Northstar California Resort Reviews

Northstar and Zephyr Lodge Team - We want to give you all a huge thanks for the epic wedding you pulled off for us! Seriously, we're still riding high from this day. We've been replaying videos and reliving every moment with the fam in our group chat for the last month..

We were low-key bracing ourselves for some bumps in the road, 'cause that's what everyone says about weddings, right? But guess what? Not a single glitch! You two must have some kind of behind-the-scenes magic going on. Your planning skills, Heather's chill vibes, and the flawless execution – we couldn't have asked for more.

But what stands out the most is how all the staff cared. Our guests are still talking about how seamless everything was. So, for anyone hunting for wedding venue that goes above and beyond, Zephyr is your place! - Ryan and Bridget (July 15th, 2023)

Zephyr Lodge could not have been more perfect for our wedding. The gondola ride and te view are something our guests will be talking about for a long time. Bartenders and staff were fantastic, food was amazing, and the space is just a great place for a party. Jennifer Lazon (venue coordinator) was fantastic. We are so happy with this choice.

Our wedding at the Zephyr Lodge was above and beyond our wildest expectations of how wonderful of a day it would be! It was on our radar when we realized no matter how badly we wanted to have our wedding "in nature", mother nature doesn't always cooperate in the Sierras, so we scoped out the place in the winter time and the view was amazing. We initially thought it was too pricey, but once we crunched the numbers with other venues that are less inclusive, the cost was about the same- we ultimately chose Northstar so we could give our large East coast families the ability to all stay in houses together and close by. ( The *only* comment I have was the discounted lodging link/website was a little rough, it's wording didn't match the lodging descriptions on the Northstar website, and several guests had a hard time navigating/confidently booking the accommodation they wanted.) Brett was super responsive as an up front contact and handled the booking and logistics well, and Paula took it from there as our day-of contact and point of contact for planning. Paula was wonderful- she was responsive, followed up promptly with answers or documents, and if it wasn't for her, there are so many details I would have missed/not thought of, she really helped keep us on track. She also was right on point helping us meet the F&B minimum w/out going over (the food and drinks were above me expectations for a resort buffet that we chose). The day of was amazing- friends and family raved about the view, the fun gondola rides, and how pleasant the staff was- several guests brought kids unexpectedly, and Paula handled it with a smile (thank you Paula!) Staff brought my husband and I appetizers while we were taking pictures so we wouldn't miss out(or pass out!), the bartenders were friendly and engaging with our guests, everything went off without a hitch, and if there were any hitches, they handled it deftly. In summary: amazing venue for a ceremony with a spectacular view; the reception was a nonstop party and everyone of my 100ish guests felt taken care of personally; Paula is amazing, I hope if you choose Northstar you get to work with her; my husband and i could not have had a better day there!

We wanted a unique wedding experience. Never before had bride and father arrived at wedding venue atop Mt. Pluto riding a chairlift in full wedding attire! Northstar planner Jennifer L. made our dream come true. All the staff at Northstar were exceptionally helpful in making this a beautiful and successful wedding experience. Thank you, Michael D., Napa, Ca.

We had our wedding at Zephyr Lodge and absolutely loved it. We worked with Cara - she was great and responsive throughout. We did not have a wedding planner so she was absolutely key in the week leading up and the day of in particular. She helped everything run smoothly getting all the vendors to the top of the mountain so we didn't have to stress about any of it. It's a stunning location and the staff were all super nice. It is expensive, so gave a 4/5 for value. Vail Resorts has a fair number of rules around how it runs and charges for events, so gave a 4/5 for flexibility. That said, Cara did everything she could to be accommodative within these constraints. We definitely recommend the venue and could not be happier with how everything played out in the end for the weekend.

