My husband and I chose Heavenley as our honeymoon destination and spent two weeks there in February 2000.
We have both been skiing many times. I would class myself as an intermediate and my husband as an advanced skier. We had high hopes for America and had done a lot of research. We were ... Read review
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Advantages: Skiing, service and scenery Disadvantages: Food and limited for families
My husband and I chose Heavenley as our honeymoon destination and spent two weeks there in February 2000.
We have both been skiing many times. I would class myself as an intermediate and my husband as an advanced skier. We had high hopes for America and had done a lot of research. We were after the snow, but not the cold and had been put off Canada by tales of sub zero temperatures and the need for Artic style gear. I am a self confessed ... ...after a thorough trawl of the ski brochures. The promise of sunshine is what lured me to Heavenley, as well as the reasonable accomodation prices compared to the more upmarket USA resorts. I tried to book the holiday direct at first, and received favourable hotel rates and air fare, but the car hire costs and Collision Damage Waiver Insurance convinced us to use an Agent.
We booked through Crystal and chose the option of a transfer ... more
My husband and I chose Heavenley as our honeymoon destination and spent two weeks there in February 2000.
We have both been skiing many times. I would class myself as an intermediate and my husband as an advanced skier. We had high hopes for America and had done a lot of research. We were after the snow, but not the cold and had been put off Canada by tales of sub zero temperatures and the need for Artic style gear. I am a self confessed fair weather skier.
We chose the resort after a thorough trawl of the ski brochures. The promise of sunshine is what lured me to Heavenley, as well as the reasonable accomodation prices compared to the more upmarket USA resorts. I tried to book the holiday direct at first, and received favourable hotel rates and air fare, but the car hire costs and Collision Damage Waiver Insurance convinced us to use an Agent.
We booked through Crystal and chose the option of a transfer rather than car hire. We flew in to San Francisco and then caught a transfer flight to Reno.
The flight was tedious, and very long. We were lucky to have a virtually empty mid week flight so we had room to stretch but would advise anyone going to book extra leg room if the option is there. There was no rep on arrival, just a cowboy with a taxi who was hard to track down, but there were only 8 of us being transferred so it was quick and easy.
Our hotel was the Station House Inn, a Best Western. It was clean and had TV and coffee making facilities. It was not a big room though, which surprised us. The only downside is that we are smokers. The hotel was on the Californian side and smoking is forbidden in restaurants etc so we ended up in a smoke free room for two weeks! The breakfast provided at Lew Mar Nels restaurant was superb, and plenty of it, and was included in the price.
The ski bus collected us from outside the hotel. The service was excellent. Having only skiied in Europe before, and being used to being crammed on the bus like sardines, the experience of a bus driver that refused entry if the bus was too full was eye opening. The buses operate by radio. If people are waiting at a stop, they call up another bus to come and collect you! Superb.
We went to the main gondola at Heavenly and had to cash in our ticket for the ski pass. This we had to do daily and we found this irritating. By then, we just wanted to get on the slopes! However, the queues were quick and curteous and we were soon on the snow.
Heavenley has such a vast ski area that you could easily spend your whole holiday there. We went to some of the smaller neighbouring resorts around the lake and found these easy to reach by ski bus or tour and equally as good in terms of snow. The runs were all superb and the snow was divine. (Ice, what's that!) In America it is considered heavy snow but compared to Europe it was light and powdery.
The runs proved challenging and tough (try the Gunbarrel only if you dare!) There was specating of snowboard competitions if you fancied an easy day, and plenty of restaurants. The scenery is unreal. The Skyline trail has the most fantastic view of the desert and lake all in one. I have never seen anything that spectacular on any ski trip. All in all, I cannot fault the skiing for intermediates and above.
The resort had a lot to offer. If you are in to casinos, this is the place for you! However, beware, you could find yourself doing more of this than skiing! If you are gambling, the drinks are free so take advantage of this.
The food however, though reasonably priced, was not good. There was plenty of it, but I found it bland and uninspiring. Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Cafe were good for burgers and snacks. Lew Mar Nels was good for steaks and fish. The best buffets are at Caesars and Harveys (all you can eat for a fixed price) but the queue was huge and the emphasis definately on fast food.
