Campground review ratings

Sarah - renting an rv beforehand would have been a wise way to go, but we didn't. My husband had never even driven one until we picked ours up. Fortuneately, it turned out well and we love it. We bought one of those Puzzle Savers, which is basically a big piece of felt attached to a cardboard tube. That way we can always have a jigsaw puzzle going but when tired of working on it, can roll it up and put it away until we are ready to tackle it again. That might be an idea for your children. If they are old enough, give them notebooks and ask them to take notes on places they gp and things they see. I have heard of people doing this and then the kids are able to use the info to write school papers. I'm not much help in this department as our kids are grown and so we have never traveled with children.

 

When our kids were younger, they always took their gameboys and walkmans (guess that would be today's iPod) for the drive. Once at our destination, those "toys" were put away and the bikes, basketballs, and footballs came out. That with the site seeing and the inevitable amusement parks kept us busy. My kids were and still are Roller Coaster fanatics. My kids also always loved an evening fire.

 

Sarah - our wonderful webmaster manually posts those reviews so it can sometimes take several days as we keep him quite busy. Your review will show up soon. You asked about easy meals - I have a crockkpot in the rv. It really is easy to just throw something in it in the morning before we head out for sightseeing. Then dinner is all ready when we get home in the evening. Pot roast is one of hubby's favorite, so the slow cooker insures that he can have it while we are rv'ing. Of course that won't work on days that you are on the road. Hamburgers, hot dogs, sloppy joes, taco's - things like that are usually our staples on days that we are traveling. They can be fixed rather quickly once we stop and get set-up.

 

Sarah asked about easy meals to make in the rv, and I know each and every woman here has faced that question. Okay, some of you guys too, but I said women because my husband can't even make a sandwich so I automatically thought of the ladies when cooking came to mind. Maybe we should start a different topic field for us to post our favorite recipes to make while "camping". Think I will start that and hopefully others will add to it.

 

mpj made some excellent points about the directories. When we were full-timing, we always went to the web sites of the parks we wanted to stay at. If the pictures didn't show what we wanted to see, we went back to the directories and found another one to look up. If the park did not have a website, we probably wouldn't stay there. As stated, the directories are just guidelines.

Ratings are not bought, either. We know when a representative is in the resort, and they do not get treated any different from anyone else. The ratings are given to us and discussed with us long before there is any conversation about advertising. Even if I didn't advertise, I still earned the 5 stars and 9.0/9.5/9.5.

 

hrrvr..........................are you ever going to open a can of worms....lol

 

QUOTE(hrrvr @ Aug 13 2005, 11:18 PM)
Ratings are not bought, either.  We know when a representative is in the resort, and they do not get treated any different from anyone else.  The ratings are given to us and discussed with us long before there is any conversation about advertising.  Even if I didn't advertise, I still earned the 5 stars and 9.0/9.5/9.5.
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I beg to differ...ratings can and are bought by campgrounds listed in Woodalls...not all, but more than one might think. As you said, even if you didn't advertise, you'd still earn your rating and I don't doubt you, but you're not exactly the type of campground Woodalls would make an adverstising buck from. They make their advertising buck from pitching "over-advertising" to campground owners who don't exactly have the nicest campgrounds and lure them into this by offering them in exchange for their advertising bucks, an inflated rating.

The #1 thing drilled into the minds of Woodalls' reps is to sell, sell, sell....advertising space.

Here's a web site you might find interesting:

http://www.woodalls.com/Rep/

 

hrrvr,
Where is your campground and can you give us a link to your website or at least the address?

 

Hrrvr:

you suggested that we go to a campground's website and look at it, and I believe you also said you probably would not stay at a campground that did not have a website.

We, too, always look for websites but, let me assure you, these can be as misleading as Trailer Life and Woodalls. We recently travelled to Polson, Montana, and planned to stay at the KOA in Polson. Their website, while never claiming that their sites were "waterfront" did emphasize "waterview" sites, and had photos showing happy campers overlooking the beautiful Flathead Lake. When we got to the campground, we were shocked. Every photo they showed was taken with a telephoto lens--they were on a hill and the actual lake was miles away from them. The lens made it look like the campground was overlooking the lake and, I must say, it was if you looked at the lake through a 500mm telephoto lense.

They should enter this campground's advertising in next year's Putlizer Prize fiction competiton. So beware of websites too! The safest method of picking a campground is ALWAYS this site.

 

Kimo....I knew what was in that can before I opened it, and I just didn't have the good sense to push it aside and leave it alone, did I?

Sure, I've been burned too by ratings when traveling. I've shaken my head at campground ratings more than once, just as I have at forum reviews. But that is why I used the directories as a guide and not a Bible. At least I had a general idea of what the facility offered before I booked.

The ratings are important to us, and the cost of the advertising is expensive, but necessary. If my ad can draw a camper to my web site, my best form of paid advertising (word of mouth is by far the very best form), I have a better chance of booking a reservation.

I feel comfortable that the investment in the facilty got the ratings, and not the investment in the ads. I hope that's it anyway, because the investment in the facility is a whole heck of a lot more than the investment in the ads!

Cheryl: www.hornrapidsrvresort.com

 

Hrrvr,
You have a very nice website. I really like your aerial view of the whole campground. If we're ever in your neck of the woods, we'll definitely consider your park.

 

Here's a perfect example of the review contradicting the rating.

QUOTE
This park had everything we needed for a fun, relaxing stay. There is even free coffee, cappucino, and hot chocolate in a nice lounge in the AM. Awesome laundry facilities, playground and bathrooms. It is extremely close to the west entrance of Yellowstone. We would return again in a heartbeat! We camped here in a Tent Trailer in July 2005.


This rater gave the campground a 3. If I didn't have the review to read, to me a 3 would mean avoid at all costs.

 

Gosh, I wonder what it would take to get an 8 or 10!

 

Perhaps maid service, personal chef, and a butler at every campsite?

 

Well hrrvr,

A "9-10" -- It would take for us--
Nice large sites
Shade trees with shrubs/grass between sites
Paved interior roads
Concrete or paved "level" sites
Free WiFi service (more and more important these days)
Cable TV
Full Hookups including 50 amp service with proper voltage (important)
Friendly/helpful help
Easy in/out access
Clean restrooms/showers
Nearby garbage disposal
Quiet and not "on" a major highway
One fee in the average range of $25/nite for everything with no add'l charges

Others may want --
Swimming pool
Kids playground
Store
Propane
Pet run

 

QUOTE(genestoy @ Aug 15 2005, 05:03 PM)
One fee in the average range of $25/nite for everything with no add'l charges



I was with ya until that line. They are out there but becoming more and more rare. When we find one we are very happy.

 

We haven't found one of those yet - usually pay around 35-40 per night, but would love to find a nice $25er.

 

Wow, what am I doing wrong? :huh: We're $27 before discounts for GS, AAA, AARP. With discount plus tax = $26.81. But we're also not a big destination area. I think that makes a difference in pricing. We try to catch the traffic heading west to the coast or east to Glacier and Yellowstone. Our prices are representative of all of SE Washington/NE Oregon, except for KOAs.

 

You're not doing anything wrong - wish more parks thought about the guests in a financial sense. Will definitely give your park a shot when we are up that way.

 

Cheryl,
Off the subject, but important. What kind of horse?
Dan