We loved Northstar for our wedding! They were easy to work with and made the process very easy for us. They worked hard to make sure our requests got handled and the guests commented to us how attentive they were. Also, check out that ceremony site! Talk about breathtaking :)

The Northstar Resort was the perfect location for our wedding. It’s apparent from the second you pull up to the property the location is extremely beautiful and relaxing. The rooms are great; there is the convenience of the village restaurants, bars, shops, small food/beverage store, activities, and stunning scenery regardless of the season. We loved that our guests were able to stay in the village and not have to worry about how they were getting to and from events. We had a Welcome party in the Village Overlook, our wedding the next night at Zephyr Lodge and after party at the Tavern. We received many compliments from our guests about their experiences at Northstar, the venues chosen, and how great the food was at all 3 events (mac and cheese balls, pizza cones, and the mini grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup were a huge hit at the end of the night)! I don’t think pictures can do Northstar justice. Once you ride the chair lifts to Zephyr Lodge at the top of the mountain and look out over the beautiful mountains you will fall in love, too! Another major plus is they assign an event coordinator to each wedding to help with details pertaining to the property, catering and vendor arrival and departure. Cara was our coordinator and she was amazing!! She was quick to respond to emails and phone calls, gave great recommendations, met with us every time we visited, and communicated with our vendors to make sure the weekend ran smoothly. The Northstar Resort speaks for itself in appearance, but Cara made the biggest impact on our experience at this location leading up to the wedding and throughout the wedding weekend.

Northstar is beautiful. Overly priced for what you get, pretty flexible, but you have to use their catering...unfortunately, that was the main downfall. When we went to the food tasting, we picked a certain chicken, served with no bones. The day of the wedding, they served half chickens, full of bones. The food was delicious, but when you pay over $5000, for the food alone, for only 60 guests, you expect to get what you wanted. With no compensation for their mistake, and they tell you that you were the one mistaken, you can see how frustrating that would be. Also, be sure to not take too long taking pictures with your family, you will not get any of the appetizers you were looking forward to. With the rooms, multiple guests, include ourselves, we're double charged and it took days for them to correct the error. Other than that, the location is beautiful, and the coordinator always gets back to you in a timely manor with as much help as possible, and the food is delicious.

My husband and I were married at Northstar on September 25th surrounded by a small group of our closest family and friends. From the views up at Zephyr Ridge, to the intimacy of the tented reception at Overlook Pavilion, to the amazing food by Executive Chef Chad Shrewsbury, we cannot possibly pick a favorite aspect to our perfect day.

Our group was small at 35 people, but the setup was arranged to make it feel like we owned the space rather than feeling empty and cavernous. They were very accommodating in allowing our dog, Tuck, to be a part of our day and didn't mind a tired pup napping on the outdoor sofa while we ate dinner.

Our rehearsal dinner the night before was at Tavern 6330'. The food was great, the service was great, and the price was just right.

Our wedding at Zephyr Lodge this summer turned out amazing! It was truly the most special day of our lives, and we are still over the moon about the whole thing almost a month later. The views are incredible, and the feedback from our guests could not have been better. If you're planning on having a wedding at Zephyr Lodge, here are some tips you might find helpful:
1) Check out and tour the guest lodging options. The Northstar-owned options in the village are little outdated and Tahoe Mountain Lodging options are gorgeous but a bit pricey. Take both into account when making your decision.
2) Vendor transport logistics are tricky- consider getting everything from flowers to a band or DJ to Zephyr Lodge. We were told that everyone would be able to 'just drive up', but the truth is that a Northstar escort is (understandably) required to drive to Zephyr Lodge, and that it's limited to certain times, and that more than 2 trips might mean you get charged more. I highly recommend working with a day-of coordinator for this piece. We worked with Sharon from Blake's Floral Design, and everything went really smoothly.
3) We saw some great reviews about the event managers, however we found ours to be unresponsive, especially relative to other amazing vendors we worked with. This was a bit frustrating for my husband and me as we were planning a destination wedding and timely email responsiveness is essential.

Overall I want to emphasize how amazing our wedding was and how the backdrop and setting were such a huge part of it. Our guests raved about the food, the sunset, and the whole weekend.

