Playpark Hospitality reopened the former Holiday Inn Express South Lake Tahoe, acquired for $13.8 million, as the HiMark Hotel on 2 April 2026: the first phase of a multi-year repositioning into a boutique wellness retreat, with a spa, cold plunge and redesigned rooms planned through 2028.
The essentials
Group Playpark Hospitality
Opening April 2026
Rooms & suites NC
Segment Boutique / wellness
Designer NC
Entry rate From $150 Learn more → The place The hotel sits centrally in South Lake Tahoe, California, within walking distance of Heavenly Village, the lake, and the area's restaurants and shopping.
The concept Playpark Hospitality acquired the former Holiday Inn Express South Lake Tahoe for $13.8 million and debuted it as the HiMark Hotel on 2 April 2026, moving the property out of IHG's budget Holiday Inn Express flag. The opening is the first step of an ongoing, multi-year repositioning into a boutique wellness-focused hotel, with phases running through 2028 planned to add a lobby lounge and bar, expanded food and beverage, a spa with a hydrotherapy circuit, cold plunge and sauna, a new fitness centre, and redesigned guest rooms. Room count has not yet been confirmed in press coverage.
Dining & wellness At opening, amenities include a seasonal outdoor pool and hot tub, plus a recently installed solar energy system. Planned later phases (through 2028) call for an expanded food and beverage programme, a spa with a hydrotherapy circuit, cold plunge and sauna: none of which has opened yet.
Our take A genuine, if gradual, upgrade out of a budget flag rather than a simple rebrand: the wellness positioning is credible given the phased spa and fitness investment already announced, but most of what defines the concept (spa, redesigned rooms) is still to come rather than already delivered.
Google guest reviews 4.0/5 · 742 reviews
My husband and I went for our wedding anniversary drove in Friday, May 15 and checked out Monday, May 18th.
Our room was amazing. Comfortable bed and pillows, fireplace, double head walk in shower, heat lamp, and bathtub with air jets. Fridge, k cup coffee maker, microwave, couch, and chair with ottoman. The Dove they use for bathroom smells good for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash leave skin soft. I think not standard room but check if book because room is amazing. Hotel central located to good food and places to explore. Not sure why some reviews say loud it was packed first 2 nights at hotel and quiet.
Feedback for improvement- every day we had to get our hotel keywords fixed because would not work next day. Not sure if because hotel recently renovated and opened but would recommend look into that issue.
The front staff different person everyday need training on how things work around hotel and one of them needs some customer service training for guests. For example, one did not even say sorry for inconvenience when day 3 having get hotel cards fixed again. She was talking to coworker or somewhere next to her at desk and tried blame us for room cards not working.
Overall, highly recommend the hotel but please look into hotel key card issue and front staff training. Also, the office coffee recommend switch out tastes terrible. One provide for cup in room is decent and different brand.
I stayed here for two nights. I booked the first night through Booking.com. At the end of the first night, I made another reservation through the app for the second night.
The room photos for both reservations were the same, and they appeared to be the same room standard. Therefore, I did not think there was any difference in room category between the two reservations.
On the morning of the second day, around 9:00 AM, I went to the front desk because one of our key cards was not working and also to confirm the check-in process for our new reservation. The receptionist asked if I was checking out, and I explained that we had another reservation for that day. They renewed both key cards and gave them back to me, so I assumed everything had been taken care of.
However, around 1:00 PM, I received a call asking me to change rooms. I explained that I had already come to the front desk that morning and completed the check-in process for the new reservation. I was told that because I had made the reservation online, I needed to move to another room.
I understand that room changes may sometimes be necessary due to availability. My issue was not the room change itself, but the lack of communication. After coming to the front desk in the morning and confirming everything, being asked to pack my belongings and move in the middle of my vacation felt very unprofessional and poorly managed.
In the end, we did not have to change rooms because my friend spent a long time discussing the situation with the staff. However, we should not have been put in this situation in the first place. It created unnecessary stress and negatively affected our stay.
We had originally planned to stay for two more nights, but because of this experience and the lack of communication from customer service, we decided to stay somewhere else instead.
On the positive side, the room was clean, and the hotel’s location was excellent. Unfortunately, after this experience with the front desk, I cannot say that I had a good overall experience.
Wow! What a great location with plenty of parking. Staff were welcoming and friendly. Rooms smelled good, everything was clean and tidy. Beds were very comfortable. Plenty of towels. Swimming pool and hot tub were clean and even had towels available there. And the best part….its affordable! I will be back!
Long review:
Upon arrival around 4:30pm, I was told my room needed around 40minutes to be ready; it took a full hour till my room was ready. I booked several weeks in advance. At least 6 different families or couples checked in and got their rooms before I did. Thankfully the front desk gave me a discounted rate and free ticket to breakfast buffet because of this.
Booked my Romance ADA Suite room a few weeks in advance, there was only 1 left available on their website that had a jetted Tub, was looking forward to the layout as shown online. It was not as shown online for this specific room. I asked why it looked different from online photos and the front desk said they only have 1 type of layout.
The morning buffet breakfast was disappointing and should be complimentary rather than 20$ per day. I showed within an hour after breakfast started. All the juice machines were out of order, eggs were not heated, the sausage patties had little to no taste, no bacon, even though there was a sign for it. The biscuits and gravy was okay. The small hot cinnamon rolls were the best part but not worth paying for, considering the rest of the buffet. The only other options would be a banana, a type of cereal, and bread with Jam.
I was looking forward to the pool area with my booking. Just be ready to swim in with a layer of Tree Pollen very visible when you get close. I had a headache after my 1st day after swimming, didnt go back. Also had to use the pool cleaning stick to remove the several large flying insects in the water myself, also in the hot tub.
The room itself was comfortable, very quiet and the bathroom was spacious. The jetted tub was big seller for me considering most hotels do not offer one for this price. But it was still a little dirty on the base of the tub upon arrival and my spouse cleaned it herself. I had no idea how to turn on the fireplace as seen in the photos even though i was toggled everything i could for it, but did not really bother for it, it was fairly warm already. But each day my room was not cleaned through housekeeping in the morning, I was unaware that we had to request for it, usually it's done automatically.
The location was great, only about 5 minutes of walking to heavenly village and the nearby stores. Very walkable location rather than having to drive a distance to eat or shop during the late hours. Easy parking each day at the hotel, had no issues, but expect your vehicle to be covered in pollen each morning.
I had an amazing stay at the HiMark Hotel! From the moment I arrived, the staff was incredibly welcoming, professional, and attentive to every detail. The room was spotless, comfortable, and beautifully maintained, making it easy to relax after a long day.
One of the highlights of my stay was definitely the breakfast. It was absolutely delicious, with a great variety of fresh options to choose from. Everything was well-prepared and constantly restocked, and the dining area was clean and inviting. It truly exceeded my expectations and was the perfect way to start each morning.
Overall, the HiMark Hotel provided excellent service, comfort, and quality. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a pleasant and stress-free stay. I will definitely be coming back!
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