Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Review: Is It Worth It for Families?

We live less than an hour from Lake Tahoe, so when we pick an area for a Tahoe staycation, it’s with the experience and benefit of being local for many years, and as a local, I have pretty strong opinions about which areas I actually like.

Incline Village and especially the Nevada side is one of them. This is the part of the lake where you get those incredible electric blues that make the lake so famous.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe with our four-year-old and there was actually a surprising amount for him to do. Between painting, pinecone crafts, s’mores, the arcade, the pool and the playground, we never had to work particularly hard to keep him entertained.

More importantly, you’re in a great part of Tahoe and can actually enjoy being at the lake rather than spending your whole trip driving around it.

Book With Us for Hyatt Privé Benefits

The Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe is part of Hyatt Privé, which means we can book it for our clients with extra benefits that you won’t get booking the same stay directly online.

On eligible Privé bookings, benefits can include:

• Daily breakfast for two
• $100 resort credit per room, per stay
• A potential room upgrade
• Early check-in and late checkout, when available
• A welcome amenity

You can also still earn your World of Hyatt points on eligible stays.

There’s no additional fee to book your hotel through us, so if you’re looking at the Hyatt Regency Tahoe anyway, reach out to us before you book and we can check the Privé rate and benefits for your dates.

Our Balcony Queen Room

We stayed in a balcony queen room, which worked well for the three of us.

With a kid, I will pretty much always take a balcony when I can get one. It gives you somewhere to sit outside during downtime and makes a standard hotel room feel considerably less claustrophobic when everyone is sharing the same space.

The rooms aren’t the reason I’d come to this hotel — you’re coming for Tahoe and the amazing heated pool — but ours was comfortable and gave us what we needed for a family weekend.

The Location Is the Real Selling Point

For me, the best thing about the Hyatt Regency is the location.

It’s in Incline Village on the north shore, and this is the kind of Tahoe trip I’d choose if the priority is the lake.

One thing I would not choose it for is a ski vacation where you want to ski right in off the mountain. The Ritz Carlton is perfect for that.

But if you want to enjoy Tahoe itself, particularly with kids, I really like this location.

We could get outside, walk around and let our son play without having to load everyone into the car every time we wanted to do something. There’s also playground access nearby, which was a much bigger selling point for our four-year-old than any amount of gorgeous Tahoe scenery. I can’t blame him. It is a good playground.

There Was Way More for Kids to Do Than I Expected

Hyatt Regency had a bunch of little activities that our son loved. In addition to s’mores in the evenings, an arcade, a kids pool in addition to the huge heated (to 86 degrees) main pool, and the option to swim outside from inside, they have activities you can book through their adventure desk.

One was painting pinecones, which is such a simple activity but also perfectly Tahoe. There were painting and craft activities he could sit down and do, and I liked that they actually tied into being in the mountains rather than feeling like someone had dumped a generic hotel coloring sheet on a table.

These aren’t drop-your-child-off-and-go-to-the-spa activities. We were doing them together. But at four, that’s what we’re looking for anyway.

The Pool

The heated pool was another easy win. As a kid, I’ll always remember the beachfront resort we visited that had a swim-out pool and how cool I thought it was. When I saw this resort had one too, I was in love. It’s especially perfect for the winter when you’d really rather not walk across snow to get into the heated pool.

They also have a kids pool and two hot tubs of various temperatures.

Who I Think the Hyatt Regency Tahoe Is Best For

I would stay here for a North Lake Tahoe vacation where the lake and the surrounding area are the main event, particularly with younger kids. You can read our Tahoe itinerary here.

We could explore Tahoe, come back and swim, wander over to the playground, paint a pinecone, play some arcade games and make s’mores without needing to plan every second of the day.

That’s my ideal pace for a trip with a four-year-old.