I rent a house in Tahoe every year and don't have high expectations for my price point ($250ish/night), but this stay was not pleasant. First, the driveway is very steep and in poor conditions. The front stairs are also a little unstable and lean to one side. NBD - somewhat expected. As soon as I opened the front door (after I had to call and get a code that worked), there was the overwhelming smell associated with old carpet. I opened all the windows to air the place out.
The first night was miserable, likely due to the house being closed up for so long. It was so hot, no one could sleep. The rest of the nights were tolerable, as long as all the windows were wide open. But having to leave the windows open was problematic. The sprinklers are the ancient noisy type and go on for about an hour starting at 5:30am. After that, the sounds of construction fill the early morning air as the neighbor was building a fence. The fence construction was a sore subject between the neighbor and her neighbor as evidenced by two hours of yelling one morning over building codes, property lines, and the neighbor's accumulation of junk. This was extremely uncomfortable, however we had given up on trying to enjoy the backyard near the dispute location because our backyard neighbor had a large, free-roaming, hostile dog that does not like kids. The deck and backyard were rendered useless to us. Since we were out and about most of the time, this didn't matter a whole lot but it is worth noting for others.
The house has a mouse infestation. I found mouse droppings in the kitchen and accumulated behind the bed (where it is difficult to cleanup evidence) when I was searching for a working outlet. Several of the outlets in the house do not work (likely due to mice) and one outlet in the living room burned up my iPad charger and fried my battery.
Perhaps the worst thing about this house is the carpet. There is carpet in the bathroom - enough said. It is gross. Combine that with itchy blankets, flat, old pillows, and hard beds. Everyone in the house ended up with hives (this is probably why they have allergy notices in the house but we've stayed in and visited Tahoe often without incident so I blame house).
Two stars for good wifi and a nicely equipped kitchen.
The owner would do well to get an exterminator, air out the house before visitors come, and for goodness sake, replace the ancient carpet. I'd fence that backyard too but after the fight between the neighbors....
