Straddling the border of California and Nevada in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, attracting more than 2.7 million visitors each year. The surrounding area truly has it all when it comes to the outdoors: hiking, mountain biking, skiing, water sports, beaches, hot air ballooning and more. There’s also plenty of shopping, dining and art along the lake’s 70 miles of coastline.
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Cabins are the perfect lodging for the region because they are equally appealing for both beach and mountain living. Many of the cabins in Lake Tahoe are even pet-friendly, so you can bring your four-legged family members along on vacation, too.
We compared several popular travel sites that book cabins in the Lake Tahoe region based on the number of cabins available, prices, customer service and other criteria. We then selected our three favorites. Keep in mind, rates vary dramatically based on the season, they are the highest during peak summer and winter months.
BOOKING
This popular travel site is our preferred choice for booking Lake Tahoe cabins. It’s known for its affordable hotel bookings, but the site has an increasing number of vacation rentals available as well. You can activate the “Vacation Homes” filter to exclude hotels and only see cabins and private dwellings, some of which include large, multi-bedroom homes that sleep several people (these are sometimes referred to as lodges even if they are not hotels) and condominiums. Prices range from around $100/night for a small cabin in the off season to several hundred dollars per night for a large cabin during peak ski months.
Many Lake Tahoe cabins offer hotel-level amenities such as spa tubs, airport shuttle service and premium streaming services. Overall, we found cabins are slightly more affordable on Booking.com than the runner-up site, and the instant confirmation feature scores it major points for ease of mind and convenience.
VRBO
While Vrbo came in a slight second in the price category, it does win out when it comes to selection. It’s also beautiful to look at, with features like trip boards, travel guides and informative, travel-related articles. The company is a subsidiary of Expedia, with a focus on building a global community of homeowners and travelers. Vrbo boasts more than 2 million privately owned vacation rentals, including more than 50,000 cabins. The site also has separate filters exclusively for finding cabins, with many available via instant booking. However, some cabins require a separate confirmation from the owner which can take up to 24 hours.
TAHOE GETAWAYS
You can tell this site is run by locals. Offering more than 180 Lake Tahoe cabin and luxury vacation rentals, lodging is organized by categories like “ski-in, ski-out,” “pet friendly,” “luxury,” “lakefront,” and “lake view,” you can easily search for exactly the experience you desire. There’s also a comprehensive blog and events calendar to help plan your trip. Although you can’t search specifically for cabins, this site does offer filters by geographic location within the Tahoe region (North Tahoe, South Tahoe, etc.) as well as specific neighborhoods and amenities such as a fenced yard or hot tub. Warning: this site does charge significant cleaning and administrative fees.