Donner Lake Inn

Great crash spot and location by the lake.

We had several issues with the Inn. First of all, we never saw an employee. There was no one to share information about the Inn or accessing the lake. I haven’t been to Donner lake in 30 years so I don’t know anything about access and we traveled by train so we didn’t have a car to drive around in (which was specifically why we booked this location). We did not know, for example, that there are free piers that we could access by a short walk east. So, our first night there we happened to walk west and the only place we could find to even look or touch the lake was a paid beach. We ended up not seeing the lake at all our first night. Second of all, apparently the smoke alarms are so sensitive that the shower steam will set them off. There are signs about keeping the door closed when showering to prevent the alarm from going off and luckily, we did not set off the alarm. However, after we had gone to bed, another guest did set off the alarm and it rang throughout the whole Inn. This woke my kids up in a panic. My husband stepped outside to try to see what was going on and we found out from another guest, not even staff. Other smaller things like the air conditioning being a standalone unit that didn’t work very well, no tissues (in a high altitude location with a kid who is prone to nosebleeds), and the tiny space were just… okay but not great.

Cozy stay in a beautiful setting. We loved the beds and the short walk to the lake.

Room was very clean and cozy, breakfast and coffee was good. And I liked the view from room.

The hotel was cute clean and friendly and has access to fun activities near by