In conclusion, a great holiday. The skiing was worth the jet lag and the nightlife great for couples and groups (but not hot for families with small children). All in all a Heavenley experience!
Advantages: Good Skiing with an excellent off-piste too Disadvantages: The village a little quiet whilst we were there
My husband and I went to Heavenly Valley on our honeymoon in February 1997 for two weeks. It was absolutely fantastic. Kev hadn't been skiing for around 10 years prior to this but I had been to other resorts over the seven years and I can honestly say that I have never had such a vast area to ski, with excellent routes and a good variety of blue, red and black runs. I wouldn't say that it was the best place for beginners as the nursery slopes weren't ... ...with a lot of activity. The Food Cabin was at the side of the Nursery slopes with a lot of people crossing paths very quickly, often. However, the area was very cold (one day on the piste was -25 chill factor), that was really cold and a photographer on the slopes asked if he could take photos and Kodax were to develop them on site. So we let him go ahead, then went to see the photo. It was two people with eyes and bodies, the face, hair etc were ...
sharondyer 10.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Heavenly, Ski Resort
Advantages: everything! honestly! Disadvantages: long flight
We both agree this our very favourite place to snowboard. We have visited the Tahoe area twice, both times doing a 2 centre holiday to take advantage of the ski resorts on either side of the lake. Getting there - we flew direct from London to San Francisco and hired a car. It's a 3-4 hour drive and we defiinitely recommend getting a 4x4. We were a party of 4 and hired this massive beast of a car - a Jack Baauer style V8 which was actually really ... ...fans will know what I mean) and I know we're not doing the environment any favours but it was spacious enough for 4 adults, 4 snowboards and 4 sets of luggage, and once you get to Tahoe everyone has them. The car is king in the USA and you will use it a lot in Tahoe so honestly get a 4x4 it's not worth messing about with snow chains etc. And petrol is SO cheap over there, it cost about 55 bucks to fill the beast up!
Staying there
Lake Tahoe is ...
girlscanboard 29.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Heavenly, Ski Resort
Advantages: Lovely runs, fantastic coaches, great snow! Disadvantages: Nightlife.
...my family went skiing in Heavenly, a fantastic ski resort right on the boarder or Nevada and California. I went in the spring, flying into San Francisco, spending a few days there before hiring a people carrier and driving up to Heavenly. The snow when I was there was fantastic. I was a competent skier but being 12 at the time, I went into a ski school more for the company than anything else. People under 13 can join the 'Heavenly Rockets.' The coaches ... ...groups were able to go right to the front of ski lift queues which was nice!
The lifts are all chair lifts. The runs are perfectly kept. Nightlife is not varied, casino's or casino's is your choice. There were however some good shows on in our and other hotels, magic shows and such. Being 12 I wasn't after clubs and discos at the time, but now I would. I wouldnt recommend the nightlife for teenagers. Our hotel had a large arcade, which was a nice ...
eddytheted 29.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Heavenly, Ski Resort
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Advantages: A very peaceful and scenic place Disadvantages: Can get extremely cold in winter
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Advantages: everything! especially dollar rate this year Disadvantages: none, although maybe long flight may put people off
. And petrol is SO cheap over there, it cost about 55 bucks to fill the beast up!
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Advantages: Friendliness, something for all Disadvantages: very cold, no footpaths
A couple of years ago my wife and i travelled with Virgin Ski to Lake Tahoe in California. The whole resort was very welcoming and friendly from the hotel to cafes and even the supermarket. We skied mainly at Heavenly which is above Lake Tahoe and is an excellent ski centre. Loads of great runs mixing open downhill runs and some twisting trails. We went over Christmas and apart fron on Christmas Day itself it was very quiet. Sometimes it was even like having your own private ski slope. The only drawback was that all but a couple of the chairs were very slow and with the tempertaure at -20 it got very cold after 30 mins on the chair. We gather that there were plans to install more fast chairs so hopefully things are a lot better now. We had some lessons and were generally impressed with the instructors although they did little to ...
