Just came back from Lake Tahoe - what a beautiful place. Stayed at
Harvey's with a fantastic view of the lake.
The best thing we did was a cruise on the Tahoe Star, the private yacht
formerly owned by Bill Harrah, which goes out for about 1 1/2 hour cruise
across the lake. 7 Star members can arrange to get a free trip which includes
great sandwiches (hoagies sort of like club sandwiches), fruit, cookies,
pasta salad, drinks (booze too!), and veggies. Apparently 7* members can
take guests with them as well, because the cruise is entirely private. If you
go to Tahoe in the summer when this operates, be sure to go. Arrange with
your host as soon as possible, so they can book the time you want. If you
want to bring guests, check to see if you can and how many (the crew
thought it might be as many as 15).
Others can purchase tickets on the Tahoe Star for around $40 from Harrah's
Total Rewards desk. That includes 2 drinks per person - not sure if it
includes food.
We had a gorgeous suite with a balcony. It looked recently updated, but
unfortunately the bad started with a really hard bed with a slate or
something under the mattress. The sheets seemed rough, not of good quality. The
pillows were really bad - sort of lumpy. Strange that this great suite had
such lousy bedding.
Then we had phone problems with not 1 but 2 broken phones in the room.
When we tried to call the front desk for help, repeatedly we could not get
through during the day - phone rang and rang and then nothing. Operator
could not help get us through. VIP services number put us on hold for over 20
minutes each time. Finally had to go to front desk to get help.
Harvey's buffet is closed, as is their diamond lounge, due to slowdown.
The Harrah's buffet on top floor is great and has an excellent view of the
lake. Their American cafe downstairs is a very good coffee shop with nice
decor.
Room service is good, and menu has a lot of items to choose from.
We also had trouble with the TV. Paid movies were disabled, so that
required yet another call to the front desk, which wasn't answering. Once they
were turned on, there were unlimited free movies for 7* guests.
I played on several $1 progressives and couldn't get enough good quads and
lost a lot of $. The good thing was that both Harrah's and Harvey's have
progressives to check out.
We ate at Kitchen 19 on top floor of Harvey's with fantastic lake view.
Unfortunately if you go early the sun in bright and even the blinds they
have don't stop it from being too bright unless you sit further back in the
room. Service was good, but the food wasn't very good. Strangely everyone
gets cotton candy at the end. Some other people loved the 'flatbread' which
is more like a pizza, but I found the salad dressings with too much
vinegar, destroying 2 different salads, and my salmon had bones, too many
peppercorns, and a badly flavored pasta. Several other dishes weren't too good
either. This is the second so-so meal we've eaten there. So despite the
great view, next time we will eat at "The Sage" restaurant downstairs, which I
can recommend very highly for fine dining.
If you do go to Tahoe, check out the gondola ride to the top of the hill in
nearby (walking distance) Heavenly for a great view. The two Harrah's
hotels are connected by an underground walkway, which is especially useful in
winter months. Note that snow can arrive even in early summer in Tahoe --
they had snow on Memorial Day for instance, and it snowed on the mountain
on June 17. Skiers, however, will find that a good thing! Harrah's is
having a special concert season during the summer - so if you are going on a
weekend, check with a host about tickets to a show. The Improv also is
usually going on.
Harrah's/Harvey's is within walking distance of several other casinos as
well.
**************It's raining cats and dogs -- Come to PawNation, a place
where pets rule! (http://www.pawnation.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000008)
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