The Western U.S. is supposedly entering a dry period that may last for decades, a drought that is already shrinking big reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
Looks like it’s time to head to Lake Tahoe, where there’s never a shortage of clear blue water.
Straddling the California-Nevada border, this gem measures 22 miles by 12 miles and has an average depth of 989 feet. Surrounded by mountains, the lake’s waters are so clear that you can expect to see a white dinner plate in the water at a depth of 75 feet. While some of its shoreline is heavily developed, much has been preserved as parkland. Winters here are dominated by ski visitation, while the summer season involves hiking, mountain biking and water-fueled fun on the lake, measuring 191 square miles.
Since it never freezes, the pure-blue lake and its surrounding mountains, rising up to 11,000 feet, tend to capture everyone’s attention the moment they step outside. Summer events come with nearly guaranteed sunny skies, or at least a lack of rain, since nearly all of Tahoe’s precipitation falls as snow between November and April. Conversely, in winter you can almost always count on there being snow on the ski slopes. The 2007–’08 season was a banner one for Lake Tahoe ski resorts, which saw a continuing series of storms turn slopes white and cash registers green.
Getting around Lake Tahoe is straightforward thanks to an excellent road network that surrounds the entire lake. About 47 miles from Tahoe City, Calif., and 61 miles from South Lake Tahoe, the busy Reno/Tahoe International Airport now sees about 170 arrivals and departures per day. Charter aircraft can land closer to the lake at smaller, general-aviation Lake Tahoe Airport in South Lake Tahoe.
The Lake Tahoe area is divided into the North Shore and the South Shore, each of which contains bits of both California and Nevada. This means plenty of choices for planners, depending on whether they’re looking for a mountain-centered meeting where ski buffs hit the slopes following the day’s sessions, an incentive trip that’s close to gaming venues and shows, or just something quiet on the water. Tahoe makes it easy to find as much or as little excitement as the planner chooses.
North Shore
Tahoe’s North Shore includes the California towns of Tahoe City and Truckee, while the Nevada side features Incline Village and tiny Crystal Bay. The North Shore also contains the lion’s share of the ski resorts, from Sugar Bowl in the Donner Pass area to Mount Rose in Nevada.
“Tahoe City is the hub, right on the lake with a myriad of restaurants and galleries, and the center of commerce on the North Shore,” says Jason Neary, director of sales at the North Lake Tahoe Visitors and Convention Bureau. “The resorts are on the spokes: Squaw, Northstar, Incline Village. We like to talk about it as the ‘neighborhoods of North Lake Tahoe’ on our website. Each of the 11 neighborhoods has its own distinct feeling; some are big resorts, some are mom-and-pop hotels, some are lakefront, some are mountainside, so there’s a lot of variation.”
Squaw Valley USA ski resort remains famous nearly five decades after it hosted the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, and along with Alpine Meadows and Northstar-at-Tahoe, it offers a multitude of winter sports as well as hiking and mountain biking in more clement weather.
In Tahoe City, the smaller Granlibakken Conference Center & Lodge features a very beginner-friendly and convenient downhill skiing environment, along with sledding, snowboarding and snowshoeing on 74 acres of woods and meadows.
The Squaw Valley Adventure Center is at planners’ disposal for outdoorsy team-building exercises involving ropes, climbing walls, trampolines, adventure courses, and, for the truly adventurous, bungee cords. During the winter, there’s nearly always enough snow on the ground for snowmobile touring, which companies like Full Throttle Tahoe and Lake Tahoe Snowmobile Tours can set up for groups. And don’t forget the lake, which is dotted with pleasure craft, including boats towing water skiers and parasailers—and even sporting the distinctive red and white flag signaling there are scuba divers below.
North Shore meeting facilities include everything from the stateline-straddling Cal Neva Resort’s 20,000 square feet of meeting space to the boutique Cedar House Sport Hotel’s meeting room for 35. In between, standout properties include Granlibakken Conference Center and Lodge, Resort at Squaw Creek, PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn and The Village at Squaw Valley USA, and Stanford Alpine Lodge. Favorite North Shore gaming properties with guest rooms and meeting space include the aforementioned Cal Neva Resort and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, while the Crystal Bay Club Casino lacks guest rooms but accommodates meetings for up to 100 people.
Meanwhile, the North Shore is slated to unveil its first five-star property in 2009, The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe.
South Shore
The South Shore includes South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and Stateline, Nev., and miles of beautiful lakeshore acreage. Emerald Bay State Park is one of the South Shore’s major attractions, with its almost fjord-like inlet and Lake Tahoe’s one significant island. Fannette Island contains the ruins of a tea house constructed by Vikingsholm builder Lora Knight. The island is notable because it somehow resisted pressure from the glaciers that carved out much of today’s Lake Tahoe.
Numerous hotels in the area provide meeting facilities. Harveys Lake Tahoe (which has a 20,000-square-foot convention center), Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino Resort, Montbleu Resort Casino & Spa (formerly Caesar’s Tahoe), Inn by the Lake, Embassy Suites Hotel Lake Tahoe Resort, and Lakeside Inn & Casino are group favorites.
The Montbleu in particular offers a look at how Nevada-side Tahoe properties are evolving—away from classic “Vegas” motifs like pyramids, coliseums and Eiffel towers toward a more urban idea of cool, “a whole new look and feel,” says Paul Swanston, director of sales at the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority.
“They’ve embarked on a new direction with the changeover to Montbleu,” he says. “It’s trendy and chic, with a nice four-diamond steak restaurant, an ultra lounge and a nightclub. It’s definitely a high-energy and groovy kind of feel these days.”
There’s also cross-property collaboration, Swanston says, citing the upcoming RockResorts-managed Chateau at Heavenly. When completed in late 2009 or early 2010, the property will bring 470 hotel rooms and an additional 70,000 square feet of meeting and convention space to the South Shore, and Swanston sees this as an opportunity for South Shore properties to work together to boost group business.
“It’s probably less of a ‘compete’ and more of a ‘cooperation’ taking place,” he says. “We’re having meetings with RockResorts and coming up with ways [for all the hotel properties] to work together, because 400 hotel rooms is hardly enough to fill 50,000 square feet of meeting space. So there are meetings to talk about how all the properties will benefit from this addition.”
Many non-gaming properties on the South Shore’s California side are pursuing the meetings market as well. Asked how the South Shore positions itself within the overall Lake Tahoe market and in particular against the North Shore, Swanston again mentions cooperation.
“Our first mission—for the north side and the south side—is to work together,” he says. “Our No. 1 goal is to get people to Lake Tahoe, period. And then they have to decide on north or south, and then we lay out the differences between what we each offer and let the client decide.”
“We probably have more of an abundance of shopping, nightlife, restaurants, shows, and gaming,” Swanston adds, when pressed to compare the North Shore and the South Shore.
Places to take groups to dine on the South Shore include Edgewood Tahoe, the site of the annual American Century celebrity golf tournament, which has a beautiful restaurant right on the water and plenty of meeting space; Lake Tahoe Cruises, which can provide meetings and food and beverage functions on its 500-passenger paddle wheelers or 100-passenger, 82-foot yacht; and Riva Grill, which also boasts views of the lake and a bit more of a party atmosphere.
For More Info
Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau 775.832.1606
www.gotahoenorth.com
775.588.5900
www.bluelaketahoe.com
530.581.8703
www.gotahoenorth.com
