It has been a nice place before but now getting much degraded. Terrible traffic during weekends and holidays. Very poor resort management and untrained staff. Ski storage was free before but now charging fees. School check in used to be on the top but changed to village, which caused a lot of confusion and inconvenience.
Overcrowded. Snowboarders have no respect for skiers, skiers have no respect for snowboarders. Best case scenario there is a massive turf war and winner takes all.
Horrible experience with Epic Pass that ruined our vacation plan and we left Tahoe without any skiing. The pass office refused to give me the pass we bought online because it was suspended for an accident last year (I was badly hit by someone from behind and I had zero fault in that accident). There was no warning when I payed for the pass or in my account page. They kicked me back and forth around ~5 different offices. From 9am to 1pm I made 20+ phone calls on the mountain and walked to different offices in my ski boots. On my way leaving the resort around 1 pm, they called to tell me the suspension was finally resolved and asked me to wait for another hour and try again at the pass office. They suspended my pass for no good reason and without any warning. All the offices have no clear idea who is in charge of the suspension, and are very impatient to help on an issue outside their duty, even when they know a customer is desperately waiting to get onto the mountain. Two days later I received my pass in my mail that’s sent out the day we bought it online, days before the hassle on the mountain. So if it’s OK for them to send me the pass by mail, why on earth can they refuse giving it to me at the resort??
Wasted 3 hours waiting in line to get our pass that we ordered online ahead of time, closes at 4 so by the time we got to the slops the whole day was gone. DONT go
Be willing to wait on just about everything from lifts to rentals if needed. If you plan on stopping by the day of without reservations in advance, you can expect 3 plus hour wait for gear rentals. Average wait time for main lifts is around 10-30 min. Also have a photo of or your actual vaccination card on hand to be able to enjoy any food from northstar themselves. Biggest issue, if you plan on using the free parking lots expect an hour wait at times just to get to and from the ski area. Just didn’t have a good time but maybe you will.
First warning is to look at the pictures very carefully. What you will see is a small dark condo that has not been updated since probably the 50’s including the furniture and beds which were very shoddy and uncomfortable. The second warning is some of the furniture you see is simply not there – the futon that is supposed to be in the loft is actually in the living room instead of the comfy couch you see. It does seem that an appliance and electrical upgrade took place in the 90’s, leaving a huge fire hazard where the all the electronics are plugged in and a cable remote that should be in a museum. The condo is very dark drab and stuffy; the only thing that saved us was a huge noisy fan that we had to carry from room to room. As previously mentioned, the bedding and most of the kitchen utensils looked like they were bought at a thrift store about the same time as the 90’s upgrades.
We did get a laugh when we saw a sign to remove our shoes before stepping on some really old and dirty carpet. We did comply but kept our socks on to avoid catching anything. While I’m at it there were multiple lights that didn’t work, trying to turn off the shower is a horrifying experience – we kept expecting the faucet to break each time we yanked it with all our might. Sleeping on the futon in the living room was a nightmare given there wasn’t complete bedding for it and all the light and noise ion that area.
There were a couple of good things I must say. Location was about a 15 minute walk of the village, check-in and check out was quick and efficient and there was lots of parking given it was in the summer. Sadly, that’s all the good I could come up with. In conclusion, we now realize we could have stayed in a much nicer place for a lot less then we ended up paying for this outdated, shoddy dump.
Ski Trails Condominium Association (which is a part of Northstar Property Owners Association) is run by Camco Truckee management company.
I’ve been at Northstar for 28 years ……my mom lives here 3 Months in the summer as well . She has more patience with these people . My realtor and I not so much . Seems like they could be eliminated all together the resort could save some $ and so could the home owners
If i could give negative stars I would. I have owned several properties nationwide that have been managed by HOAs. In the pas,t I thought I experienced poor service from some of the HOAs I’ve done business with. Compared to Camco, they were stellar! I have had a simple home repair work order out since June ( it is now October). My first request for repair was not responded to. After several further requests, they finally responded and stated they needed to get Board approval. We are talking about a small piece of broken siding, something any repairman could fix in less than an hour. After a month Camco responded the Board denied the work order. I then sent Camco the HOAs CC&R where it clearly states they are responsible for fixing the damage. After several more emails and threats they finally agreed to fix the damage in August. It is now October and to date, the damage has not been addressed. I have never experienced such horrible service. I caution any board member of a community save their community members the aggravation and avoid this property management firm!
No wonder Ski Trail condos look and feel like a trailer park in and out. IMO, the majority of Ski Trail condos owners look like trailer trash themselves. Rude, arrogant trailer trash. Avoid.
The majority of the management, both senior and mid level, had nothing but the companies bottom dollar in interest. From the CEO/COO down to ski team management. I was told by a ski team manager that coaches “should not let their athletes progress too fast because then the parents would realize they needed better coaches and a better mountain”, and that the goal was to keep them long enough to buy a house at northstar and lock them into the vail ecosystem. This same director drove away an alarming number of coaches, predominantly female. There’s no room for misogyny in the ski industry any more. Although apparently Vail/Northstar doesn’t feel the same. The bottom line 100% financially based decision making was an utter disappointment for someone who has put decades into the ski industry. The lack of livable pay or easily accessible and quality benefits for seasonal employees is pathetic. You can’t survive in a ski town with what they pay, and they expect you to dedicate more time than you’re paid for.
Advice to Management: Just give up. Quit. Stop trying.
Low elevation results in warmer and icier conditions, so even though they groom a lot, there are often patches of ice that catch you. It can be really bad, which is why we gave it a relatively low rating of 3 after this happened to us multiple times.
Limited vertical
Northstar is the most popular Tahoe resort for hordes of Bay Area weekend skiers, so crowds are always an issue when conditions are good.
The parkinglot situation is bad because the close-in lots fill up fast and then you have to park in the lots out by highway 267 and take a fairly long bus ride into the village.
Even if you get the closer-in parking, it’s a long walk through the village until you get to the gondola, which you still have to take before getting to the real skiing terrain. It’s a long process.
Don’t let the Northstar Resort name lure you. The late check-in was a hassle since there is no one onsite after hours. They did not send check-in instructions because they claim they do not receive email addresses when clients books through Expedia, so we were left trying to figure it out on our own. We had to track down a security for the entry code to the condo. The condo was not clean, the floor in the kitchen was sticky, like someone had spilled soda all over. We had to wear shoes in the condo because the floors were so dirty. The bed is a Murphy bed, which is not disclosed in the property description. It was surprisingly comfortable and the sheets were clean. The shower curtain was stained and the water pressure was barely enough to rinse shampoo from your hair. This condo is hugely overpriced for what you get, I won’t book here again.
Christina via Expedia.com
“was not exactly at the resort as pictured”
It was not clear that our reservation was not exactly at the resort as pictured. We were at Timber creek lodge which is at the back of the resort. It’s very dated and dirty carpet in the hall and the unit. The unit bathroom is tiny.
Sharon
“Very dirty”
Very dirty, no clean towels, most restaurants are closed and the one that we ate at was horrible and very expensive. Will never stay here again. Water in shower was brown, carpet in room was disgusting. Also if you are not an owner you have to pay for all amenities per person. To use the swimming pool area was $8 a person and $2 a towel. Rooms are very small and beds are very uncomfortable. For the price not worth it!
Maria
“not up to even low standards”
I thought the unit we originally stayed in was extremely sub par. Dirty, dated, not clean, not up to even low standards. We were then moved to another unit which was somewhat better, but still maybe 2 stars. I would’ve thought u had higher standards and would require owners to meet those standards.
Michael
“poor”
Check in was about 1 mile away from rooms. Limited underground parking because of ownership parking slots. Very few rental spots. The air conditioning was so loud we only used it when it was too hot not to. Could not use it at night and just opened windows. Had to use a fan in the other room, air conditioning not working well enough. Very small rooms.
Richard
“hotel from hell”
Hotel from hell. The northstar resort totally lied about the unit we booked. i told them steps were an issue and they told me only small number. when we got there , i counted there were 40 steps to the unit , my wife has bad knees and impossible to climb . i checked the unit and it had a murphy bed we were told a queen be. the mattress felt like it came from a homeless shelter . and the unit was no where near the town as the pictures indicated. it was so bad we could not stay and had to leave that night for other accomadations
“The rooms do not look like the pictures on the website”
We would not recommend this property at all. It is bare-bones and a room on par with a Motel 6. There is no vanity in the bathrooms, the carpet was stained, the bed was old and caved toward the middle (making sleeping virtually impossible). For a resort setting, these rooms are dank, depressing and bland. The rooms do not look like the pictures on the website. The Hampton Inn down the road would provide a much better option for travelers. Avoid at all costs.
Kyle via Expedia.com
“no one answers the phone when you need help”
The bathtub was very dirty. we tried to clean it but still could not get stains out so we could not use it. See photos 2. We left an expensive tupperware in the fridge and forgot it on check out. We called the place 3 times and each time they promised they would get back to us but did not. So we had to pay for a replacement out of pocket 3. It was very hard to find the hot tubs that are in the rec center in the village itself . More signage would be useful. And no one answers the phone when you need help.
Traveler Expedia.com
“..old stained carpet”
However our unit had old stained carpet. The lighting was very dim, with one lamp knob broken so you had to plug/unplug it to turn it on/off. The dryer vent wasn’t attached, and of course cold air would come through to chill the condo.
The particular unit we rented was extremely dated. Comforters were made into the bed under sheets and mine had oatmeal or something all over it. Furniture in living area was all torn up.(leather)
Susan
Too expensive for being old. We did not stay in the main resort, there were only 2 restaurants open and in one you had to make reservations. The pizza place packed and waiting 1 hr for pizza.
Mariana
The staff were unhelpful. I asked for assistance a few times by Phone email and no response. The tvs in the rooms did not work, there was a long winded explanation of how they worked, which did not actually work. Non of the shops were open and food and drink was expensive but a free bus ride, which no one was told about, on arrival, meant you could go to the supermarket and buy things cheaper
Lain
We had a mix of rooms it took hours to check in. Staff didn’t follow thru on getting keys to us they committed too. Floors were dirty. Beds were not comfortable.
Ellington
This was my third stay and I was really disappointed with the apartment I was assigned. The whole place needed a serious update. I was a little grossed out by the bathtub and the curtain shower to be honest. I understand that each apartment has its own decoration as they are privately owned, but it was a big step down from the apartment I stayed in last time. I also had a family upstairs that was very very loud and constantly running.
Silvia
They need to start remodeling there units. It’s time. Bathrooms, tubs and interiors need a major update
Antranig
Top bunk bed missing sheets and ladder. Smelled very stuffy in the house. Staff very unhelpful when we ran into an issue (at the village)
Alisha
Property is run down. Main element on stove would not light, dining room light not working, bathroom electric outlet not working. Property reviews said it was steps from the ski lifts, but actually you have to take a shuttle bus.
Stephen
Soon as you walk in you’re greeted with bugs crawling all over the floor and furniture.
Shashi
Service to get fans was a hassle, and one condo was about 3 miles away and was not cleaned had webs, lights not working, window screens were missing and no regular coffee. Very hot and no fans worked. Our family was not comfortable.
Reginajo
Not in village like booking showed. Bare minimum with amenities, towels etc. paying to get in pool. Was not that impressed with property
Monica
Dishwasher wasn’t working. We had to evacuate the room in a snow storm for maintenance. Lodging was not prepped before we arrived.
Roger
The 2nd bathroom was tiny and the shower head was not doable for a proper shower. The temp in the bedrooms was not consistent and blowing in one direction only. The TV screen was small. Everything was dated.
Having been a season pass holder for nearly 20 years I have seen the changes. Great mountain but since Vail took over and the aftermath of the pandemic there are troubles everywhere. Five feet of new snow for December 2022 and they cannot groom the mountain. Did you are an intermediate or beginner you will be on the same runs everyday. If you are here only for a day, well not so bad. Why can’t they groom one new run a day? Pretty easy, but they do the same ones just about everyday. And why does it take days to open the backside. It’s crazy. Either Vail resorts want to save money with limited staffing ie. less operations or they just cannot hire enough people. They should let their customers know what’s going on.
Rick Hirshberg via OnTheSnow.com
“Waiting and waiting and waiting”
Let me start with the parking lot first. Arrived at the parking lot at 9:39 am. Then, wait for the Shuttle bus for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Finally got to the first lift and waited 25 minutes. The second lift waited for 35 minutes. The third lift (Comstock) waited for 1 hour 20 minutes. Finally got to the top of the Mountain at 1:45 pm. Waiting and waiting and waiting..
Ray Fang via OnTheSnow.com
“The resort seems to be mismanaged”
The resort seems to be mismanaged. Visited December 17-22. Unbelievable lift lines (20 minutes throughout the day). Plenty of snow, but only a few runs open. Backside closed. New app for shuttle buses doesn’t work, and again, very long (20-30 mins) wait for transportation around the resort. Many stores in the Village are shuttered. This is our long-time home resort and it’s depressing to see what Vail is doing to it!
Worst resort I’ve been to (and I have been to a good number Europe and North America)
Arrived at 830 to parking lot (furthest one as uppers were already full ) and didn’t actually ski until 1045. Line to park. Line to bus. Bus had line of traffic to reach resort. Long walk to gondola. Long line for gondola. Line for next lift (and lift after) as zephyr was spinning but closed … fortunately being on epic .. meant didn’t need wait lift ticket line also and drop what ever ridiculous sum of money for day pass only to stand around waiting. I don’t believe I’ve ever waited so much except at Disney as young kid. Every ski area I’ve been to: arriving at 830 means downhill action by 915 at latest.
In short: terrible logistics and designed resort. Not going to pay to stand around. And even when skiing : I’ve had more fun at east coast 1000 ft verticals ski areas.
First time and last visit. And after reading lots of other reviews: seems many others feel the same. Assuming the good reviews are from beginning skiers or paid resort fanboys/moms
Chimpsey Powers via Google reviews
“I’m confused by this place”
I’m confused by this place. Everything is so nice at surface but the bed literally fell apart at bed time and it was too late to get help. Concierge tried to replace us but not able to. Didn’t wanna bother manager at midnight. Were told we’d be taken care of after the fact. Still waiting. Someone knocked two different times in the morning despite us getting late check out. I also think the pool/hot tub closes too early. They could stay open at least until 10 but it’s 9. Pool table is sadly over worn. Didn’t get a chance to play ping pong before it closed. One of the hot tubs was closed when we got to it but front desk didn’t tell us in advance. Kind of a mixed bag.
Danika Sonsa via Google reviews
“Totally wasted my time for no reason”
My condo didn’t have a working stove, oven, microwave, garbage disposal, or dishwasher. I have been trying to contact the manager for a week and they are avoiding me and offer zero compensation. These condos are a huge rip off and they are totally inflexible about check ins. They make you wait for an email at exactly 4pm and front desk does nothing. I had my 6 month old and 2 year old and just had to sit in the parking lot for an hour while my room was clearly ready. Totally wasted my time for no reason.
Nicholas Young via Google reviews
“It is suppose to be quality and is not”
What to say… it is suppose to be quality and is not. it is very expensive (i’m used to it so that is not the point) . The chalet itself is beautiful and same for the landscape. Service is horrible! The don’t know how to handle it keep forgetting and making mistakes. Food is just average. Wine list is …we are out of this and our of tnat. Don’t try to go in the pool is to small and over crowded…and they really don’t care…the anser is seat there and queue… the lake club is an highlight…besides the absurd daily rate and stupid closing hour at 4 pm…best sunset time. So…sorry man this is a joke place wont see me ever again.
Alvise Fontana Z via Google reviews
“Bait and switch”
This is my first ever review, i believe. I made a reservation with American Express to stay at Northstar California Resort. I needed to make a change / extend my time of our stay to our reservation and so I called the resort directly, they couldn’t make the change, I had to do it with American Express, which is fine. But in this conversation they stated “do you know we do not have air conditioning”? This is something that American Express and Northstar failed to mention in their advertising of the room/property. Seems a bit Bait and switch…so i get to find this out when I arrive with my 85 year old mother and my husband who has major allergies, I contact American Express to cancel, which they stated it was a no cancellation policy for this resort. Which was fine until they omitted very important information about their resort and the room. American Express called the resort on my behalf and spoke to the Manager, which stated to them they should “Open a Window”. And will not refund my money.
I will write a review everywhere I can and write a letter to everyone in their management I can, And NO i have never written a negative review. This a true and accurate review .
Amber D via Google reviews
“Thank you for ruining our trip”
Paid over 2k for a weekend time with 2 kids and got kicked out of every single place to sled. Apparently people with kids are not welcome there. Thank you for ruining our trip and breaking hearts of my 2 kids.
NorthStar California Sucks | VailEpicFail 