Lodge, which is right outside the west entrance of Yosemite National Park, and that felt really long. Honestly. It felt like a long drive After we had already just driven like 12 hours to get to Yosemite.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it was definitely a long drive. And not only that, it's a long drive because you're you're not driving through like highways right it's like through, like little towns and mountains.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was a beautiful drive. I will say that definitely.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it was beautiful in comparison to the drive back. Yeah, phoenix yeah.

Speaker 1:

So we arrived in lake tahoe on wed, we had booked four nights using points at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe. It was 92,000 points at the time of booking for four nights in a standard room. After I had booked this, which was almost like a full year ago from you know the time booking to the time we stayed we got an email letting us know that the property was going to be undergoing renovations and that part of the property, including the private beach access and lakeside cottages, would be closed. We've never been to Lake Tahoe and we've never stayed at this property, so I wasn't sure how big of a deal those things were. So when we got that email, I first respond. They said they were giving a discount in like the room rate. So I responded and asked if they would be refunding any points and they said no. I thought that's weird If you're giving. So apparently they were refunding like giving a discount on cash fares but not points. So I thought okay. So then I started researching like how big of a deal is this? And like the consensus seemed to be that the private beach was a pretty big deal and a pretty big selling point of why someone would stay at the Hyatt because there are other beaches in the area that get very packed. That was kind of my understanding. There's also a restaurant there that was, you know, is closed while they renovate and all their lakeside cottages are completely redoing them. So this is a multi year renovation and it just started in March or April of this year, which is 2025. So this is going to be ongoing for quite some time.

Speaker 1:

So, doing the research, kind of realizing okay, this is a big deal and really could impact our stay, I started looking at other options and the other option that we settled on was the Marriott Vacation Club Timber Lodge. Is what it was called Marriott Timber Lodge and is it is a Marriott Vacation Club. Sometimes you can book these with points. However, there was zero points availability at any time when I checked, like for the whole year. So I booked a cash rate at that property, I made sure it had a decent cancellation policy and then I just kind of left them both alone and waited to see and I was like we were pretty sure we were going to stay at the Marriott like the whole time, right, yeah, I mean sure, well, we talked about it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we did. I mean I'm kind of glad we didn't, you know no, no yeah me too well.

Speaker 1:

So here's what kind of swung the scales in favor of the Hyatt, even despite the renovations, is I had. I looked on their website and I realized that they had a new kind of update about the renovation and it detailed you know, in lieu of losing this private beach access, we have given you access to these other two beaches and we have a shuttle running to them. And so they had a plan which originally, when the renovation announcement came out, there was no plan mentioned. So I liked that they had a plan. I also liked that we have status with Hyatt, so it means that we get the free breakfast and maybe an upgrade and all that, so that those things are what kind of swung it in our favor.

Speaker 1:

On top of the weather. Right when I was looking at the weather again, I was like it doesn't seem like it is even going to be warm enough for us to go in the lake, um, and so I I was like I don't, I don't even know if we would even go to this beach or any of the beaches you know yeah, but we did we did.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so anyways. So I ended up canceling the marriott stay. I mean, the other deciding factor is like well, we could either pay nothing right Because we use points, or we could pay $2,000. Paying nothing sounded better.

Speaker 2:

A lot better, especially since we just paid that for Rush Creek.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, which was so exorbitant in my opinion. So we yes, that's kind of how we settled on the Hyatt and I guess, like, well, I'll briefly kind of share our experience checking in, because leading up to this stay, I was very excited because every single Hyatt globalist group on Facebook and whatever talks about the great globalist recognition that you get from this property. I had texted them the day of our arrival they had had a family suite available.

Speaker 2:

While we were driving there from Yosemite yeah.

