Pistante’s Coyote Den

Terribly managed, I scheduled a move in date a week in advance, and the night before they texted me and told me nothing is available. Not even the common courtesy to make a phone call. Now I’m homeless at the moment, thank you coyote den!

A room for two with a dog for $ 65 in Tahoe! Can’t beat that. The owners are so nice, it’s nearly eerie. The room we had was adorable and had a great bed! The dog walk was pretty much nonexistent but otherwise this place was an oasis for us.

THEY ARE NOW CLOSED. THEY CLOSED AUGUST 2011.
We always stayed her in the winter and loved it. Couldn’t get enough of the special coyote themed room. But now that they are closed we’ll have to find another fav. Sad!

Things to keep in mind…
Note that almost all of the positive reviews for this place are during colder months. We were there for the July 4^th weekend and it SUCKED!
There is no AC, and if you leave the windows open all you get it second hand smoke from the parking lot. The walls are so thin you can hear people talking in the next room. Everything in the place belongs in a museum somewhere — except the carpet… that belongs in a hazardous waste disposal area! The breakfast is a joke — the didn’t even have cream or milk for coffee and my wife (ever resourceful) had to use instant coco instead.
All we wanted to do was leave and abandon our vacation but NO REFUNDS. We stayed here based on the good reviews on Unilocal,but it must be a completely different place when the ski slopes are open. Personally I have stayed in back-​country shelters that were more inviting.

Positives:
— One of the cheaper lodging options in South Tahoe, and was available during a holiday weekend
— Good location — a few miles from Pope Beach, a short drive to restaurants and other beaches and hiking
— Friendly staff
Negatives:
— No air conditioning! This was torturous in July.
— No bathtub — this was very difficult with toddlers who needed a bath!
— The carpet was wet when we arrived, which we assumed was from cleaning, but judging by the dirt on the bottoms of our kids’ feet, I don’t know why it was wet.
— The rooms are nonsmoking, but everyone just smokes outside in front of the rooms — since your windows are open (b/​c there’s no AC!), you smell the smoke anyway.
— We were put in a «dog-​friendly» room, even though we did not have dogs with us. It smelled like air freshener covering up a dog smell.
— I don’t know if the walls are thin, or if our neighbors were just really loud — but we were woken at 5 am by a very loud… ahem…couple.

This place has No Air-​conditioning and It’s blazing Hot in the summer time.
You have to leave the front door open to try to get a breeze in the room, all the time the smokers are about 6″ inches in front of your door.
They should move the smoking area somewhere else.
The bottom of my feet were actually Black from Filthy carpets, It was Gross, The room Smelled Bad !!
The TV didn’t have a remote, I looked, The TV was dated 1977, Not Kidding !!
Had a Broken rear window from someone broke in the room and was held together by scotch tape.
I went to the free breakfast, I asked for a glass of Milk, They don’t have any, Just coffee and orange juice. All I wanted was a Glass of Milk !
Walls are paper thin, The neighbors next door kept coming in and out all night long slamming the door. This Motel is super Old.
It advertises Free Wi-​Fi, My son in law couldn’t get any reception on his Mac Lap Top, I tried with my HP Lap Top, Nothing, Neither one of us could get any reception.
I paid $ 165.00 a night and prepaid for 3 nights, We left after the first night and the owners refused any money back on the last 2 nights, I didn’t care, My whole family was upset because this place has Bad Smells to it, Like Feces !!
This place ruined our Three day 4^th of July week-​end !!
It place was Horrible, The worse !!

Incredibly sweet couple runs this charming place. The lady behind the counter was incredibly friendly and engaging. We came in to ask about prices but decided to stay without even knowing.
Each room is individual and unique with its own theme. We got the «Bear» room (we keep ‘happening’ into bear themed locations). It was SO cozy and adorable. A lot of love was put in that space and it shows.
The amenities were bare, but they did have Wifi and updated everything. She was happy to point us towards good restaurants and locations we might otherwise have overlooked.
It was a crazy snow weekend and we go her last room. Good thing too cause once we started looking we realized that this warm, inviting and personalized location was far less expensive than all of the neighboring rooms!
When we went back to the office for something, her husband had come and she had left. He immediately said, «Hi, you’re in room _​_​and I’m Early, her husband, and happy to help!»
They also had a guest book in each room, which is an added touch that I love.
One caution: the beds are WAY soft.

We’ve stayed at Pistantes Coyote Den a few times this past ski season. The prices are good, the rooms are clean, and they even have a continental breakfast spread out each morning. What reallys stands out are the owners and the customer service they provide. When arriving late at night on a cold stormy winter evening, Earl made sure that the heater was turned on in our room so we arrived to a cozy room. Lorraine presides over the office in the mornings and always has a kind word to all her guests as they help themselves to breakfast. I had left an article behind and not only did Lorraine call me to let me know that it’s been found, but offered to mail it out to me! Such service can’t be beat and is surely appreciated!

We have stayed here every weekend for the entire snow season this year & are a family of 3. The place is clean & well priced. Breakfast is included & was a good start to a full day skiing on the mountain. We loved the fresh baked cookies in the afternoons. Earl & Lorraine have looked after us very well.

I actually think Pistantes Coyote Den is considered a «motel» but don’t let that fool you. We were a little hesitant to book at first because of that, but it was one of the few places available during the holidays at such a good price. We’ve really found a hidden gem with this place. The owners are such wonderfully nice people (from the Bay Area) and helped us with several choices for dinner and breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, they have breakfast daily varying from english muffins to donuts with coffee, hot chocolate, and orange juice.
It’s about less than a mile from Lake Tahoe Blvd and therefore about 10 minutes from the casinos and state line. It’s also about a 10 minute drive to Sierra-​at-​Tahoe!
The rooms were a decent size, well heated with your own thermostat, and hot water came very quickly. We only had a queen bed so they filled the extra space with a couch which became useful.
Overall, we said we would definitely come back here again. Oh and one more thing, it’s pet friendly!

Place still had room for the 4^th of July weekend. Not the newest but the rooms are clean and the staff is friendly. They have breakfast daily which is pretty nice. The beds in our rooms were too soft so if you’re looking for a firm mattress you might want to request one. Overall it was a decent experience.

Good, cheap hotel in South Lake Tahoe. Earl the owner is great!