This snowy year has been a challenge for our family who just wants to ski! Donner Lake Realty was great to work with and very accommodating. We had to cancel and change dates but they worked with us, found renters and refunded us as much as they could for the cancellations which we were forced to make due to weather. Our family would highly recommend the Wheeler/Smith 038 unit. It was updated (the photos are outdated as they are having trouble finding a photographer), very comfortable, had a marvelous view of the lake and the perfect sledding hill outback (they had sleds at the home for us to use). Working with Jemma and sometimes Crystal made rentals easy. We would highly recommend them and plan to stay again at this unit in the future. Thank you! read more

Crystal and the team were incredibly helpful - and responsive - with a summer 2025 reservation. I can confirm that if you work with Crystal and her team you will get responsive service, clear information and you will be very happy. Total professionals. If you are a homeowner, this is the team you want helping you manage your home in the Tahoe/Truckee area. read more

Very nice and friendly staff. The house we rented for Summer 2021 became no longer available (due to an owner issue) and they were able to pull through will a replacement property (new to their roster) that was fairly nice, was on the south shore of Donner Lake and had a pier. The only negatives I found with them was they have a very small roster of homes on Donner with a private pier (probably just means very few owners rent their homes out) and the rental office could be a bit more organized with their processes. Aside from that, would rent again, especially if they get a few more house options with private piers to choose from! read more

Spent a wonderful weekend at the Farrow home. Beautiful home with everything to make our large group comfortable. There was plenty of room for three couples and a few singles. Lots of bathrooms was a perk because we were getting ready for a wedding. There were lots of great beach toys that we didn't use because of our schedule, but you could tell they would be fabulous for West End Beach. Great location- quiet, scenic and we loved the fire place! We got the linen service so we did not have to pack linens. I'd say that was totally worth it! Would definitely stay again- Donner Lake Realty staff were helpful and welcoming. Stayed a second time one year later in the Smith House. Beautiful view, spacious and a great house for a girl's weekend! Again, wonderful service and plenty of amenities. Highly recommend! read more

Donner Lake Realty - Vacation Rentals Near Me - Truckee, California

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The staff at Donner Lake Realty are the best. We had an issue with the front door lock of our rental and the staff had it repaired immediately. They were equally great about offering advice on things to do and places to go. I would hire this crew in a flash as they were always concerned about our stay and our comfort and they got the job done. As for the accommodations we rented a house known as "Felton 020." This beautiful house was right on the lake with its own dock. It was a well supplied house with plenty of room for our adult children and their partners. This is defintely a do-over!! read more

We stayed at the Wheeler/Smith 038 Unit at 14622 Donner Pass Road for 3 nights. 0/10 would definitely not recommend. Very dirty looking cabin. Terrible steep stairs on both ways of getting to the upper floor especially when you're loading and unloading things. WiFi was shitty. We'd at least thought there'd be good WiFi due to us not having any reception up in the mountains. Don't waste your money!! read more

Family owned for 2 generations, They have a huge selection of properties for rent in the Donner Lake/Truckee area. From studio condos to large houses. From humble accomodations to luxurious homes. Either season-long ski leases or weekend rentals. Pet friendly properties too. Very nice people to deal with. read more