Speaker 1:

They had had a family suite available that morning in the app and then it like disappeared. And this was again the day we were checking in, and so I sent a text just saying, hey, you know, we're going to be arriving around 4 pm and, you know, would love like an upgrade to this room if you have it available, because sometimes hotels, like, if they still have a room available the day of, they will kind of like hold it or block it for people with status right, like that's how it works sometimes. And so I was thinking maybe that's what had happened and that's why the room had disappeared off the app and the corresponding text exchange that we had with, or that I had with, the hotel was not the best Like it was. They were just kind of like, nope, we don't have anything available, so sorry. And I had said, well, like if there's an opportunity to move into a suite for just part of the stay, like we would be totally amenable to moving, you know, partway through or whatever, if that's an option, just to get a little more space with the kids. And they were like oh no, once you're checked in, you can't, we can't move you. And I thought, well, I know that's not true, because what's happened to us before, like it's been offered to us before at different properties, you know where they're like we don't have a suite tonight, but if you, if you, want to move tomorrow, we could get you in one tomorrow. And so I just wrote back well, like that's odd, because you know we've we've definitely been upgraded to a suite, like maybe partially through a stay before, and I just they were just not being the best to me.

Speaker 1:

And then when we got there to check in, there was no, like no globalist recognition at all. And in fact it was more snarky of like oh, this, this girl, this is the girl who dared to have the audacity to ask for this upgrade, like that was the vibe and it just wasn't. It wasn't, it wasn't a great experience overall. And so I kind of just had this like disappointed. I had this disappointed feeling, right, because then we get into the room and there is no, like there's no kind of recognition.

Speaker 1:

A lot of people were like, oh, I got to my room and I had a full bottle of champagne or I have this whole snack kit, right, and there was absolutely nothing. And I don't like disappointing it was. It was disappointing and part of it is because my expectations were high and so I didn't do or say anything. I just kind of let it be and I slept on it in the two queen room that we booked and which was tight it was, it was tight. And then in the morning room that we booked and which was tight it was, it was tight. And then in the morning I just thought, like I still had that feeling, and I thought you know what, like I am gonna say something well, didn't you see if there was a suite available there?

Speaker 1:

was a suite available. Yes, starting that day until the end of our stay, there was a suite available and I just thought you, I'm just gonna I'm gonna say that this has not been a great experience, but I'm not going to go down to the front desk and talk to these people again because it wasn't well received the first time I spoke to them. So I called the globalist line and I just said, hey, like I'm just having a disappointing experience at this property. We love Hyatt so much. We obviously stay at Hyatt's a ton, and this has just been a little bit of a letdown. And I want to be clear like part of the letdown was because my expectations were high and so maybe if you heard great things about it.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, and so if, if I hadn't read all those things and my expectations were lower, I think it would have been fine. So, part of it, I take responsibility, like I did have high expectations and that's often where you know we get disappointment from. But I called the global sign. I just said hey, like just wanted to share this kind of disappointing experience. The, the manager of the hotel, reached out to me right away via text, like within 30 minutes I think, saying like hey, so sorry, you're having a disappointing experience. Like let me know if you want to, if you have a few minutes to chat, either in the lobby or, you know, over the phone. And so I met her in the lobby. She was very, very nice. She even said that she read through the text thread and that they didn't handle it well and that they need to do a better job.

Speaker 1:

She also did let me know, and apparently, that this is the Hyatt policy, which I was not aware of. So let my lesson be a lesson to everyone Generally. The policy is the suite has to be available for the entire duration of your stay in order for you to get an upgrade. I didn't know that was the policy because, again, it's been offered to us at other properties, like a partial, you know, stay upgrade because, again, it's been offered to us at other properties like a partial, you know, stay upgrade. So that was a learning experience for me.

Speaker 1:

But she did also and she also let me know that this hotel gets a lot of globalists, like more than any other Hyatt she's ever worked at. So that was also good to know Because you know when, if there's I don't know 5060 globalists a day, like there's obviously not that many suites and it's obviously hard to please everyone. So I also fully understand that. But she was like, that being said, you know we had a last minute cancellation and we do have a suite available if you would like to move into that, and so we did. It was fantastic. It was the sugar pine junior suite, I think, and she was like it's not like two separate rooms. I was like that's fine.

Speaker 2:

I mean it was three times the size.

Speaker 1:

It was huge, it was really big and it was still one big room, but there was like an entertainment center kind of divider in the middle. It was plenty of space for all of us.

Speaker 2:

Quite the upgrade, for sure it was great.

