Three faces of Tahoe: Bargain, rustic and luxury

LAKE TAHOE: RUSTIC

Nostalgia can surprise you

From the aromatic knotty-pine interior of my cabin to the world-class chocolate milkshake at the restaurant, where they brought a little extra in a metal cup - what my grandfather used to call "the dividend" - the Zephyr Cove Resort sent me into reveries of nostalgia.

The old-timey resort, 4 miles past Stateline on the Nevada side of the lake, has been a fixture of the Tahoe scene for so long that no one there could tell me exactly when the cabins and cottages were built. Parts of the main lodge date back to 1862, and, as a framed vintage rate sheet on the wall attests, the cottages were there at least as far back as 1952. Rates for "two-party housekeeping accommodations" then started at $10, about $150 less than today.

These days, 29 cottages, cabins and chalets, from spartan to semi-sumptuous, are scattered in the Jeffrey pines, just steps from the sandy beach. Half a dozen hotel rooms are also available in the main lodge.

I had the most stripped-down cabin, a 200-square-foot "studio" with a small fridge and microwave but no formal kitchen and no fireplace. It had a reasonably comfortable queen bed and a sofa sleeper, however, and it was closer to the lake than anywhere I've ever stayed at Tahoe, including the campground at D.L. Bliss.

Zephyr Cove might reek of history and tradition, but it's hardly the cobwebbed domain of aging nostalgia buffs. The shoreline was packed and abuzz with activity. North of the pier is for families with young children; south of the pier is the party beach, packed with sun-seekers in their late teens and early 20s. A cocktail waitress patrolled the sand, dispensing Budweisers to those with valid IDs, and two highly competitive beach volleyball games were in progress.

Just offshore was anchored a flotilla of small motorboats - Zephyr Cove's rental fleet - and for this reason this stretch of beach wasn't good for Zen-like contemplation of the sparkling blue lake and distant peaks. For that, head north along the shoreline for a quarter mile or so.

I spent part of the morning aboard the MS Dixie II, a paddle wheeler that leaves from Zephyr Cove's dock, traverses the southern part of the lake and takes a spin around Emerald Bay. Halfway through the two-hour excursion, it occurred to me that in the 46 years I've been coming to Lake Tahoe, I've never once been out in the middle of the lake. I can report that out there, the water is an even more impossibly blue hue than you see from shore.

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If you go

Where to stay

Zephyr Cove Resort, 760 Highway 50, Zephyr Cove, Nev.; www.zephyrcove. com, (775) 589-4906. Summer prices run from $159 for a studio cabin without kitchen to $394 for a lakefront two-story, two-bedroom chalet.

Where to eat

At the Zephyr Cove Restaurant, steaks, burgers, fish and world-class milkshakes are on the menu, with dinner entrees ranging from $10 to $23.

What to do

Two-hour cruises into Emerald Bay aboard the MS Dixie II paddle wheeler cost $39 for adults, $15 for children. Book through the Zephyr Cove website (above) or buy tickets at the dock.

LAKE TAHOE: LUXURY

When cost is of no concern

Considering that for generations Tahoe has been a summertime retreat for San Francisco's society swells, it's a little surprising that it hasn't had a five-star hotel until now. And, technically, the Ritz-Carlton Highlands, which opened last winter on the slopes of the Northstar ski resort, is just outside the Tahoe basin - which is why it was able to navigate the Byzantine building permit process.

Tucked in among old-growth pines and firs, with a shingled exterior, it's of a handsome style I'd call "Alpine Craftsman." A 4-mile road winds up the mountain from Highway 267, but I decided to leave my car down in Northstar Village and ride to the hotel on its private gondola, in part to avoid the mandatory $35-a-night valet parking fee. It's a decision I'd later have cause to regret, and not just because I arrived at the back door and messed up the grand entrance.

