Gold Dust West isn't a bad house. The SP tournament has been there for the past 7 years, and they keep that place well kept.
Gardnerville is down by Minden-Tahoe, so it shouldn't be that bad. In my time driving up for the SP tournament (coming from Sacramento, taking US 50 all the way), coming up from 395 shouldn't be that bad. 4-lane all the way, and with them building the US-50 bypass onto I-580, you won't have to drive through Carson City and its 35MPH speed limit to get to Williams street to cut over. That should make it a fairly easy drive for you.
Otherwise, you'd have to head further north to Reno/Sparks, as others have mentioned. But Gold Dust West is a nice house.
BL.