Harrah's / Harvey's Lake Tahoe

I'm staying at Harvey's next month. Anyone been to Harvey's or Harrah's and have any experiences/recommendations they'd like to share? Thanks!

Quote: FinsRule

I'm staying at Harvey's next month. Anyone been to Harvey's or Harrah's and have any experiences/recommendations they'd like to share? Thanks!

1. Pretty high-priced everything, but the good news is that the time between the end of ski season and the start of summer is very slow. Don't eat in the casinos, with the exception of possibly the Harrah's buffet. It's really only a good experience if you have a Diamond card, though--they'll let you jump the line, and give you one of the tables with a view (and a killer view it is). Harrah's has a restaurant on the same (19th) floor with an even better view, but it's a bottomless money pit. Don't eat at any of the coffee shops--the one in Harvey's is terrible, and the American River Cafe in Harrah's basement is overpriced and the service is awful.

2. South Lake Tahoe, the town in California just across the border, has the most dining options. There are a couple of large grocery stores just a few blocks away.

3. Assuming you have a car, definitely drive around the lake. Barring a late season snowstorm, the road should be open all the way around. Definitely stop and walk around at the Emerald Bay viewpoint. If you're feeling energetic, take the 1-mile hike to Eagle Falls, which will be flowing strong that time of year. Also consider taking the drive out to Fallen Leaf Lake from Camp Richardson on the southwest shore.

4. The drive up to Mount Rose is spectacular, with fantastic views back down to the lake.

5. The gambling at every Tahoe casino sucks, but Harvey's dealers, at least, are pretty friendly, and the table minimums tend to be low if it's not the weekend. Harvey's also has low-buyin blackjack, pai gow, etc. tournaments during the week.

6. If you've never been to Tahoe before, you just might find yourself spending all of your time driving around and looking at the scenery. It's almost a crime to be in a beautiful place like that and spend any time gambling.

7. If there's still snow on the ground, drive south on Hwy 89 over Luther Pass to Hope Valley. There may even be enough snow left to go cross-coutry skiiing (and you can also do that from the Mt. Rose Highway).

Thanks! It's going to be a light gambling trip, and more relaxing / a little bit of a nature. We will have a car, I hadn't really thought of driving around that much, but it sounds real nice. Thanks again.

March is a great time to go. Lake Tahoe is beautiful any time of year, but it's especially magnificent when there is snow on the ground. I've stayed at both Harvey's and Harrah's Tahoe. The rooms at Harrah's are bigger, but probably not worth the extra money. Try and get a room facing the Lake-- the views are wonderful.

There are two gambling districts in Lake Tahoe: North and South. South Tahoe has bigger casinos, but both of these districts are small by Vegas standards. Since Harrah's owns 2 of the 5 casinos in South Tahoe, they really dominate the market. (Although personally, I prefer gambling at Montbleu.) The nicest hotel on the Nevada side is the Hyatt. The Hyatt has a casino, but it's TINY.

I don't know if the purpose of your trip is exclusively to gamble, but try and set aside some time to enjoy the outdoors (downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snow-shoeing are your main options.) If you have any interest in mafia history, be sure to take the Frank Sinatra Tunnel Tour at the Cal-Neva Resort in North Tahoe.

Have fun!

My wife is pregnant, so I don't want to expose her to too much second hand smoke. How bad is the smoking over there?

So, besides sitting in the sportsbook for some NCAA tournament games (which I read is the only smokefree sportsbook in Nevada), we'll probably only spend about an hour a day at the casino. (I hear Montbleu has my favorite game of all time - Sigma Derby).

So with the whole baby thing, skiing is ruled out. But walking/driving around and seeing beautiful sights during the day is definitely in. I'll have to look into the Sinatra thing, she might really enjoy that. Thanks!

Lakeside Inn down the road pays 3:2 on all their bj, $10 min for single $5 for double deck, they rate odds on craps, video poker is terrible! 6/5 on job!

Quote: FinsRule

My wife is pregnant, so I don't want to expose her to too much second hand smoke. How bad is the smoking over there?

So, besides sitting in the sportsbook for some NCAA tournament games (which I read is the only smokefree sportsbook in Nevada), we'll probably only spend about an hour a day at the casino. (I hear Montbleu has my favorite game of all time - Sigma Derby).

