QUOTE(mollie @ Jul 13 2007, 01:12 PM) [snapback]7676[/snapback] QUOTE(Cheryl @ Sep 30 2004, 06:41 AM) [snapback]1368[/snapback] We have stayed at some very nice KOAs and some very bad ones. I think this website is the best to use to locate a good campground. Just click on the map of the state that you want to visit (on the front page - http://campgroundreviews.com/ ) and you will be able to view honest opinions on a lot of different campgrounds, opinions posted by "regular" people just like yourself. Now you do know that most of these parks are owned by just nomal people trying to make a living. And go by other parks around them to decide their rates. KOA it's self does not give them money to do upgrades or anything. And of course, some of the owners should not be doing this anymore. It really is a FULL TIME job. I meant "regular people" as opposed to the directories that take advertising dollars from campgrounds and then rate them. I have nothing against campground owners.
When I am travelling and stopping overnight, I usually use KOA's unless I know the area and its campgrounds. Reason is that KOA's are always clearly signed, from the Interstate clear to the campground entrance. When I am tired after a day's drive, I do NOT want to wander all over town looking for my campground. Been there done that a lot, and I really appreciate just following all those wonderful KOA signs. I have stayed at one KOA that was pretty awful but I notice that campground is no longer affiliated with KOA. Mostly, they are decent middle-of-the-road places that you can trust will be clean and safe, and are EASY TO FIND. Plus, they have after-hours checkin if you arrive late, as I too frequently do.
My wife prefers a KOA, I on the other hand perfer to STAY AWAY from the KOA. KOA = Keeps On Adding $$$$ - EVERYTHING seems to be an additional fee, on top of an already inflated fee. I understand why, the KOA franchise fee must be HUGE. I have had two bad experiances, both have been in a KOA, I see that neither are still KOA's today.
We just finished a 2 1/2 week trip through the Dakotas and Montana. We stayed at one KOA this time and that is the last one. I will say some are good, but usually expensive. The one we stayed at would get a 2 out of 10. Before we left I did some searching on the net and managed to find some great parks. One of th ebest was a state park in North Dakota. KOA is always near the highway.
We have not stayed at many KOA's in the past. We did stay at 3 this year on our month trip out west. I had no complaints since they were what we needed. All three were one night stays, not destinations.All three were decent campgrounds near the interstate with a fuel stop nearby. At 2 of them the owners lived on site and were extremely nice and helpful. I know I am going to pay more for the KOA, but remember, you are usually paying for convienence and location. Sometimes you have to consider if the savings you are going to get by going out of your way to a nicer campground is worth the time it takes to get there.
I had my 2nd worst camping experience at a KOA. If they would have at least addressed my concerns I would have been satisfied. KOA corporate office made excuses, the campground owner could care less about his campers safety or campground cleanliness. To me, KOA is all about drunks partying into the wee hours and filthy restrooms. Not family friendly at all! I no longer stay at KOA's .
QUOTE(gilda @ Aug 25 2007, 10:17 PM) [snapback]8172[/snapback] QUOTE(katt @ Aug 25 2007, 08:09 PM) [snapback]8168[/snapback] I had my 2nd worst camping experience at a KOA. If they would have at least addressed my concerns I would have been satisfied. KOA corporate office made excuses, the campground owner could care less about his campers safety or campground cleanliness. To me, KOA is all about drunks partying into the wee hours and filthy restrooms. Not family friendly at all! I no longer stay at KOA's . Thats really too bad that you feel that way. Over 500 KOA's and you let one change your opinion of all. You obviously had a bad experience. You should let us all know the name of the park. KOA's are known for cleanliness. (especially the bathrooms). Couldn't agree more. We just stayed a week at the KOA in Moab, Utah which couldn't have been quieter or had people any nicer running the camp. Don't paint with such a broad brush.
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Sep 7 2007, 05:16 PM) [snapback]8261[/snapback] QUOTE(gilda @ Aug 25 2007, 10:17 PM) [snapback]8172[/snapback] QUOTE(katt @ Aug 25 2007, 08:09 PM) [snapback]8168[/snapback] I had my 2nd worst camping experience at a KOA. If they would have at least addressed my concerns I would have been satisfied. KOA corporate office made excuses, the campground owner could care less about his campers safety or campground cleanliness. To me, KOA is all about drunks partying into the wee hours and filthy restrooms. Not family friendly at all! I no longer stay at KOA's . Thats really too bad that you feel that way. Over 500 KOA's and you let one change your opinion of all. You obviously had a bad experience. You should let us all know the name of the park. KOA's are known for cleanliness. (especially the bathrooms). https://www.campgroundreviews.com/invboard/styl...images/bold.gif Couldn't agree more. We just stayed a week at the KOA in Moab, Utah which couldn't have been quieter or had people any nicer running the camp. Don't paint with such a broad brush. I'm afraid that in this case they are allowed to paint with the broad brush - they tried to get satisfaction out of corporate office (which represents all KOA's) - the brush is in corporate's hands at this point.
To me, KOA is all about drunks partying into the wee hours and filthy restrooms. Not family friendly at all! I no longer stay at KOA's . My point was obviously lost. If you "no longer stay at KOA's" because your "2nd worst experience" was at a KOA. Fine. God Bless America. Stay somewhere else. But this quote still stands: Thats really too bad that you feel that way. Over 500 KOA's and you let one change your opinion of all. You obviously had a bad experience. My worst camping experience was at a private campground. So by that logic, all independent campgrounds must be the same way. That's what I meant about "painting with a broad brush". My guess is that this person had a really bad experience with drunks partying into the wee hours. Well, I've stayed in some really nice hotels that have booked weddings and proms during my stay and have seen my share of hotel guests vomiting in the hallways at 5-star resorts. That doesn't mean that every Marriott, Hilton or Ritz Carlton is like that. Personally, I've never had that experience at a KOA but I'm not going to be ignorant enough to believe that it can't happen there. As far as the corporate aspect of it. Again, if you didn't like the answers they gave you. Via con dios. Call them out on it. Give them a bad review. Never stay with them again. That's your right. But consider this. At least you had another option to vent your displeasure. What happens when you stay at "Joe's RV Park" and have a bad experience?
