So what did I end up doing for my birthday? Every year, I get a free night certificate from my IHG credit card (InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns chains such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Staybridge Suites), good for any hotel in the IHG collection, well worth the $49 annual fee. I decided to redeem it for a night at the Holiday Inn Express in South Lake Tahoe. It's not the best redemption in terms of bang for the buck (you can redeem this certificate for a night in an overwater bungalow at the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort!) but Friday nights in Tahoe are usually pricey, so it was still worth it. I've passed by this property so many times as it is located right across the street from where Pioneer Trail meets Lake Tahoe Boulevard, and now I'm finally going to stay in it. I was able to book the free night 5 days before check in...talk about last minute planning!
Kaleb and I arrived at the Holiday Inn Express around 3pm, and our room was ready. It was located in a separate building in the back of the property so it was quiet. It was a decent sized room and clean, and included free breakfast in the morning.
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Afterwards, we walked down Lake Tahoe Boulevard and checked out places we had not seen before.
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| Heavenly gondola |
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For dinner, we went to the Forest Buffet, located on the 18th floor of Harrah's Lake Tahoe. Tonight was seafood night; there is always some seafood every night, but more on theme nights like this. I had a coupon for two free buffets, courtesy of the Total Rewards Visa card. The best redemption for this would have been the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas (plus an upcharge), but we weren't heading to Vegas before the coupon's expiration. The Forest Buffet was still a good value.
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The rest of the night, we donated a little money to the casino. It's hard to walk away when you are winning!
On Saturday morning, we headed over to the hotel's dining room to partake in the complimentary breakfast buffet. There was a decent variety including bacon, eggs (scrambled and hard-boiled), cinnamon rolls, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, juices, coffee/tea and fruit. It wasn't busy as we arrived 20 minutes before the end of service, though items were no longer being refilled.
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Before checking out at noon, we walked down to Ski Run Marina to see the lake.
360 video on the shore of Lake Tahoe (10 seconds, click and drag the video to look around):
360 video near Ski Run Marina in South Lake Tahoe #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
That was the end of my low-key birthday getaway to Tahoe. What's next? A late summer girls' spa getaway to Napa with my bestie...stay tuned!
