Created: 03/11/2024
Each February, the schools in our area close down for a one-week vacation, aptly termed Ski Week. For this Ski Week, I had thoughts about taking the family to Lake Tahoe to play in the snow and possibly lessons. The thought of lugging gear, dragging whining kids and trying to get from place to place in the cold snow has always been a fear of mine, which fortunately has never come true due to good pre-planning and working out the logistics.
Previously…
On previous trips when our kids were much littler, we preferred The Granlibakken (recommended to us by a good friend) as it offered a great all-in-one area if you have kids. Granlibakken offered a sledding hill, easy slopes to learn skiing/snowboarding, rentals, complimentary breakfast buffet, food and beverages near the snow area, pool and hot tub, all within walking distance to our room.
Now that our kids are older and we are looking into getting proper lessons for them (it was hard to book lessons at Granlibakken in our experience) and we’ve hit the limit on what we can teach them ourselves, it was time to look into other alternatives. I had heard good things about the Hyatt Regency in Lake Tahoe (Incline Village) from friends over the years and since we are World of Hyatt members, I dug deeper into what this resort has to offer. As we are a casual winter sports family, we weren’t locked-in to any ski resorts/lifts and had the flexibility to try different options. What I learned about the Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe made me feel like it was a worthy try for our first trip back to Tahoe since the pandemic hit.
Considerations…
What we were hoping to get:
- Close proximity to a decent ski resort (preferably within a 20 min drive) with available lessons
- Food and dining on-site or very close by
- Easy parking (or shuttle service)
- Amenities (pools)
- Nearby/walkable place for kids to play in the snow
What I found out with the Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe:
- Free shuttle to Diamond Peak (6 min ride) every 30min and back
- A good selection of restaurants, a full service sit-down cafe and a provisions shop for food to go that also has seating for dining, and a microwave for use.
- Complimentary parking covered by our World of Hyatt membership (Explorist level).
- A large and nice pool, with several hot tubs. One part of the pool connected to the inside of the hotel so that you could exit/enter in a warm sheltered area.
- Areas to play in the snow around the pool and rooms. (Also has a nice river in the back.)
- Several complimentary activities one could reserve, including snow-shoeing around the property with snow shoes provided. This was a nice touch.
- 48hr Free Cancellation just in case the weather makes us need to cancel the trip
Bookings…
Now that I have a preferred accommodation in my pocket, it’s time to see if Diamond Peak has any lessons available. I went to their website and learned a bit about them, but I was disappointed to see their ski lessons were all sold out. Fortunately, after speaking with the family, my kids preferred snowboard lessons, which Diamond Peak still had plenty remaining during the date/time slots that I wanted. Well, there we go… we can at least get snowboarding lessons if I make the booking soon.
Now it’s time to make all the bookings… I went through a mental exercise on when would be a good time to schedule their snowboarding lessons. I ended up choosing the AM lesson because that meant we would get fresher snow and would have free time afterwards to continue to stay at Diamond Peak, or return for other activities. Plus Diamond Peak Lessons also offers 48hrs free cancellation, because it’s storm season and we need the flexibility to cancel if so.
Preparations…
After the hotel and lessons were booked, I also looked into the various activities the hotel had, and I booked a free snowshoe activity for that same afternoon, as well as dinner reservations. Next… it was time to figure out the gear.
I could’ve included gear rental with our snowboard lessons, but I didn’t want to be stressing the morning of our first day there, trying to get the gear for two kids, making sure it fits and then rushing to get them to lessons on time.
Fortunately, here in the Bay Area, we have a place called Sports Basement where they have just the service you need for snow play. This is where you can go to rent everything from helmets, snowboards, skis, shoes to even thermal undergarments. They also have a nice “gently-used” section where you can get gear for the littles as well. So on the next free day for our family, we made a trip to Sports Basement and got all the gear rented several days before our trip. Check out my Sports Basement Guide here, especially useful if you have kids.
I also wanted to add that about a week or so before our check-in at the hotel, the Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe Reservations team, as well as the Executive Assistant, had emailed and texted us to inform us that they might not be able to offer us an upgrade, but also provided us with a little Welcome Guide on dining, activities and just to check in on us in general. I didn’t mind not having the upgrade and was pleased with their attention and customer service ahead of time.
Now with all of that out of the way, we were set and ready for our vacation!
Arriving at Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe…
On the morning of our trip we headed out from the Bay Area for a smooth and not very trafficky drive to Tahoe. It also helped that we were able to utilize free FasTrak carpool. For a quick food and bathroom stop, we chose Beach Hut Deli and really enjoyed their tasty sandwiches.
We arrived at the Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe, pulled up to the front and check-in was a breeze. Sadly we were not able to get a free room upgrade despite being Explorists because of how busy they were, but the rooms were still spacious and comfortable. Here are some photos and videos of their standard rooms. If you have a Club Access award (which you should add to your reservation ahead of time, before check-in) or if you are a Globalist, this Hyatt has a Club that you can utilize.
We relaxed, explored the property and even took a walk through the Casino. The Casino part of the resort offered a shortcut to the parking lot, however it was an incredibly smokey walk. Just that short walk within the Casino made me feel really ill, such that afterwards we opted to walk along the outside of the resort in the cold to get to our car, than to take that shortcut again. But we were glad that once you exited the Casino area, the air was clean and there was no scent of smoke anywhere in the lobby and the rest of the resort.
