Econo Lodge Inn & Suites Heavenly Village Area

Stayed at Econolodges’s before, got what I paid for for being a budget traveler, but I was pleasanlly surprised with my stay. The room was updated, clean, continental breakfast was served, walking distance to restaurants, (don’t drive in South Lake Tohoe if you don’t have to), all in all I would definitely stay here again. However, there was a door separating my room from the next and I could hear the couple in the next room having sex. Be forewarned: if you plan on having sex while you have reserved a room, please do so quietly so as to not to disturb your neighbors and not have them laugh out loud.

Aggressive! First of all, we were sent to a hotel next door. Fine, it was for one night, no big deal. We requested a late checkout. They said we could have until 12. At 10:50 the next morning, the door is opened by some guy from housekeeping! I was like, what the hell? I told him we had a 12:00 check out, but even so, what the hell? Why is he just coming in our room? He left. At 11:50, another guy starts pounding on the door. “It’s past checkout, it’s time to go!” I cracked the door and informed him we had a 12:00 check out. He yelled, “Well it’s time to go!” The phone rang and it was the front desk telling us checkout was at 11:00. I said: “This is aggressive! I asked for a late checkout, and YOU said we could have until noon!” She said ok and hung up. If they had not given us the late checkout, fine, but to bust in the room prior to regular checkout time, then have some guy yell at us like we were a couple vagrants was uncalled for. Not ever going back there.

Pros: The room was clean and comfortable and an easy walk to Heavenly Village. Area seemed safe. Cons: There was no wifi connectivity and the a/c was really loud. Apparently Econo Lodge has taken over an adjacent motel property on the east side. There is an empty paved lot between this other property and the main Econo Lodge. Despite the front desk attendant's assurance that there was internet on the adjacent property, we never got wifi . We only spent a night here, so it wasn't a big deal, but if you need wifi, then be sure to request a room in the main Econo Lodge building.

I stayed here for 3 nights while skiing at Heavenly. It was just under a ten minute walk to the gondola. The room was clean and comfortable and the staff was very nice. They allowed me to keep my car in their lot the day I checked out so I could ski the last day without paying to park by the gondola.

Caveat: I’m used to nicer places. The room was far below what I’d hoped for. Housekeeping either needs to be paid more so they do a thorough job OR hire new housekeepers because when I find HAIR in the bathroom, bathtub, floor, clogging the shower/tub drain I start feeling sick and really upset. The sink doesn’t drain for ages. The toilet came close to overflowing several times. I’m talking about my son only peeing, flushing the toilet and it came so close to overflowing that my disgust meter elevated. We were about to head out to a concert and the toilet started to come close to overflowing. I pick up the phone to ask for maintenance and (clutches pearls because what did I expect? 😩😂) the PHONE doesn’t work. REALLY? I had to call the front desk from my cell phone. After 15 minutes went by and no maintenance person came to fix the toilet, I walked to the front desk and kindly asked again. Another 10 minutes and that was taken care of. Let’s talk bed! I’m assuming it’s been here for decades. My entire body hurts from the zero support, springy bed. The floor. Either they don’t mop or they mop with dirt. Feet and socks filthy from walking in here. The people who work here are helpful and kind. They deserve the single star because this is a dump, the hotel gets two thumbs down, zero stars, do not recommend. So have I convinced you to stay here so you can suffer like we did? Ha! Truly - I don’t even want to come back to Tahoe because this turned me off so much.