BEWARE OF DONNER LAKE REALTY! Where should I start with these lying, cheating, lease-breaking swindlers? We have caught Donner Lake Realty in SO MANY of their lies, that I feel it is my responsibility to WARN other unsuspecting people like ourselves to PROTECT YOURSELF by not doing business with DLR. Trust me, run far, far away from these liars. Let's discuss BREACH OF CONTRACT. Both of us were at work a week after move-in, and upon returning home, we noticed a binder that wasn't in the house when we left. Donner Lake Realty had, ONE WEEK after moving in, BROKEN OUR LEASE and CALIFORNIA STATE LAW by entering our property without any notification via letter, email, or phone call. We felt completely violated. They obviously thought we were oblivious to our renter's rights because we're young. Just because we're in our 20s does not mean we're naïve or will let you take advantage of us. We were obviously upset after this event - we felt that nothing was sacred. We always locked the door when we left, and a stranger (we were never informed that anyone would be entering the property) just let themselves in and violated our privacy to leave a book full of TOURIST information, which just made us more upset, because we're LOCALS, living and working in Truckee. We decided that we would "let this one slide" because we had JUST moved in and were both working 50+ hour work weeks, so we really didn't have time to go to the office during their business hours - we were always at work. Diane told my fiancé that she would be back from her vacation on the 15th of May. When he emailed her son (also involved in the family business) he immediately got conflicting information when he said that Diane would not return until the 16th. When asked which date was the correct one, we never got a response back. We called the office and left a voicemail, and our call was never returned. Frustrated, we called on the 15th, only to hear out of Diane's mouth that she had gotten back on Monday, the 14th. If you can't even tell me the truth about what day you're back in town from your vacation, what ELSE are you lying to me about? When asked what the holdup on the deposit was, she started spewing her lies and deceit. She said that we would be charged for "water damage" on the new back deck. I told her I absolutely WOULD NOT be paying for "normal wear and tear" and if the deck was not finished or properly sealed. I know my renter's rights. Why would you build a wooden deck in the most snow-heavy part of the lake and NOT seal it for water damage before winter? Then, she lied to me AGIN by telling me that my fiancé had signed something saying that she could hold our deposit until we paid for the utility bills. This is untrue in TWO ways - one, he never signed ANY such piece of paper, and two, IT IS ILLEGAL TO HOLD THE DEPOSIT IN LEUI OF PAID UTILITIES. I told her we need our deposit so that we can pay our bills. I asked if she thought it was a little ridiculous to pay over $3000 over 6 months in utilities for a 741 square foot house. After denying that she knew anything about the state of the house, and after calling her out on it via the evidence in the TDPUD energy survey, her second response was a snooty "Well, no one's ever complained about it before." Sadly for Diane, that response just let me catch her in ANOTHER lie... she didn't know that I had knowledge of the previous renters. They stole everything in the house and disappeared, including the appliances. She was just going to keep this information to herself - a LIE OF OMMISSION. Nice, Diane. Nice honesty. Of course no one had complained - the owners are never there in the winter and the last tenants stole everything and left town! Don't lie to me Diane! How hard is that to do!? My fiancé called today to let Diane know that since we never received an itemized list of damages that our deposit was going to be used for within 14 days of move-out (again, California State Law), that we would be expecting the full amount of our deposit, which is legally due to us by California State Law in 21 days (leaving her 2 days to postmark it). Her only response was "I guess I'll be seeing you in arbitration court, then." STAY AWAY FROM THESE LIARS. THEY WILL TRY TO STEAL EVERY CENT YOU HAVE. However, as a local I do love Tahoe and I do love supporting local business. If you are looking to rent a property around the lake, please do yourself a favor and do not give your business to Donner Lake Realty. Near the lake, I highly recommend Gerry Lambert of Lakeside Realty (530.546.8241). We rented through him our first year in Kings Beach, and he's the epitome of professional, honest, and genuine. However, if you're at Donner Lake, many friends have recommended McCormick Realty (530.587.2897). If Donner Lake Realty would like to remedy this situation, I will happily delete this review, but considering their lack of professional conduct, I won't be holding my breath. read more

Do not use this realtor!! They refuse to take responsibility for dangerous conditions that exist on their rental properties, show no compassion or ability to respond appropriately to unusual situations, are inflexible and unpleasant. The property owners they represent are probably all fine people, but these folks do not know how to conduct their business in a customer friendly, responsible manner. read more

I found a house for New Years on VRBO. After contacting the owner, he told me to reach out to his property management company, Donner Lake Realty. I called and left them a voicemail. Apparently he had already booked his house. DLR told him so right away, but did not contact me. They never returned my voicemail. After almost a week, I called them back. They informed me of the situation. Obviously I was frustrated but the person I spoke with seemed angry with me, for some reason. She then tried to make it up to me by renting me a house for 5 nights when I could only stay for 4. "Well, you could leave at 1 or 2 in the afteroon, and have a nice relaxed drive back." Maybe some people are rich enough to spend hundreds of dollars on a rental they can't use, but not me! When I refused this "generous" offer, the person on the phone became even more upset with me. I eventually had to calmly repeat "thank you for your time" just to get off the phone. So, anyone have a place to stay in Tahoe over new years? read more

Our last transaction was so dissatisfying that I would not feel comfortable ever doing business with this company again. Instead of working with us to find a resolution to a small amount of pet damage in our unit (urine on carpet), we were charged an exorbiant amount of money. When I contacted the realty office to try to work out a compromise, I was treated with rudeness and hostility. I was told contradictory information on multiple occasions. When I pointed this out, they took no responsibility. It is very disheartening to trust a company and in return get completely taken advantage of. Would not recommend whatsoever. read more