So with the whole baby thing, skiing is ruled out. But walking/driving around and seeing beautiful sights during the day is definitely in. I'll have to look into the Sinatra thing, she might really enjoy that. Thanks!

Smoke isn't much of a problem, as most of the customers come from California, where there's an indoor smoking ban: it seems like most of the smokers have moved elsewhere. And if you eat in South Lake Tahoe, there won't be any smokers in the restaurants.

One thing I forgot to mention: the various lake cruises. You get a perspective you can't get any other way, and the dinner/twilight cruise is very very cool...you would score major wife points.

I go to Tahoe a couple times a year (meaning I stay in Tahoe and not Reno). I have found it surprisingly easy to get comped at the Harrah's properties there on weeknights and lower-peak weekends. Great dealers at Harvey's, a little less so at Harrah's -- I think dealers work one place or the other but not both. Montbleu is a little lower-brow than either, lots of young kids playing the table minimums. I really only play there to take a break from Harrah's properties. Lakeside is 10x odds on craps, Montbleu and the Harrahs are 345, northshore casinos are (ick!) double odds. Expect $5-10 minimums on BJ and craps at the Harrahs on weekdays and $10 on weekends (occasionally higher when busy).

There is an underground passageway between the Harvey's and Harrah's, which I didn't know about the first few times I was there. Beats dealing with traffic.

Don't go to North Tahoe to gamble, although if you're there the Hyatt is worth checking out.

Good breakfast place on the south shore is the Red Hut. There are two Red Huts now, the old classic place a few miles into California and a newer one in one of the shopping centers near the state line. I would suggest the older one, haven't been in the newer one.

I hike a lot in summer and fall, but I think the drive around the lake is kind of overrated. A more interesting drive IMO, and far less crowded, is down Highway 89 and 88 to Carson Pass. Down Highway 4 there's the Grover Hot Springs State Park, which I found worthwhile. Don't speed anywhere around the lake by more than 5 mph or so. Place is crawling with cops.

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

Lakeside Inn down the road pays 3:2 on all their bj, $10 min for single $5 for double deck, they rate odds on craps, video poker is terrible! 6/5 on job!

Ahh ha, that's how I scored 2 free nigths over the 4th of July last year..I was playing $5 craps with $50 odds...

Here is the names of the resorts in the Tahoe area (with square footage of the casino). Clearly Harvey's is the largest of the eight, but you may want to check out Montbleu. One of them called Bill's has since closed and been replaced with a strip club.

South Tahoe has been losing money like crazy since the recession. People seem to be gambling at Sacramento instead.

The four resort in South Lake Tahoe are:
HARVEYS RESORT HOTEL/CASINO 89,244
MONTBLEU 45,000
LAKESIDE INN 17,852
LAKE TAHOE HORIZON CASINO RESORT 29,689 (slots only)

The four resort in North Lake Tahoe are:
GRAND LODGE CASINO 18,900
CRYSTAL BAY CLUB CASINO 14,020
TAHOE BILTMORE LODGE 10,480
JIM KELLEY'S TAHOE NUGGET 3,000 (slots only)

I mentioned in another thread that I plan to visit Reno/Tahoe for the first time in October. I will be staying at Harvey's, so I thought I would resurrect this thread rather than starting a new one.

I plan to visit each of the casinos around the lake and at least the major ones in Reno (chip collecting, you know.) I found an old news item from March 2010 that said, "Cal-Neva Lodge will close its casino March 31, 2010, as it waits for a Nevada-based gaming operator to take over its gaming operations, the Reno-Gazette Journal reported. Cal-Neva aims to re-open by the end of 2010."

Does anyone know for certain whether their casino is actually operating now? Either way, it won't affect my plans very much, since I will visit two other casinos on that same little point of land and can check it out for myself. I just thought it would be interesting to know in advance which ones will be shut down. The Cal-Neva web site uses "Casino" in the name of the place, but it doesn't actually seem to make any claims that they have an operating casino, not even on their "things to do" page. I found that interesting.

At the moment, my "Chips I might get" list includes the following spots:

Lake Tahoe: Harvey's, Harrah's, MontBleu, Lakeside, Crystal Bay, Tahoe Biltmore, Cal-Neva, Grand Lodge.
Carson City: Fandango, Carson Station, Carson Nugget, Gold Dust West.
Reno: Atlantis, Eldorado, Harrah's, Peppermill, Silver Legacy, and maybe these: Circus Circus, Club Cal-Neva, Grand Sierra, Sands Regency, Nugget.