The three-story-high lobby, filled with a big stone hearth and overstuffed chairs, is a contemporary take on the Great Rooms of the grand old national park lodges, like Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel. Its octagonal shape, with a 55-foot chimney, was inspired by the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon.

My standard room was sumptuous and luxe, as expected, with sensuously silky sheets and a pillowtop mattress so soft and fluffy I thought it might swallow me up. There was a gas fireplace and sweeping views out over the Martis Valley near Truckee. I could step out onto the tiny balcony and inhale lungful after lungful of bracing, pine-scented air.

It was one of those gloriously warm, embracing Sierra days, and, as gratifying as all this luxury is, who wants to be indoors wallowing in zillion-thread-count sheets in weather like this? I tossed a couple of things in my daypack and stopped by the Mountain Concierge desk to pick up a map of hiking trails.

There's no escaping the fact that the Ritz is built on a ski slope, and that in summer ski slopes are not at their loveliest. But several hiking routes disappear into the pines, and the one I followed, out to Sawmill Lake, was pleasant enough. Still, there's much better hiking to be had a short drive away - on the Tahoe Rim and Pacific Crest trails, to name just two possibilities.

Where the resort really shines is mountain biking. All day long, a gondola carried bikers up from Northstar Village, their bikes following on special gondola racks, as they rode lap after lap on the mountain. Their grinning, dirt-spattered faces testified to the quality of the single-track routes crisscrossing the ski resort, rated, like ski runs, from green/easy to double-diamond/insane.

"It's almost up there with Whistler," one shouted over his handlebars as he zipped by, referring to the renowned British Columbia skiing and biking resort.

The Ritz' gondola allowed me to commute down to Northstar Village, at the bottom of the hill, which has a mellow, laid-back vibe in summer. The ice rink has been converted for roller skating, the rink-side fire pits are open for marshmallow roasting and the resort puts on all manner of events to lure summer traffic, from free movies to concerts to dining specials.

It was only after I'd checked out of my room the following morning and schlepped my bags to the Ritz' gondola station that I discovered it was closed that day for maintenance. (It's now open daily.)

I trudged back to the front desk to explain my predicament, and a clerk happily drove me down the mountain, never once making me feel like a cheapskate. That's a mark of a well-trained staff.

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If you go

Where to stay

The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, 13031 Ritz-Carlton Highlands Court, Truckee; www.RitzCarlton.com/LakeTahoe; (530) 562-3000. Summer rates start at $369 a night, plus a $25 per day resort fee and $35 per day valet parking fee (no self-parking allowed.) The hotel is exceptionally dog-friendly, but there is a one-time cleaning fee of $120.

Where to eat

Manzanita is the Ritz's "casual elegant" restaurant, overseen by San Francisco chef Traci des Jardins, of Jardiniere fame. Dinner entrees run from $18 to $34.

Northstar Village, a gondola ride down the mountain from the Ritz, has more dining choices, from a taqueria to pizza to fine dining.

What to do

At the Ritz-Carlton's 17,000-square-foot spa, treatments start at $155 for a Signature Organic Elements Massage.

Lift tickets for accessing the mountain's network of mountain biking trails cost $42 for adults, $27 for children. If you don't mind a lot of uphill pedaling, you can skip the lift and ride for free. (But stop in at the ticket office in Northstar Village for a "pedaling only" pass.) For hours, trail maps and bike rental information, visit www.northstarattahoe.com and follow the links.

LAKE TAHOE: BARGAIN

Ride your lucky streak at casino

South Lake Tahoe has an abundance of inexpensive lodging - super cheapo backstreet motels built in the 1950s and early '60s - but, even with rates as low as $49 a night, I shuddered and kept driving. Some of these look like they're now Tenderloin-style residential motels.

For only a little bit more - $59 or $69 if you get lucky on the website - you can score a room at Harvey's. Even at $79, the cheapest rate I could find, I didn't have sky-high expectations for my "classic" room in the oldest section of the oldest Stateline hotel-casino. But I was pleasantly surprised. Startled, even.