We stayed at the Wheeler/Smith house at 14622 Donner Pass Rd. The downstairs bedroom with queen bed and connecting bath was very cold. The garage and this bedroom are downstairs so the cement walls are cold and cold air enters the bedroom every time the door is opened. It had a space heater that helped but it really needs more that one vent to heat the room. No heat vents in the connecting bathroom so it was really cold so we showered in the upstairs bathroom. This should be described as a basement bedroom. Also the door to the stairs doesn't shut so you have to watch small kids in the main living space. Expected better. read more

I highly recommend Donner Lake Realty for your leasing needs. My family and I have been renting from Donner Lake Realty for years and we have always received wonderful service. The house we rent has a beautiful view of Donner Lake, is always clean and well maintained, they make sure we have wi-fi, and the house has a very comfortable and relaxing environment to it. In the very RARE occasion where something is needed at the house, Donner Lake Realty responds promptly and efficiently. read more

We've rented several of their properties and always had the best experience. The houses were comfortable and very well-equipped. As a management company, they were always polite, organized and extremely professional. Access to the lake was fantastic and we enjoyed being so close to the resorts and shopping! read more

I rented a house from them and they treated me like a criminal! Some drunk neighbor made up a bunch of stories about us and they believed them not us. I should of called the police on her for harassing us but I was on vacation and really didn't want to deal with the trouble. We are really mellow people. I rented from them and they didn't have my back at all. Now I go rent with VRBO!!!!! read more

This is by far the best vacation rental around Donner Lake. I have been happy with their services since the day we turned our business over to them after one so so year with another company that ended up in a flooded lower floor. Some friends have had management companies not show up at appointments or impose crazy procedures. For example, a company asked a friend to have his house winterized after each rental. DLR is a family run business which means that they are not corporate. They don't have you fill out a two pages document to have someone go to your house to change a light bulb. If I want a specific light bulb then I have to be specific. Otherwise, they will do what they think is best and I appreciate that. Also, They are local and know a lot of people/sources for fixing your house around Truckee at a fair price. I can count on them for the paint to be touched up, for the pine needles to be raked or for drive way to be resealed. I can always count on them to stop by the house and make sure the thermostat is down or that the water is turned off. The work is not always done the way I would do it but it is done nonetheless and at a fair price. I treat them with respect and they do the same to me. Thank you Donner Realty. Thank you Diane, Chris, Dennelle, and Ryan. I hope that new renters who want to stay around Donner Lake realize that there is a good reason Donner Lake Realty manages the best houses around the lake and that they are well taken care off and that most of their clients are REPEAT client. read more

I've enjoyed all of my dealings as a tenant and as a professional with Donner Lake Realty. Diane has always been more than helpful, and she and her staff are all sweethearts. I look forward to renting from them in the future! read more

I had a great time in the Smith House. The bathroom had a heat lamp that made it nice and toasty and everything was in order! I will rent again! read more

If you own a home and want to rent it out DO NOT use Donner Lake Reality! We had a tenant in our house for three years and Donner Lake Reality never once went into the house to check it. When our renter moved out we were told that the house was left clean and in good condition. This was about as far from the truth as could be. I'm not even sure they checked it. There was a bowl of moldy food in the microwave, several of the mini blinds were broken the house was dirty and reeked of cat urine! They did fix the mini blinds after we brought it to their attention and had the carpet cleaned however we could not get rid of the smell. We had to re carpet the whole house. I asked them to do the right thing in paying for some of our expenses (at the least we should have received the renters security deposit), they didn't even have the courtesy to return my emails. Don't waste your money in using Donner Lake Reality as a property manager unless you just want an expensive bookkeeper. read more

BEWARE of this agency! This agency has a lot of properties around Donner Lake. We have been renting Tahoe houses for vacations and for the past few years we have rented houses for the season. We used them for an entire winter rental of an old, small outdated house last season.. At the beginning and at the end of the rental I asked them about cleaning fees. They said that we could get our own cleaner, or theirs would be $20 per hour. There was a run down carpet on the stairs in the house and they told me that it would only be cleaned (if we needed it). We left the house immaculate and they kept $150 for cleaning and $250 for carpet cleaning because the contract allowed for it. This was a seasonal (5 months) rental and my husband and daughter only used the house on the weekends, and we took off our shoes and were very careful. I cleaned the house before the cleaners came and they used our deposit to rip us off. Additionally, it took them a month to return the deposit (the contract stated 2 weeks). I will never use this agency again. Use VRBO or something else read more