We had our ceremony and reception at the top of the mountain at Zephyr Lodge and it was amazing. Our coordinator provided by Northstar (Mercie) was incredible and we were so pleased with how every detail worked out. The venue includes almost everything, which is perfect for me since I was a relatively hands off bride. The only vendors we needed to get were the photographer, videographer, music, and florist. Getting everything up to the top of the mountain was a little bit of a challenge but everyone figured it out and it was worth it for the breath-taking views. The food was delicious, the bar was well-stocked and all the staff were great. Highly recommend!

I could not be happier with the choice we made to have our wedding at the Overlook Pavilion at Northstar Resort! First off, there was very little question in our mind that we should get married there, as that is where my fiance proposed. As soon as we started communicating with the wedding planning department, they made it the easiest thing in the world. Our wedding planner was Nancie and she was spectacular. She kept track of everything and had all the answers - she consistently went above and beyond to help us plan our perfect day, even meeting with us on the morning of another wedding because that was the only day we were able to make it up. She also was in charge of setting up the entire wedding ceremony and reception area with all of our decor - I was not able to see it until I walked up the steps to the patio to begin my walk down the aisle and I was blown away by how she pulled it all together. I would recommend getting married here time and time again - it was truly perfect.

We booked Zephyr Lodge for our wedding this upcoming August. We are obviously still planning, but so far I am so impressed and pleased with the team at Northstar. They continue to impress me with their responsiveness and willingness to help. I look forward to updating my review once the wedding happens.

Also, Zephyr Lodge is GORGEOUS!!

I am updating my review, as our amazing wedding has now happened. I cannot get over how amazing Mercie (the coordinator they set us up with). She was so responsive throughout the entire process and even after. On the day of our rehearsal there was thunder and lightning, and she made sure that at least half of us were able to make it to the top to work on some set up. She then came to our rehearsal dinner to go through a bit of a run through of the ceremony.
The day of the wedding she was so calm, and even though my florist didn't show up until 20 minutes before the ceremony and it rained for the half hour before the ceremony, she remained so calm and worked so hard to make everything as perfect as possible.
Throughout the planning process Mercie, and the whole Northstar team did everything they could to make our day perfect! The entire team at Northstar, including the waitstaff, the lift operators (they stopped the lifts for us anytime we wanted to take a picture or 10), public safety and everyone else was so nice and accommodating.

Thank you for making our day so wonderful!!

We used Northstar Transportation to transport our guests from the hotel in Squaw Valley to the ceremony in Tahoe City and then back for the reception. They gave us by far the most reasonable rate. We were even able to add a fourth bus a few weeks ahead of time!

First, this is definitely a beautiful location. I had a small wedding so mine was at the Martis Valley Grille, with the ceremony outside in the trees. The white flower petals looked so pretty against the green grass. However, several things didn't quite live up to expectation. There were a number of items in the contract that were not delivered (including the advertised golf cart for transportation), they forgot to order the arbor I requested (to their credit they provided another one for me without charging me for the upgrade), and despite an accurate head count they ran out of appetizers. Also, they provided the wrong meals to the kids, who didn't want chicken fingers instead of grilled cheese because they are vegetarian, and didn't even serve the children after the adults had finished eating. They have been difficult to reach after the wedding with regard to questions about the bill. While they were initially easy to work with, I'm disappointed with the level of service provided during and after the event.

Northstar was amazing! The Overlook Pavilion was absolutely stunning and I could not have asked for a better location for my wedding. We got married up against the forest and had our reception under the big white tent. The Village at Northstar provided our guests with the best lodging in Truckee and all of the amenities they needed such as a starbucks, multiple restaurants, places to get mani/pedis and more. Brett Sneed and her team do an amazing job at taking care of everything a bride and groom need to make their day special. I would absolutely reccommend Northstar at Lake Tahoe for your wedding day!