There are four main hotel/casinos in Stateline, NV: Harvey s, Harrah s, Horizon, and Montbleu (formerly Caeser s). Just across the border, in South Lake Tahoe, CA, is the Embassy Suites. I wouldn t call them resorts, but they are the nicest places to stay (besides the new timeshare, but you don t want to deal with timeshare sales, do you?) Last time I went there, a few years ago, Horizon and Caeser s were in sorry shape, and Harvey s and Harrah s were decent but in need of some updating. We stayed at the Embassy Suites, and it was very nice - good breakfast, free cocktails in the evening, and no casino to walk through every time you leave the room. All of the above mentioned hotels are very close together, close to the shore, and walking distance from the new shopping and restaurants in South Lake Tahoe - and the gondola to Heavenly. Harrah s still has and always will have the best brunch buffet ever, and even if you stay at another hotel it is worth it to go there once.The vast majority of motels in South Lake Tahoe are places built for the Olympics in the 60s and clearly have not been updated much since then. The five hotels above are much better, unless you really are on a tight budget.For North Lake Tahoe, you are looking at vacation rentals (which are also in South Lake Tahoe and anywhere around in the mountains). They have a couple small hotels, but it s not quite like the south shore.Now, if you are asking about *ski* resorts, pretty much all of them in the Lake Tahoe area are very nice. You might get better answers if you ask in the skiing section under Sports.
I really liked caesars palace when we stayed. Really nice room and friendly staff, right on the strip.