Speaker 1:

It was really beautiful. It had a really nice view of the lake um and the mountains and the mountains. I do think the this room had already been renovated as well as had our first room. I think it had this beautiful like um forest silhouette wallpaper on the wall. That was really like stunning and really fitting. I thought, um, yeah, so like what King bed plus a pullout sofa bed, um, plenty of room for us and the kids, and and then some. It was nice to get some breathing room from the kids after you know like what, five days squished into the van and small rooms. So the rest of our stay was phenomenal, so it was.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad that I said something in the beginning instead of just kind of suffering and not suffering is not the right word, excuse me, that's very dramatic but instead of just like living with that disappointment and kind of letting it ruin the stay. I'm really glad that I said something and I want to be clear. Like the fact that they didn't have an upgrade was not the disappointing part. Like that's not the, that's not why I complained. Upgrades are subject to availability and if sometimes you don't get them, and it's fine. It was just the fact that they act like how dare I ask for this upgrade? And like they just weren't super kind at all about it and almost act like how dare I? Um? So I feel like I just want to be clear, like it's not the fact that they didn't have an upgrade, that wasn't the problem. It was just more of like a customer service level that wasn't there but I mean the remainder of our state.

Speaker 2:

Oh, 10 out of 10. Yeah, yeah, we didn't have any other issues.

Speaker 1:

So okay. So let's talk about the property Again. It's in North Lake Tahoe. One of the restaurants is closed. That's the one that's like by the water. So to my knowledge, there are three options to like eat on the property. One is the Cutthroat Saloon, which is kind of like a bar-ish food. The property One is the Cutthroat Saloon, which is kind of like a bar-ish food. Then there's room service and then there's Osteria, something I forget the name of it. That's where we had breakfast. The breakfast was the best breakfast I've ever had at a Hyatt, I think.

Speaker 2:

Yes, the breakfast was really really good.

Speaker 1:

For Globalist, they did a buffet on the weekends, um, during the week, at least the time that we were there, it was just ordering off the menu. Uh, the steak and eggs was probably the best um breakfast dish that we had. At one point even our kids were ordering it. It was really good. It was like steak, eggs, um a few potatoes and hollandaise sauce, and it was delicious as far as having. So again we booked for four and we brought five.

Speaker 1:

They did comp our entire breakfast on our first day. The server recommended the best way to kind of do that is just to get four entrees. So basically treat it as if we have four adults, and so our younger two, a couple of days, split an adult entree off the menu, so like a pancake or a waffle, was was generally what they shared and it was plenty of food for the two of them to share, and so that was. You know, that made it easy for them to comp our entire breakfast if we did it that way. And then on the days when the buffet was open, our daughter was again we did it that way, and then, on the days when the buffet was open, our daughter was again young enough to not be charged for the buffet, so that's kind of how that worked. We also were able to order like specialty coffees that was comped for global status um duane and I got our cappuccinos and our mochas yeah, it was very reminiscent of our time in europe and the buffet was.

Speaker 2:

It was pretty good as well the buffet was pretty good so you have options yes, the breakfast was delicious, I yes.

Speaker 1:

Um, there is a fully heated pool plus two hot tubs open on the property. There's also a shallow children's pool, but it was closed when we were there. I assume they were renovating it in some way.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they were renovating the ground. They were putting like sod and redoing landscaping.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that was closed off, but the regular pool was heated. The hot tubs were nice. They also have like a swim-in swim-out area from inside that you can so like, if you. I guess, if it's cold outside and you want to get in and out of the water not outside in freezing weather you get in inside and you can walk out I didn't even realize that was that's what it was for, but yes, it makes sense yeah, they have showers in there too, so I mean it has to be what it's for, right, it's a cool feature, I mean yeah, for sure, I never thought of that, but yeah, that's definitely what it's for, right, it's a cool feature.

Speaker 2:

I mean, yeah, for sure, I never even thought of that, but yeah, that's definitely what it's for.

Speaker 1:

This hotel is also right next to a Hyatt Vacation Club and we could see that Hyatt from, like when we were waiting for the elevator. We could see it from out like the window. And so I think if, maybe, if you don't have a lot of points or whatever you could try to get a Hyatt Vacation Club offer. You know that they do for, like I don't know, a discounted stay for three or four nights, and I I'm pretty sure you can use the amenities at the Regency as well if you do that. So, um, yeah, it was literally right next door and they also had a really big area. Was it a dog park like, or?

Speaker 2:

is that just where people took their dogs, what it looked like? I mean, there were so many dogs out there, so I would assume that's what it was for.

Speaker 1:

So this is a dog-friendly hotel. Was it fenced in? I couldn't tell.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't tell you either.

Speaker 1:

There is a huge grassy area where everyone was taking their dogs. I'm unclear if it's fenced in and if it's like a dog park or not, but you know if you, if you, are bringing your dog. I guess that's good to know. This hotel also had a ton of activities, a lot of which were included and some cost extra. We sadly didn't have the chance to do any of them Because by the time our kids wanted like, said yes, we'll do it, it was already booked up. Um, that was archery. So you can do like an archery class for free as long as you're eight and older. And what else did they have?

Speaker 2:

hatchet throwing, you had to be 12 yes, uh, they have margarita hikes or like martini hikes for adults they also had just regular hikes and like meditation hikes that sort of thing. You can rent bikes from this place.

Speaker 1:

We did rent bikes. We'll talk about that here in a moment. I'm trying to think of other amenities.

Speaker 2:

It's a casino as well.

Speaker 1:

There is a casino. Yeah, so the Saturday that we were there, by the pool, they had set up a DJ.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And they had a person making balloon animals and they set up this really cute ice cream cart, which was on Sunday. We left on Sunday, it was Saturday.

Speaker 2:

Oh well, friday they had a DJ.

Speaker 1:

No, it was all the same day.

Speaker 2:

It was not the same day, are you sure? I'm positive. The DJ was the day before, the ice cream was the day after. Positive. But yes, they had a nice little ice cream cart set up, all complimentary, and they were out there for a good two and a half three hours. You're right, dang it. I know I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:

Just had to check my text thread because I sent a video to my sister of the DJ. And yeah, it was on Friday. Dang it, okay, fine, whatever. Let the video to my sister of the dj. And yeah, it was on friday. Dang it, okay, fine, whatever, let let the record show. Duane was correct. Did you mention that they made the ice cream in-house?

Speaker 2:

no, I did not yes, so they had.

Speaker 1:

What four flavors?

Speaker 2:

yes, strawberry chocolate caramel popcorn. There was one more, oh oh, mango passion fruit.

Speaker 1:

And yeah, apparently all the ice creams were made in-house.

Speaker 2:

And they started on a waffle cone.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, completely free, completely free. And they were not stingy with the ice cream. They were not stingy Like we're talking, three scoops in this cone. At a minimum, our kids were loving it. All of it was free. The balloon animals, everything. We. We tipped the balloon person like using venmo, but it was a really nice touch. Um, you also get, when you check in, one free like s'mores kit. We actually didn't get ours and duane had to go up to the front desk because they give you like a little card and you redeem it at the little store area. So that was a nice little touch as well.

Speaker 1:

And then, in addition to all the like, the archery and all that, they also have shuttles that will take you to the beaches. So there's two beaches that they are using, while their private beach is closed. The first one is Incline Beach and that is walking distance from the hotel or you can take the shuttle. My oldest and I walked to and from the beach from the hotel and it was maybe I don't know seven to eight minute walk. It was not far and it was an easy walk. Yeah, but you can take the shuttle if you don't want to walk Nice beach.

Speaker 2:

It was actually the first day that their snack bar slash bar was open. Yeah, you get drinks there, there's a playground. Yeah, there's a playground.

Speaker 1:

It's really stunning because you walk up and you can see these snow-capped mountains and the lake is so incredibly clear, crystal clear. The water is stunning, but the water's cold AF. Yeah, it was like 60 degrees when we were there. I think the water not for me.

Speaker 1:

And and then there's just the sand in the beach and it's like it. It was warm enough, you know, to like sit on the beach and play on the playground and all that and be in a bathing suit, but the kids kind of put their feet in the water and that was about the extent of it for that day. And then the other beach is called burnt cedar. That one is not walking distance. You definitely need the shuttle for that one it's not as big it is a smaller beach area.

Speaker 1:

it also has a pool, though, that you can use. Um the pool, I don't know if it was heated, it was a little bit cold. Um, there's also a little snack bar there that you can get, like chicken fingers and stuff at it was. The food was meh. It was fine, nothing fancy and, yeah, the beach area itself is smaller. There is also a playground and a like a grassy area. Yeah, so those are the two beach options.

Speaker 2:

I would recommend Incline beach for sure yeah, I probably would too.

Speaker 1:

Again, I want to. I want to preface we were there the second week of june, so I don't think we got the full experience of how busy it can get like when summer season is in full swing. But those so those are the two beaches, um, you also can rent kayaks or paddle boards directly from the hotel. I believe it is also complimentary, and they launch you from some dock. I don't know, we didn't do it pier seven or something, pier three and then you can rent bikes.

Speaker 1:

This is not free, it is actually very expensive very expensive like we.

Speaker 1:

I'm kind of glad I didn't know the price until we were already like ready to go and the guy was like this is the price, because I don't think we would have done it, but we were committed at that point. Um, and it was really fun. So we rented e-bikes. You need the e-bike part, so if you want to think you're just going to get on a regular bike and coast along, absolutely not, there was a lot of hills if you're in shape and you want to well, do a little workout you you can get a regular bike our eight-year-old was not able to get an e-bike.

Speaker 2:

Because he wasn't big enough.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So he had a regular bike and I mean he crushed it, like, while the rest of us are cheating, zooming up these hills with our e-bikes, he was working for it, but he did such a great job. I was really proud of him, yeah, and he didn't complain one time and it was really fun didn't complain one time and it was really fun.

Speaker 2:

So, yes, you rent these bikes and you take it along the trail that you know, that's along the, the beaches and the water. So we stopped at well it. And then what was the last? Sand Harbor, sand Harbor.

Speaker 1:

Was the final one.

Speaker 2:

Which looked pretty popping.

Speaker 1:

I mean, there was a lot of people and you had to pay money to get into it, which we didn't do. It was $2 a person and we were like, eh no, like we're not going to do that Because we had to park the bike, lock it.

Speaker 2:

I mean, we weren't familiar with the area and we were not planning on swimming or anything like. We were not prepared so so we just turned around and then stopped back at hidden beach and I mean this lake tal is a nice lake I've ever seen in my life. It's stunning. It's so beautiful crystal clear waters, I mean, and then this beach, it was beautiful it was beautiful.

Speaker 1:

so the the price to rent the bikes we rented them for two hours and the price to rent them for the whole day is not much more and so I think that's the way to do it.

Speaker 1:

If you're gonna do it, to take full advantage is to rent the bikes for the whole day. Pack yourself up a lunch, a swimsuit, a towel, whatever else you may need, and just plan to go out and about for most of the day, like, have your lunch, bring some drinks, you know. You can go to Sand Harbor, you can stop at Hidden Beach there were other places you could stop to along the way and just make a whole day of it. I feel like that's how to get your money's worth out of it, and then you can also ride past like, like. After you've done that whole loop, you can pass the hotel and go the other way up what they call billionaire row, and you can look at all those houses. We were in one of the top 10 most expensive zip codes in the country Beautiful, beautiful houses. We're talking like 20, $30 million properties.

Speaker 2:

Well, one of the bellmen said that mark zuckerberg owns a house there and it was like 170 mil yeah, so you can ride the bikes up that way too.

Speaker 1:

We didn't do that because our our eight-year-old was like tired, he was like I don't want to go anymore and I was like I totally get that and I didn't know what kind of hills were up there, so we didn't. But I think that's the way to do it and kind of just keep the bikes for the whole day and explore and really get your money's worth.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because we rented these bikes four bikes, three e-bikes, one regular bike.

Speaker 1:

And a bike trailer.

Speaker 2:

And a bike trailer. It was $300 and some dollars $300 and some dollars for an hour.

Speaker 1:

Like $320, I think, for two hours. $300, some dollars for an hour, like $320, I think, for two hours, and we ended up only using them for an hour. So yeah, it was really expensive and if we priced it out for the whole day it was like $400. So for $80 more we could have gotten a whole day's worth of the bikes. So I think that's the way to do it. Learn from our mistakes. But yeah, the rental was directly in the hotel. It was called Big Blue Bikes or something like that, and it was super easy to do. Like, you just showed up, we didn't have a reservation or anything and it was fine. But again, second week of June, so I probably think, like mid-July, you might need a reservation before the day of, especially if you need a bike trailer or something like we did for our youngest yeah, because they're limited.

Speaker 1:

Um, okay, so I feel like that's the hotel, like 1000 would return to this hotel even in the midst of a renovation. Um, I've already set up a google flight alert for next year to see if we can kind of make a long weekend of it. We would fly, not drive.

Speaker 2:

Never again.

Speaker 1:

Um, and I would absolutely use a suite upgrade award next time I stay, because the suites are totally worth it and, um, knowing that they get so many globalists, I wouldn't want to leave it to chance. Um, let's talk about some of the places that we ate in lake tahoe so backing up.

Speaker 2:

This hotel also provided shuttles to wherever you wanted to go yeah, like on demand, like yeah you would just go downstairs say, hey we, you know we went to dinner a couple times off property, yeah, and they took us every time I mean mean complimentary. I tipped every time there and back I gave money to the kids and they love throwing out tips.

Speaker 1:

The kids love to tip with money that's not theirs. Also, we valeted our car and we would have had to tip the valet every time we got the car out anyway. So yeah, this seemed like a great win, and I mean the staff there was great too, I thought. They were like the shuttle drivers were so nice, like one of them was from like Bulgaria and we had a great time chatting with him all about his travels and it was fantastic.

Speaker 2:

One of the shuttle drivers was the husband of the lady you spoke to, of the manager.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, which was funny, I was like, was like, oh yeah, I met your wife, like, and then I thought, oh, he's probably heard about me, he's definitely hurt. Oh yeah, sorry, just over here causing trouble. Um, okay, so we tried to eat off property for dinner to save a little bit of money, because prices on property are expensive and we spent a good amount at the pool for lunches and stuff. So that was our intention, right.

Speaker 2:

Save a little bit of money. We spent a bunch of time at the pool.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we did. Yes, but the first night we went to this place called Bowl Incline, so think of it as like a pretty new clean bowling alley, like a fancy bowling bowling alley. That's how the hotel described it to me and I I would agree. They also have a full restaurant with like a whole outdoor seating area where they have games and stuff, so it's really good for kids and families. And the chef was supposedly some sort of food network chef and so the food was like hawaiian asian american fusion yes, um, it was quite good.

Speaker 1:

I thought it was pretty good. Yeah, we really liked it. Um, and so we ate dinner outside, and then we bowled a game, and then they also have an arcade again.

Speaker 2:

It's places new. It's pretty fancy. Bowling was expensive, yes, but I mean like it was like 75 bucks for one game for five of us yeah, that's, yeah, that's a good amount? Um, actually it's, they charge you by the hour.

Speaker 1:

Oh really yeah well, we only got through one game in one hour. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

We only played one game, so it was like 75 bucks an hour.

Speaker 1:

So I guess maybe if you were just like two people or something, you could probably get in two games in that time frame. I guess Maybe even three. Well, yeah, because you know the kids, they take their time. So we did that, um. So we did that. It was really fun. We really enjoyed that. Um would totally go back there again. In fact, the kids wanted to go back again another night and we were like, oh, not this trip, I think it's too expensive, but I would do it like once a, you know, once a trip or whatever Um. A few other places that we ate that were all recommended by the hotel were a Koi sushi.

Speaker 2:

Yes, japanese place, that was pretty good yeah a lot of food. If we wouldn't know how much food they would they were gonna give us, we would have freaking, ordered less, yeah it was a lot, a lot.

Speaker 1:

The other place that we went and this one was kind of fancier was called big water grill. Um, we were literally wearing hoodies and like jeans when we went in there and it was not a problem, but it was definitely a fancier restaurant, definitely a fancy restaurant. Um, I think this would be a really good place like to watch, like if you were to go at sunset. Yeah, it would be good for that. Um, our kids like housed their food, though, like they had been swimming all day and, yeah, they all ate every single bite even, even I did.

Speaker 2:

I had the pork chops.

Speaker 1:

They were good yeah, I had scallops, it was, it was good, it was a good meal and they asked us if we had a reservation. We made no reservations anywhere and we had no problem getting a table for five.

Speaker 2:

I mean, we were early.

Speaker 1:

But yes, we were there at like five, I think, or 5.30, no later than that.