The decor was modern and stylish, the sheets had thread counts that were high but not excessively so, the mattress was cushily pillowtopped and the view - once I looked past the concrete foundation and rebar sprouts of an unfinished convention center - took in part of the lake and the snow-flecked Crystal Range above the Desolation Wilderness. All in all, far more than I expected for the price.

Opened during World War II by Sacramento meat wholesaler Harvey Gross, the hotel was once known as Harvey's Wagon Wheel Saloon & Gaming Hall. After a number of expansions and renovations - one occasioned by a thousand-pound bomb planted by a deep-in-debt gambler in 1980 - it's now owned by Harrah's, its across-the-street neighbor.

These days business is down in the casino - portions of it were closed and roped off when I was there - and the property's big draw is an outdoor summer concert series that runs heavily toward acts from the classic rock era: the Doobie Brothers, Chicago, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks and, fresh from his recent engagement at Rush Limbaugh's wedding, Sir Elton John.

Harvey's benefits from the continuing renovation of South Lake Tahoe - definitely a work in progress, but one that has brought much-needed energy and a bit of style to a place digging out from decades of fast-buck, anything-goes development.

Heavenly Village, a block from Harvey's at the foot of the gondola that connects Stateline to the Heavenly ski resort, is chockablock with buzzing restaurants, cafes and shops. In keeping with the budget theme of my stay, I had a pretty good dinner - a large Asian chicken salad and a glass of wine - for $14 at the Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express.

It was while staying at Harvey's, amid the flash and bustle of Stateline, that I most vividly experienced Tahoe's contradictory allure. I was in the windowless casino, watching a waitress deliver midmorning cocktails to a table of glazed-eyed blackjack players, when I once again was overcome by the urge to be outside - to breathe the fresh mountain air, to watch cloud shadows scud across Sierra peaks and to wiggle my toes in the ridiculously blue water of the lake.

There's a beach a short walk from the hotel, but it belongs to a private resort and I didn't feel like paying the $7 entrance fee. Five minutes in the car brought me to exquisite Nevada Beach, which charges $7 to park. But, doing as the locals do, I parked for free just outside the gate and walked an extra 75 yards.

There, on the sandy shore of the world's second-largest alpine lake (after Titicaca in South America) I discovered that the idyllic summer Tahoe lifestyle has changed hardly at all since my youthful camping days. Kids splashed and floated about on air mattresses, impervious to the teeth-chattering cold of the snowmelt water. Others fished for crawdads and erected multi-towered sand castles. A few toddlers engaged in an activity that's far more popular now than in my day: chasing Canada geese down the beach. It's amazing how fast and far the birds will run rather than take wing.

One day a few decades from now, I can predict, some of these goose-chasers will be back on the same beach with children of their own, waxing nostalgic about a place where, no matter your choice of lodging, the essential experience never really changes.

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If you go

Where to stay

Harvey's, www.harveystahoe.com, (800) 427-8397. The hotel is about 6 inches inside the Nevada border on Highway 50 at the southern end of Lake Tahoe. In summer, "classic" rooms start at $59 on weeknights but can go as high as $369 on weekends.

Where to eat

Wolfgang Puck Express, in Heavenly Village, (530) 542-2856, is a casual-dining joint with salads, pizza, rotisserie chicken, etc., and dinner entree prices ranging from $7 to $13.

For a splurge, Evans American Gourmet Cafe is arguably Tahoe's best (and certainly most understated) restaurant. Located in a "vintage Tahoe cabin," it has just a smattering of tables and serves such fare as grilled beef with foie gras and roast venison loin with Pinot Noir-dried cherry demi-glace. Dinner entree prices range from $27 to $35. 536 Emerald Bay Road (Highway 89) in South Lake Tahoe; (530) 542-1990; www.evanstahoe.com.

What to do

For information on Harvey's outdoor summer concert series, visit www.harveystahoe.com and follow the links.

This article appeared on page M - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle