Travel // Tahoe

‘Another victim in the slow death of Tahoe’: The Biltmore prepares to shut its doors for good

Andrew Pridgen
April 16, 2022
Updated: April 16, 2022 10:08 a.m.



The sign to the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino welcomed visitors to the Nevada side of North Lake Tahoe for generations. The legendary property is set for demolition on May 1.
Photo By Andrew Pridgen

The front door to the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino didn’t budge. I smashed my face up against it to get a better look inside and couldn’t make out much through the tinted glass. What I could see didn’t look promising. ... I tried the door next to it — frozen shut.

It appeared I’d missed partaking in the final hours of the legendary North Lake Tahoe casino and hotel’s existence. Although the marquee above the main entry said it’d remain open till April 23 for a “last hurrah” (demolition is slated for May 1), maybe someone had mercifully ended its run 10 days in advance.

As I was getting ready to give up and go, the door at my original entry point opened up. A woman wearing a backpack and a beanie stormed out. Ignoring me, she took two steps out onto the sidewalk, pockmarked from years of salt thrown out for winter safety, and lit a cigarette.

“Is it open?” I asked, wondering whether she’d also come to pay homage to the iconic three-quarter-century-old institution, even in its disrepair. ... She took a drag. “I wouldn’t say that,” she said as smoke flared out of her nostrils. I ducked in the door as it began to close behind me. ... Whoever she was, she was dead on the mark.

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