QUOTE(sparky @ Jul 16 2007, 08:59 AM) [snapback]7689[/snapback] you'll love it in Lots of Virginia Campgrounds, they are charging "Hotel Tax" well im in my hotel---why am i being charged for a hotel---im not in their cabins--im in my Motorhome- definately a unfair tax.... sparky. Hotel tax? That's so not right. I'll have to pay more attention to that because I haven't noticed it before. A hotel tax for a motor home that we're already paying all the expenses for does not equate to a cabin that the campgrounds are paying the expenses for in any way.
Here in Penticton some of the RV parks charge for guests and some even do not allow guests! Most of the campgrounds are close to the beaches and I suppose the park owners do not want guests to have free parking and use of their facilities. I remember at one campground down in the States where I was given a card to fill out to find out how well they are serving their registered campers. I think all RV parks should do this and one of the questions that should be on the list is about guests and what payment if any registered campers are willing to pay for them.
I don't think its greedy. 2.00 is cheap. They would have to pay if they were visiting you at a state park b/c there is an entry fee at most places. I have only stayed at one campground where they charged guests a fee and it was 3.00 per car. Now if it was 3.00 per person, I'd have a problem with that.
QUOTE(sparky @ Jul 16 2007, 10:59 AM) [snapback]7689[/snapback] you'll love it in Lots of Virginia Campgrounds, they are charging "Hotel Tax" well im in my hotel---why am i being charged for a hotel---im not in their cabins--im in my Motorhome- definately a unfair tax.... sparky. Actually it's called a transient occupancy tax and the revenue it garners goes into promoting tourism...so it doesn't have to come out of the general government budget. You're not being charged for a hotel or a cabin and while you may be in your own motorhome, you are taking up space as a hotel or cabin would. Here's a link to the bill: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?051+ful+SB793
QUOTE(rangiebob @ Jun 15 2007, 03:35 PM) [snapback]7312[/snapback] We are currently at Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge, OH. We are having guests tomorrow that will be visiting us for about 2 hours. I spoke to the manager here and asked if the $2./car per day charge applies to guests who are only staying for a couple of hours and are not using any of the campgrounds facilities (bathrooms, pool, or lake). I was told that we still have to pay the $2.00 fee for each vehicle. I find this to be a very greedy policy. We are parked here for 4 days and have paid full price for this site (no discounts). I can see if our guests were going to use the campground's facilities, but they are not. We have been living full-time in our motor home for a little over one year and have parked in many campgrounds around the country and have never had any of them ask for money for our guests. Have any of you run into this type of greed before? We are currently staying at Heartland Rv Resort in Greenfield, IN and they charge $4 a guest here and they have to be gone by 10pm I dont think its right but they get away with it. and yes it sucks.
QUOTE(rangiebob @ Jun 15 2007, 04:35 PM) [snapback]7312[/snapback] We are currently at Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge, OH. We are having guests tomorrow that will be visiting us for about 2 hours. I spoke to the manager here and asked if the $2./car per day charge applies to guests who are only staying for a couple of hours and are not using any of the campgrounds facilities (bathrooms, pool, or lake). I was told that we still have to pay the $2.00 fee for each vehicle. I find this to be a very greedy policy. We are parked here for 4 days and have paid full price for this site (no discounts). I can see if our guests were going to use the campground's facilities, but they are not. We have been living full-time in our motor home for a little over one year and have parked in many campgrounds around the country and have never had any of them ask for money for our guests. Have any of you run into this type of greed before? Absolutely. We have also stayed where our guests have been allowed free access to our site as long as it is not overnight. I feel as you do that if the guests are not using any of the CG's facilities I don't understand the charge. We like to have company in for dinner. We eat inside the RV, use our own facilities, visit for several hours and then they're on their way. No intrusion on the campground. What gives?
