Doc's Cottages is just what the doctor ordered.
If you are planning to visit South Lake Tahoe, forget the overpriced motels turned into "faux" luxury resorts with resort fees or the shadily priced Airbnb/VRBO rentals that appear to be cheap until you see the ridiculous cleaning fees. Consider Doc's Cottages, a small business that is owned and operated by the amicable owners, Lloyd and Angie, since the 1980s. On top of that, Doc's Cottages is dog-friendly ($20 per night), just make sure to call ahead and let the owners know.
Each of the eight cabins has its own kitchenette with an electric stove, mini-fridge, microwave, pots, and utensils. There are also charcoal BBQs and an outdoor fire pit. We stayed in Cabin 4 (single bed) in March 2020, which is heated via a central furnace and an electric fireplace. Both work really well to warm you up. However, since Doc's Cottages is not a typical hotel, you do need to bring your own toiletries (shampoo and lotion). If you forget, there is a Raley's supermarket across the street.
The cabins were very clean and despite being built in 1929, you would not know it. However, being almost 100-years-old before laptops and cell phones, there are not enough power cords. I travel a lot so I always bring a power strip and you will need one if you need to plug in multiple iPhones, laptops, etc. Also, during our stay, the WiFi seemed to be a bit spotty (possibly due to the weather) so we just used our iPhones as personal hotspots to use our laptops. Other than that, our stay was awesome.
When we visit Tahoe, we try to bring our dog with us when possible. Many hotels are dog-friendly but charge a ridiculous fee or have a requirement that your dog should not be left along in the room. This is not the case as Doc's! $20 per night is an amazing bargain, and you can leave your dog in the cabin as long as your furry one is potty-trained. We were able to leave our little guy, Charlie, in the room while we hit the slopes at Kirkwood and Heavenly without having to stress about him.
Additionally, Doc's location cannot be beat. It's on the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe so there are no resort fees and it its right next to Harvey's Casino and within walking distance to the Heavenly village and gondola. What's more is that there is a brewery right across the street at the Basecamp hotel that is dog-friendly and has outdoor fire pits, cornhole, table tennis, and of course good beer that is open to about 10 PM.
At the end of the day, Doc's Cottages provided just what we needed. A cozy cabin with a kitchenette that was dog-friendly. Since we lug around ski gear, it was great to have the parking be right in front of the cabin as well. And of course, I love supporting local-owned small businesses.
* Special thanks to the innkeeper and really friendly Debbie for helping remove the snow from our Subaru when we were checking out!
* It turns out that Clark Gable used to stay at Cottage 1 when he used to visit South Lake Tahoe. So if you want a bit of history you can try to stay there. As for me, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" since I'll take any of the cottages! read more