For dinner that evening, we dined at the Sierra Cafe, which usually only opens seasonally, but happened to be open that weekend because it was such a popular weekend at the Hyatt. The service and quality of the food at the Sierra Cafe was definitely above cafe standards for which we were pleasantly surprised to find. After dinner, it was time to settle down to bed for our morning snowboarding experience tomorrow.
We woke up to a lovely sunny morning and went to enjoy breakfast at the Sierra Cafe again for breakfast (no free breakfast at the Hyatt Regency unless you’re a Globalist or have Club Access). The breakfast food again was high quality and enjoyable, but there was quite the crowd here now and the service was noticeably slower.
We also dined at the Cutthroat’s Saloon in the Hyatt and enjoyed a nice casual meal there while watching the several basketball games on their multitude of screens in the saloon. This was a good thing considering how slow the service was that night, but again we understood this weekend was one of two of their busiest times of the year.
Diamond Peak Ski Resort…
After breakfast, we gathered our snowboards, gear and went to the Front Entrance to board the free shuttle 9am to Diamond Peak. The ride was quick and comfortable, but some of us had to stand because that shuttle was pretty full and we didn’t get out there early enough. Fortunately it was just 6-10min of standing. As we approached Diamond Peak, we saw cars parked far far out, into the overflow lots, with lots of ski/snowboarders waiting at the parking lot shuttle stops. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid, having to drive and find parking, while lugging equipment, wearing lots of layers and juggling pre-teen kids. The shuttle arrived at the main area of Diamond Peak and we headed to the ticketing windows where I was able to pick-up the kids lift tickets and figure out where the lessons were at.
Since we had already gotten all of our gear from Sports Basement, we were able to leisurely bypass the rentals area and walk over to the lessons area and play around. When it was time for lessons the Instructors split the kids into groups of 3-4 and got them started on the basics, gradually moving on to teaching them how to snowboard down the halfpipe. The lesson was supposed to be 1h 45min, but it ended up being 2hrs. During this time we grownups explored the rest of the property, got some food/drinks and checked-in on the kids from afar. Our group of first-timer kids didn’t get far enough to learn how to use the lift, which meant I could’ve saved some dollars and bought them the Lesson Only instead of the Snowboard + Lift package. (Maybe this will help you choose if your kids are also first timers.) After the lesson was over, we chatted with the friendly Instructor and picked up our confident and happy, though tired, kids. They enjoyed the lesson and really liked their instructor. The Instructor informed us that next time they come back for lessons, they would be ready for the next level up.
While we were there, we also chatted with some other parents (more serious ski/snowboarding people than we were) and we were told that they had driven over 30-40min from other ski resorts to come to Diamond Peak for lessons for their kids because the lessons here were “solid” and “affordable”. I was very glad to hear that since I had no frame of reference and just picked this combination due to logistical ease, low-stress and we wanted to use our World of Hyatt benefits.
After our lessons were done, the kids were tired and ready to go back to the hotel. So we went back to the same area where we disembarked from the shuttle and waited for the return ride. The shuttle heads to the hotel every half-hour, iirc, and it arrives at Diamond Peak for pickup and dropoff every quarter of the hour. After a short wait, the shuttle arrived and we got on with plenty of seats available now. The Driver was very friendly and after a short ride, we were back at our hotel. As we were disembarking, the Driver offered everyone some fresh pastries which my kids grabbed with delight. It was such a friendly experience.
Tip: We learned from a nice hotel rep who we tipped, that the only place to get a discount on Diamond Peak lift tickets were at this Hyatt.
Back to Hyatt…
We spent the rest of our time at the resort swimming, experiencing it’s various activities, resting and dining. We also really enjoyed the private hotel beach which was just a short walk from the hotel itself. We were told during summer time it’s a special treat to have a private beach because of how crowded the shores of Tahoe can get, which is true from our experience during our visits during the crowded summer weekends. Right on this private beach is the higher-end Hyatt restaurant called The Lone Eagle Grill. We had made reservations to dine there but felt too tired after a day of activities to make it there and opted to spend the time in the pools instead. If you are unsure where the private beach is, just navigate to the Lone Eagle Grill and it’s right there with a view of the private beach.
At one point, the hubby and I went out for a local lunch at Sam Choy’s Hawaiian Diner. We took the car out and it was a short drive to a cute retro bowling alley where the diner was located. We enjoyed a very tasty lunch there with dessert. They even had “Li hing mui powder” for their Vanilla Pineapple Dole Whip as a topping, wow! (That’s what I chose.) The atmosphere was really enjoyable and felt so cozy, that small town feel, that is so hard to find now from my childhood home of the Bay Area.
Watch for a hotel room tour, an overview of Diamond Peak and see the Hyatt private beach
Conclusion…
On our final day, we relaxed a little more at the hotel and then made our way back home to the Bay Area. Overall this trip was one of the easiest and most relaxing snow experiences we’ve had, mostly because having that shuttle to Diamond Peak reduced a lot of logistical stress getting to and from the slopes with gear and kids. This is definitely going to be our new regular spot, at least until we are all done with snow lessons.
Upon our return home, I received a survey from the hotel and I filled it out. I was surprised to find a personal response to my survey from the Executive Assistant explaining with apologies as to why the dining services were so slow and also accepted the suggestions I made, which I appreciated. I am impressed with their level of service and would be glad to return with my family.