The $2 fee is a bargain as this passed weekend we stayed in a CG in Conn. and they charge $15.00 per guest. Granted they have a great swimming lake and pools but $15 is wacked. :blink:
QUOTE(rangiebob @ Jun 15 2007, 12:35 PM) [snapback]7312[/snapback] We are currently at Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge, OH. We are having guests tomorrow that will be visiting us for about 2 hours. I spoke to the manager here and asked if the $2./car per day charge applies to guests who are only staying for a couple of hours and are not using any of the campgrounds facilities (bathrooms, pool, or lake). I was told that we still have to pay the $2.00 fee for each vehicle. I find this to be a very greedy policy. We are parked here for 4 days and have paid full price for this site (no discounts). I can see if our guests were going to use the campground's facilities, but they are not. We have been living full-time in our motor home for a little over one year and have parked in many campgrounds around the country and have never had any of them ask for money for our guests. Have any of you run into this type of greed before? Just about every park out our way charges for guests, many limit sites to 5 people and anyone over that pay a nightly or daily fee. I always pay with a smile becuase I once owned a seasonal business and I know how hard it can be, if one of your guests were injured while in the park, I am sure you would expect them to pay the medical bills. These places must have some pretty steep expences and only a short time to make the money to pay them, mortgages, payroll, repairs and INSURANCE!! I would never own another seasonal business again. If your friends were joining you at Disney, they'd have to pay to get in, if you were at the movies or a concert, they'd have to pay to get in. I think $2 is pretty cheap, we have seen it as high as $10
QUOTE(Beastdriver @ Jun 17 2007, 08:13 AM) [snapback]7339[/snapback] I try to avoid RV parks that tack on extra fees. The RV Park industry would be far better served, and make things a lot simpler for RVer's and themselves, if they followed the practice of the motel industry. Wilth only a few exceptions, the motel industry has flat rate pricing. When you check into a motel there is no extra charge for hot showers, no fees for cable television, no charges for wi-fi, and on and on. And, at most motels, if you have guests come and visit with you, but not stay the night, there are no fees involved. Given the fact that the spread between the cost of staying a night at a hotel and staying a night at some campgrounds is getting thinner and thinner, the industry would be well advised to go to flat rate pricing. But most hotels are getting over $100 per night, with no entertainment, not dj's on Saturday night, no kids crafts, no hay rides, no nothin', just a room. I think I would rather keep the cost down by havng them charge the people that are using each thing rather than one big lump sum for all. If it is just me and my hubby, why should we pay the same rate as my son, his wife and the four kids? He should pay a visitors fee for the extras., even a hotel room is based on single occupancy. I had a seasonal business once, we had a small ride that went around the property. In the beginning it was free, but people would ride it over and over and over, so we had to start charging to limit the number of times one kid would ride, it gave other people the opportunity to ride and kept the lines from being too too long. I think that is why some places charge for showers, too. I could stay in a nice hot shower for a long time, and I am sure you would hate waiting for me to free up that shower for you to use, if there was any hot water left when I was done!! I just think that most of these places have a reason for the way they do things, just because we are not privvy to them doesn't mean they aren't valid reasons.
[SIZE=12pt]Thousand Trails takes a "deposit" from guests of $5 per car. When our children visit, they bring 4-5 grandchildren, if they stay less than 3 hours, there is no charge. If longer, its $5 We have no problem with that, they use all the facilities, and have loads of fun, most of the time for an entire day... Even if guests stay only an hour, the management has no way of knowing if your guests use any of the facilities. Many would say NO, but they don't even know if that will or will not happen, as we can't control others, they could even stop at the pool in the way to our site, etc... They can stop and use restrooms, play games, or whatever... Allowing 3 hours without charge in our opinion is very reasonable. $5 for an entire day in Thousand Trails, in our opinion is MUCH BETTER than a days stay in National or State Parks, with a lot more amenities.... Yet, such Parks charge for the entrance to the park, for ALL visitors, even those just visiting a campground, still have to pay for park admittance.[/SIZE]
QUOTE(John Blue @ Jun 15 2007, 10:40 PM) [snapback]7320[/snapback] Candy Hill Campground in Winchester, Va and I hate it. They will run you down to get the $2.00. Nice campground, poor staff. I keep seeing the same complaints over and over about Candy Hill in Winchester, VA. We are going to be staying there enroute to Ohio this month and already I'm concerned about the "military style" these park owners seem to display. So many of the reviews on this site keep repeating the same negative comments. What's up Candy Hill? I understand "some" people have a problem with rules but must everyone pay the price?
I like the idea of the campground charging for guests. Reason being, we were at one campground, the person next to us had three or four cars around it, (thereby those that were staying had to park further away), extremely rambucous kids, with loud dogs. That campground did not charge for guests. Going to another campground, Candy Hill, in Winchester, VA where they charge for guests, so hopefully will not have that problem. The way I see it, you go to a national, state, or regional park and they charge you to go in, so why not a private campground as well? You know someone will be using the bathroom, the pool, the gameroom or even walking their dog. Makes sense to me.
