I was ambivalent about whether to book this hotel based on some of the reviews that I read. However, I was swayed by three factors: 1) one tour book cited this hotel as the guide's favorite place to stay in Lake Tahoe; 2) they had a spring special for $145 which included a riverfront room, a continental breakfast and a $60 credit toward dinner; and 3) I thought I had stayed here with my parents almost 25 years ago and recalled it as a pleasant location (Turns out I was right.) Our room appeared to have been recently rennovated and was very pleasant. We enjoyed the views of the river from both our balcony and the restaurant. The only surprise was that the river was narrower than I recalled and that condos had been built on the other side of the river so that the views were of both river and buildings. Staff were very friendly and dinner was good.

My girlfriend and I (24 yrs old) stayed at the River Ranch for its close location to Alpine Meadows. Though the location was great, I would much rather drive further to the resorts than stay here again. As mentioned on previous posts, the rooms were very small and fairly gross. The carpets and beds were stained with who knows what and the showers looked like they hadn't been cleaned in weeks. But the bed was comfy and it didn't matter so much after a long day of skiing.

As far as the crowd in the hotel goes, I would not recommend the River Ranch for families with young children. Even as a 24 year old I wanted something toned down a bit while visiting peaceful Tahoe. But i can say one thing, the food wasn't half bad.

We booked a river-view room in advance for five days. When we arrived, we found we had a view not so much of the river (as promised), but of the patio and bar. Seated at the bar were a number of patrons, sloppy drunk and talking loudly. Walking back to my car, I saw one of the patrons leaving the bar collapse with a wet splat on the concrete floor. Back in our room, the noise from the highway was very loud, even with the door and windows closed. The bathroom was moldy (see pictures) and clearly had not been updated since the 70's. In addition, we found out that later in the week there would be a reggae concert on the patio right outside our room (and everyone's room, actually), starting at 9pm. This was not shaping up to be the quiet, relaxing getaway we were expecting.

So that evening we attempted to get our room changed. No front desk staff were on site to help us. We were told by the dining room manager that no hotel personnel were available (it was 6pm, in the middle of summer high season), that there was NO way to get in touch with them, and that we should talk with someone at the front desk in the morning.

The following morning we tried again, were told there were no other rooms available, and so decided to depart early. They have a well-defined and bulletproof cancellation policy, which I am sure has been honed to legal exactitude after complaints from many dissatisfied customers, so we had to pay quite a bit for our one night. When I indicated to the woman at the front desk that our room was hardly a river view, she seemed to take our complaint personally, and became defensive and rude. As we departed, she dismissed us with a sarcastic "good luck".

We found refuge in the Rustic Cottages in Kings Beach, and had a wonderful rest of our trip. I'd never go back to the River Ranch Lodge, and advise you to avoid it as well.

If you have small children this is definitely not the place to stay, and the restaurant is most certainly not equipped for small children. The rooms were very small, and the bathrooms are smaller than my half bath! They crammed two double beds in a space that is barely enough room for a queen. The comforters are warm, but the bed was as hard as a rock! Also, there is nothing in the room, no microwave, (again not good if you have a child under two), no coffee maker, there are two very small water glasses!
In the restaurant we were encouraged to make reservations, when I made the reservations I let them know our son would be dining with us and he's under two. So of course they set us near the bar, and when our son got very restless (it took over an hour to get our appetizer) we were scolded by the manager it was dangerous, while this was going on there was a very rowdy group from the resort that was annoying the whole restaurant (several groups asked to move to another part of the dinning area away from the bar) of course they were friends with people who work at the lodge so nothing was said, but there were plenty of hugs and high-fives from the staff. It's always an interesting dining experience when our toddler isn't the most intrusive person in the restaurant .
If your looking for only a hard bed to sleep in this is the right place for you, if you want anything more, find another place to stay.