Speaker 2:

I would even say, earlier than that, but five.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we definitely were not there late. And again, I'm going to repeat for the millionth time second week of June. So I do think if you're like end of July, mid-august, I think it's probably much busier and you should make a reservation. I think those are the only places that we ate right Sushi, yeah that's it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, a few things to note. Also is our kids kept getting sunburned and I kept, like we, I am religious about sunscreen. They wear sunscreen every single time they go in the pool or anywhere or outside, like that and they kept getting burned. So like they got burned the first day a little bit and the second day, put on sunscreen, they still were very crispy. Then I finally realized it was the elevation. So we were at roughly 6,000 feet, maybe a little bit more, and so that's why they were getting so burned is the sun exposure.

Speaker 2:

Crispy is what we were calling it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's how they looked. Fortunately, you know they have more of Duane's darker skin and so the burn quickly turns to tan. But still it's sun damage that you know they have more of Duane's darker skin and so the burn quickly turns to tan. But still it's sun damage that you know you don't want your kids to have. So worth noting.

Speaker 1:

Once I figured that out, I was much more religious with the sunscreen. Also, I had a chance to visit the spa at this property, and so Duane had given me a visit the spa at this property, um, and so I took a few. Dwayne had given me a gift card for mother's day, and after we had left rush Creek and Yosemite and all that and we had all been crammed together for so long, I was like man. I was like maybe I'm going to go to the spa, and so I did. I used the gift certificate for a 60 minute massage and a 30 minute float. The float is like one of those float tanks where the water is super salty and which makes it more buoyant, and you just get in there and you float in the dark if you want, and the complete silence for whatever your allotted time frame is. Mine was 30 minutes.

Speaker 1:

I thought 30 minutes was a good amount of time because I was a little bit bored by the end, um. But the massage was great. The spa was beautiful. They have a sauna, a steam room, you know, a quiet room with like a crackling fireplace and like cozy couches where you wait for them to call you for your your uh services and your services, and it was great. So the total cost for the massage plus the 30 minute float was $360. That includes a 20% gratuity, so it was actually $300. But then the gratuity was on top of it and since my gift card was 300, all I had to pay out of pocket that day was $60. And it felt like a great time. It felt like money well spent. Yeah, it was very relaxing and cozy. Thank you for watching the kids while I did that.

Speaker 2:

It was great we just got crispy at the pool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what else? Anything else about Lake Tahoe that you think people need to know?

Speaker 2:

Um, no, um, like I said before, such a nice lake, crystal clear waters, um, if we go back, we definitely try to get on the water somehow. Yes, that would be my recommendation. If we would have had two jet skis, we would have been on the water, but we don't so.

Speaker 1:

Duane saw these jet skis and was like that could have been us, could have been us yeah, that would be.

Speaker 2:

My recommendation is a kayak or anything to get on the water yeah, we saw a lot of people with paddle boards.

Speaker 1:

Um, that would be super fun to do. Um, I mean, I grew up boating and so getting out on a boat and like skiing and tubing, like that is what I would love to do. But let me tell you, the prices of those boats are really expensive for a rental, so I don't know if that's in the cards for us. It was like $2.50 an hour. Oh, it was so expensive. It would have been over a thousand dollars, like for the day, I think. So, um, yeah, I don't know if that's ever going to happen, but for sure, like paddleboarding would be great again.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we were in North Lake Tahoe, so we don't know about South Lake Tahoe.

Speaker 1:

I know someone on Instagram had given me so many good recommendations about South Lake Tahoe. Because I know Someone on Instagram had given me so many good recommendations about South Lake Tahoe because I thought that's where we were staying and I was really sad that we couldn't use any of them because, for context, the North and South are roughly 45 minutes apart Driving, driving, yeah, yeah, so okay, I feel like that wraps up our recap. If you want to see any of the stuff we talked about, I have a very detailed Instagram highlight reel all about it, so you can go click on Lake Tahoe. Um, on our Instagram page at travel party five. Let me know if you have any questions or whatever. I will do my best to answer them.

Speaker 1:

I hope this was helpful. Um, if you have any feedback for us-wise about what is and is not helpful, please also send that in a message. And, as always, if you ever get any value out of our podcast at all, if you would do us a favor and leave us a rating or review. That is super helpful. Helps more people find the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we appreciate that.

Speaker 1:

I'm still hoping that our podcast is going to pop up under the like other you know you may also like when I look at like big travel podcasts that I follow and we're not there yet, but I think we'll get there eventually one day one day, one day, one day, leave us a review, thank, you. Yes, we appreciate you, as always we will catch you on the next. Have a good one, bye.