The Best Hotels in Heavenly, USA

Renovations revived this vintage motel in South Lake Tahoe, preserving a rustic look with a decidedly hipster feel. Bath products are as carefully curated as the wine list. Skiers and snowboarders will appreciate the rubber flooring at the room entrance, designed to catch wet gear. Visible plywood reminds you that you’re in the mountains, while Stumptown-trained baristas and a fireside s’more service make you feel cosy and at home.

Hotel Azure Tahoe rooms are done in a subtle palette that borrows from dark-accent woods, many with balconies that look through Jeffrey pines to the deep-blue Lake Tahoe. Views extend over the skyline with the tallest nearby summits, Freel Peak, Job’s Sister and Mt. Rose, topping out at over 10,000ft (3,048m) in elevation. Wood-clad suites echo the cabin feel, featuring full kitchens for a more independent experience. Send the kids off to the game room while you unwind in the outdoor heated pool, open year-round.

Tarp headboards, wool blankets and orange camp lanterns welcome adventurers at the Basecamp Tahoe South. Hang your coats and mittens to dry on coat hooks made with reclaimed railroad spikes, then pop down to the hotel bar to sip a microbrew or a hot cocoa at picnic tables, or roast a s’more over the firepit. In the great indoors room, a large canvas tent houses a king-size bed, with flaps that open onto a faux campfire and picnic table, grass-like carpet, a wallpaper that evokes a forest and a ceiling that glows at night with stick-on stars.

This six-room bed and breakfast is adorned in cabin-classic bears-and-plaid motifs over honey-colored wood floors. A blocks-long meander arrives at the shore of Lake Tahoe and Heavenly Village. A ski resort shuttle picks up near the front door, and in five-minutes, riders can be sliding in the California ski lift line. Adirondack chairs huddle around a flagstone firepit outside. Suites include river rock fireplaces, coffee makers and kitchenettes.

Tahoe Seasons Resort’s open concept, suite-style rooms come equipped with mini-fridges and microwaves. As a water-saving initiative, the rooms only allow microwave meal prep, and an on-site convenience market stocks some options, along with grab-and-go sandwiches, snacks and beverages. A quick stop at the resort’s ski rental shop can outfit beginner and intermediate skiers, with chairlifts just 150yd (137m) out the door.

The Postmarc matches stylish, understated decor with an affordable price point, inspired by ski lodges of yore – with vintage photos of Tahoe on the walls to recall days gone by. The hotel’s previous iteration as a couples-focused hotel has left whirlpool jetted tubs and European showers for two in most rooms, as well as frequent wall-sized mirrors. Staff will deliver groceries, sell ski passes and even hand out vintage postcards to send home.

At Black Bear Lodge, the front desk doubles up as a breakfast cafe, serving locally made bagels and breakfast sandwiches from Dragonfly Bagel Co. After the lifts close, it transforms into a craft beer bar, and Californian wines are also available. Stools line the raw wood-edged bar top, while couches and throw blankets welcome guests to warm up by a 32-ft (10-m) fireplace. Book a lodge room or a private cabin that is decked in bold accent walls, exposed tree-trunk beams or rock chimneys over gas fireplaces; and equipped to pamper, with robes and a lavender essential oil diffuser.

Be wowed by the plaid carpet in the rooms, the wall-sized wine selection at Jimmy’s Restaurant and the firepit-side views of the glistening Lake Tahoe at The Landing. Rooms and suites, some with a beach view, aim for both elegance and coziness. Take comfort in the heated bathroom floors and toilet seats, brew another coffee on the Keurig and settle into a plush terry robe in front of a 55-inch TV to restore for the next day. A one-minute shuttle ride will deliver you to the Heavenly Village and Gondola.