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Sep 10 2007, 03:18 PM) [snapback]8283[/snapback] As far as the corporate aspect of it. Again, if you didn't like the answers they gave you. Via con dios. Call them out on it. Give them a bad review. Never stay with them again. That's your right. But consider this. At least you had another option to vent your displeasure. What happens when you stay at "Joe's RV Park" and have a bad experience? Yes, they had another option - and that option failed, so their opinions are warranted. If Joe owned two parks (Joe's RV Park North and Joe's RV Park South), and Joe flubbed your visit to his South park, then you would not want to venture into the North Park. Yes, there are plenty of fine KOA's - but if you have a franchise through them, then you are going to be represented by the corporate office. Maybe some KOA owners will see this thread and demand that the act gets cleaned up.
Just some interesting figures to add to this discussion: If you average all the numbered ratings for KOAs reviewed on this website the result is about a 6. There are a fair share of 10s and 1s. The 6 tells me that the overall company wide standard is low. The other two numbers pretty much indicate a love/hate relationship among reviewers...kinda like the thread on this subject. KOAs currently for sale start at a half million bucks and go up. It takes alot of $40 nights to pay for that. A few common review comments are: "Close to the highway so there was alot of road noise." "Good place for an overnighter." Humm? That can be had at Wal-Mart or a truck stop for nothing. Guess some folks like to pay alot to camp in the middle of the interstate median.
Again, I think my point is lost. The "broad brush" comment was strictly to support your right to research and find the best campground for you and not eliminate a choice strictly because it was or wasn't a KOA. This is where I was just last week: http://moabkoa.com/ (not a commercial or an endorsement) If you don't want to stay there because it's a KOA, fine. There are plenty of others in the town of Moab. Apart from one or maybe two others that I saw with my own two eyes, the rest were D-A-W-G, dogs! Are there crappy KOA's that are located in highway medians? I'm sure there are. But KOA's don't have a monopoly on that market. Just like there are McDonald's in certain areas that you couldn't pay me to go into. But there's a nice McD's right down the street from my house that I'll go to if the mood hits me. I don't eat there every day. But I'm not going to avoid it because I saw a roach in the one I ate in in Des Moines.
I am a newbie here. After reading many of the posts regarding KOA's, I am curious where those of you who do not prefer KOA's choose to stay?? And also what are the prices for the sites you choose?? We have used KOA's as a 1st choice and only found 1 or 2 not being up to an acceptable level. I find the majority of them to be clean, the sites level, the grounds well kept. We have been rv'ing for approximately three years and have travelled across the country twice.
Hi Patster, I find KOA campgrounds to be on the expensive side, even after using their "discount" card. I prefer to find very inexpensive campgrounds as most of my stays are just "over night". Have a look at http://freecampgrounds.com/ for the type of facility I want. I also find the Koa's don't allow much room between sites. QUOTE(Patster1234 @ Sep 27 2007, 06:15 PM) [snapback]8485[/snapback] I am a newbie here. After reading many of the posts regarding KOA's, I am curious where those of you who do not prefer KOA's choose to stay?? And also what are the prices for the sites you choose?? We have used KOA's as a 1st choice and only found 1 or 2 not being up to an acceptable level. I find the majority of them to be clean, the sites level, the grounds well kept. We have been rv'ing for approximately three years and have travelled across the country twice.
QUOTE(easyrider65_01 @ Sep 30 2004, 01:22 AM) [snapback]1367[/snapback] I am relatively new to owning an RV and I was wondering if KOAs as a whole are nice or if it better to stay non-franchise cg s. I f have stayed a few KOAs and I get the feeling that KOA does not monitor the cgs that are not in the more tourist areas. I plan on doing a lot of traveling and KOA has a great website to locate a cg. I hope that my poor experiences have been the exception rather than the norm. So, as a whole are KOAs to be avoided :angry: or enjoyed ? KOA????????????????????????????? h34r: h34r: Acronym Meaning Rank KOA kampers of america ***** KoA Knights of Avalon **** KOA kashmiri overseas association **** KOA Knights of Adun **** KoA Knights of Aden **** KOA Knee Osteoarthritis *** KoA Knights of Armageddon *** KOA Kashmir Overseas Association *** KOA Kiosks Org Association *** KOA Knights of Apocalypse *** KOA Knights of Antiquity *** KOA Kissimmee Orlando *** KOA Kansas Outfitters Association *** KOA Kaltenbach Open Air *** KOA Katz Okitsu Associates *** KOA Knights of the Alliance *** KOA Kalifornia Outrigger Association *** KOA Kampgrounds Are *** KOA King of Assassins *** KOA Kopen Op Afstand *** KOA Keck Observatory Archive ** KOA Krech Ojard Associates ** KoA Knights of the Apocalypse ** KOA Knives of Alaska ** KoA Knights of Apocolypse ** KOA Korean Orthopaedic ** KOA Kentucky Optometric Association ** KoA Knights of Apocalipse ** KOA Knights of Arcea ** KOA Kapolei Outstanding Achievement ** KOA Kemps of America ** KoA Knight of Azeroth * KoA Kingdom of Alrond * KOA Kampground Owners Associatio * KOA Kanawha Old Abe * KOA Kommunal Og Arbeidsdepartemente * [attachmentid=64]