Two questions for folks familiar with casinos in that area: Are there other casinos I should have included? Should I forget from the beginning some of these on my list? I haven't really decided whether to bother with Carson City at all. Please remember that I am not really all that serious a gambler -- I just want to have a little fun (mostly at craps) and add a few more chips to my collection. On a first visit to the area, I think I should try to avoid the absolute dumps; I wound up going to some Las Vegas dumps (reported earlier) after I had my chips from all the nice places, but I don't anticipate collecting chips from all of the Reno/Tahoe establishments on my first trip.

If you don't want to see the dumpy places then you won't have much to do in northern Nevada.

Cal Neva Lodge is something lake tahoe that is not related to the Club Cal Neva in Reno. Harrahs and Harveys $1 chips are pretty much the same and used interchangeably between both properties. MontBleu has a sigma derby. Lake Side Inn is a tiny place but they have the best blackjack on the south shore and they rate the odds. I am not sure of the crystal bay or grand lodge, I think there is a Hyatt in the Incline Village that has a casino you may want to check out for a chip. Fandango in Carson City is the only place that has Pai Gow Poker in Carson City. I suggest doing Carson City when you are on South Shore because it is only a 30 min drive. Sands Regency gives the Western in Las Vegas a run for its money. John Ascuaga's Nugget is in Sparks.

Quote: Doc

Does anyone know for certain whether their casino is actually operating now?

The Cal-Neva Resort is kind of a dump. Last time I slept there (September 2010), the casino was closed but the hotel was open. If you're a history buff, take their Frank Sinatra Tunnels Tour, it's a fun and interesting. (Also if you're a history buff, be sure to check out the Tallac Historic Site on the shore of Lake Tahoe, and Virginia City up in the mountains.)

Quote: Doc

At the moment, my "Chips I might get" list includes the following spots:

Lake Tahoe: Harvey's, Harrah's, MontBleu, Lakeside, Crystal Bay, Tahoe Biltmore, Cal-Neva, Grand Lodge.
Carson City: Fandango, Carson Station, Carson Nugget, Gold Dust West.
Reno: Atlantis, Eldorado, Harrah's, Peppermill, Silver Legacy, and maybe these: Circus Circus, Club Cal-Neva, Grand Sierra, Sands Regency, Nugget.

Two questions for folks familiar with casinos in that area: Are there other casinos I should have included? Should I forget from the beginning some of these on my list?

Your list is very comprehensive. In Tahoe, the only nice casinos are Harvey's, Harrah's, and Montbleu. The other casinos aren't so nice. In Reno, my favorites are Peppermill, Harrah's and Silver Legacy.

Quote: Doc

I haven't really decided whether to bother with Carson City at all. Please remember that I am not really all that serious a gambler -- I just want to have a little fun (mostly at craps) and add a few more chips to my collection. On a first visit to the area, I think I should try to avoid the absolute dumps; I wound up going to some Las Vegas dumps (reported earlier) after I had my chips from all the nice places, but I don't anticipate collecting chips from all of the Reno/Tahoe establishments on my first trip.

All the casinos in Carson City are a bit dumpy. But I really like the Carson Nugget because they have a $1 craps table, so a $20 bill could easily last an hour or so.

If you have any interest in wildlife, be sure to check out Tahoe's Taylor Creek underwater viewing area.

Thanks for the input, all. Nick, I think the Hyatt is the same place that I referred to (in abbreviated form) as Grand Lodge. Could be mistaken.

I'm drawing most of my info from previous posts in this thread and one other, plus an on-line casino directory. Plenty of opportunity for misleading or out-dated information, so I appreciate the input. There's a good chance that I will only hit the first four or five from my Reno list, but I will probably hit all of the ones on the Lake Tahoe list if they are open.

I appreciate what everyone has had to say about the less-than-impressive nature of some of these casinos. I wasn't really expecting Bellagio or Aria, but I'm not particularly looking forward to a Western or Silver Saddle experience. I expect my wife to be with me each place I go, and I don't need to antagonize her.

I wouldn't skip Carson City. Carson Nugget and Casino Fandango are two pretty unique properties, in my opinion. Gold Dust West is blah. Didn't go to Carson Station. I'm not sure they have table games.

I think you could hit all the casinos in Reno in one trip. But it might be easier to split it into two. Watch your driving :)