I just stayed at the same campground. They were hosting some sort of midevel renisance festival (sorry, I cannot find the spell checker). After the battle, the lines formed up for the showers. They left the place a real mess. I wonder if they had to pay $2.00 per shower? I too avoid the extra charge for everything parks. I do not understand why they charge extra for your kids, extra for your pets, then they have permament residents making some sites real dumps. When we overnight, I will try to find a campground instead of parking in the WalMart lot. The park gets my money, then they add $2/kid and $2/dog, I would stay in the Walmart lot just to "vote with my wheels".
I think it is rediculous. I don't patron parks that practice greedy policies such as this. If I see rules and regulations that charge extra for more than two people (who ever camps with just two people?) then I don't go there.
We are from NJ and camp alot in Pa also, it is normal practice in these campgrounds to charge for day visitors, it is usually around $5.00 a person Now when we go south for the winter, there isn't a charge a any of the campgrounds we go to. I personally don't like it as we are usually paying $40.00 a night.
QUOTE who ever camps with just two people? Us! But I do agree that it is ridiculous for parks to charge for every little thing. I certainly think there shouldn't be extra fees for children or pets (within reason) if they are members of one immediate family. But I can understand why some cg owners charge for extra people. There are jerks that would pay the going fee and then call all their relatives and friends to join them. In this case it is not fair to the cg owner to have all these extra people using the facilities--pool, game room, showers. I'll bet owners who do charge this way are protecting themselves because they have been burned in the past. Also look at it from our side. If we pay a fee for a site that would allow us to have 3-4 children with us, wouldn't it be nice if we could pay $6-8 less because there are only two of us. Why should we pay for extra people? If you look at it this way the family of four gets a real bargain, and the two old folks get scr..... ahem, less of a bargain. Now in all honesty we don't approach cg fees from this point of view. We actually prefer a set price that includes all the amenities, and we will pay that fee even if there is only two of us.
Hey, good idea. ANd how come I have to pay the TWO people rate when I only have one person and a cat? JJ
QUOTE(DXSMac @ Jul 9 2008, 09:46 PM) [snapback]12212[/snapback] Hey, good idea. ANd how come I have to pay the TWO people rate when I only have one person and a cat? JJ If I remember correctly your cat is the size of a small person!! And you consider him a member of your family, so maybe they should charge for him. (just kidding )
Hi Yall... New to the board, and this may have been addressed in the past, but I can see both sides of this argument. We travel and camp with our yellow lab. We usually wind up having to pay $2.00 extra a night for her. Thats fine I guess, it is not like she uses any of the facilities like the pool or bathhouse etc... but I just figure that into the cost of camping. What I have noticed here lately is that some campgrounds are now saying "rate based on two persons, any person(s) over the total of 2 will be charged (X.XX) per night". OK. I can stomach the dog fees, but I feel that if you are traveling as a family, MOM-DAD-SON-DAUGHTER, why do I have to pay extra for the kids, we should be considered a unit. And yes, before you say it, I vote with my wheels and don't camp at such chintzy outfits, just saying it does not seem right. As to the issue of guests...I can see their point....If they had a policy that guests for just a couple of hours wont be charged, then nobody would ever be staying for more than an hour or two. I used to work partime at a Class "A" ballpark in my town. People was always try to beg us at the gate to "go to the bathroom and come rightback out" or "Can I just get in long enough to buy (Pretzel, Polish Sausage, etc) from a concession stand and come right back....they never came back and you layed low to avoid you. Now they have just enjoyed the same experience as those that had to pay but cheated the ownership our of a ticket, so I can see the fee for guests side of it.
There is a very nice campground in Powhatan,Va the Good Sam group I belong to.we used to go there twice a year---16-17 rigs and for three nights each time---well the "greedy" son decided to tack on $5.oo per visitor per day---since we had 2 more couples that lived a couple miles away they wanted to just come in for the groups meeting saturday night---no useage of pool are anything---we stopped going there---he lost big bucks---I asked him"son" how he justified the $5.oo fee per person---he said---i do fine with out you all---so we will never go near his place i we all tell others not to too.the Good Sam state Director used to have meetings there twice a year too--25 or more rigs---well that doesn't happen any more either so DO NOT go there-- sparky.
