Walmart, Camping World Etc Reviews

I use RV Park Reviews, along with Allstay campground search app, daily when I am on the road. We often choose inexpensive or free overnight locations when we are on the road. This site is all about information. The more information it can provide, the better off we all are. Walmarts, Casino's, and other locations that provide free or cheap parking, should absolutely be included.

What I would like to see is a rating system that considers the type of facility. If I stay at a cheap site for an overnight, but it is a great deal, easy in-out, friendly staff, etc, Do I give it a 5 because it doesn't have amenities when it was a 10 for my purpose?

Things I like to know are - ease of access, are sites level, are sites too close to each other, is the staff friendly, is there good WiFi or wireless signal, etc.

So, I might rate a cheap site fairly high, because it has lots of the things I want, over an RV park that offers pool and playground, but has an unfriendly staff and units are stacked on top of each other. I would love to see RV parks separated by type of service, such as dry camping only, limited services, and full service parks. The rating system should be reduced to 1-5, with 3 being average, 1 terrible, and 5 exceptional.

But, as for this topic, list as many as possible and let each of us choose which ones we like.

 

QUOTE(CharlieS @ Sep 8 2014, 04:52 AM) [snapback]38233[/snapback]


What I would like to see is a rating system that considers the type of facility. If I stay at a cheap site for an overnight, but it is a great deal, easy in-out, friendly staff, etc, Do I give it a 5 because it doesn't have amenities when it was a 10 for my purpose?




I can tell you from experience that the majority of reviewers score a park relative to what they want it to be. So a primitive campground on NFS or BLM land can get an 8 or 9 if the scenery is attractive and the place is clean even though it has pit toilets and not much else. Places that call themselves resorts often get scored low because the wifi was slow or some other "important" amenity was missing. As a result scores across "categories" of park are not comparable.

 

QUOTE(docj @ Sep 8 2014, 06:55 AM) [snapback]38234[/snapback]

I can tell you from experience that the majority of reviewers score a park relative to what they want it to be. So a primitive campground on NFS or BLM land can get an 8 or 9 if the scenery is attractive and the place is clean even though it has pit toilets and not much else.



This is true for me. I selected a CG based on what I need at the time. It could be a resort full of amenities or a place where I can commune with the squirrels. The rating is based on getting what was advertised. This is an example of where a reviewer's comment that points out the selective reason for a rating would be helpful.

 

Great ideas. This brings to mind a feature that Trip Advisor has that might do well here (if modified to our needs). They ask if the hotel is great for couples, families, etc. We might be able to use the same logic to ask our reviewers if the campground is great for (list goes here). We would need to hash out the details of what kind of check boxes to offer. For example, we might want to have check boxes for:
- quick overnight stops
- visiting a casino
- connecting with nature

Maybe you all can come up with some ideas on types of items that MIGHT be helpful when you are searching (real examples)?

I also agree about the Free Campgrounds idea and we should be able to build in search features to allow users to search based on price like free, $10/night or less, $50/night or more. If we design it right it should be flexible enough to find any combination.

Charlie, the new system has campsite based fields where we ask about spacing of the lots. We also ask about the sites if they are sunny, shaded, what their composition is (gravel, concrete, etc) and some features.

When it comes to wifi, we will be capturing if it's available and if there is a cost. We also have plans for some really neat connectivity data that we plan to roll out within the next year.

Keep the ideas coming!