...and what influences your review? For me, when we first pull in, I look at how the park is manicured. Right away, this can tell me how well they take care of everything else. Secondly, I look at the condition of the in-park/campground roads. Is the pavement cracking? Not enough gravel? Potholes? Rutted? Thirdly, I look at the size of the site. We look at the hookups. Are the electric boxes rusting? Is the faucet dripping? (I don't know why, but we seem to get placed on dripping faucet sites many times). How was the service checking in? What was the attitude like from the staff? All I need is a polite smile and thanks. Even though I rarely use them, we check out shower houses and bathrooms. If I arrive on a Thursday or Friday early afternoon, and the bath houses are dirty, it says a lot. Cobwebs in bath houses and bathrooms or mildew on the baseboard is a sign they're only being given minimal effort. Other things that get good reviews from me...good directions; easy access; clean and updated pool areas (I've seen lots of campgrounds let that go); partial shading (not a fan of open parking lot style campgrounds), decent lot size (sure, a park or campground might could split up a site and cram two where they have one, but if they want a good reputation and repeat customers, it's best to put the money into keeping up the grounds. By the way, if I have a nice size site, I can forgive a lot of the other things that maybe are lacking. What about you? What is important to you?
I believer this has been discussed in a few other posts over time but for what it's worth I'll stick in my two cents worth while I'm finishing my morning cup. What we basically look for in a campground first and foremost is that it "shows as it is shown" on the website. Going thru the front entrance will usually give us the first impression and we go from there. Bunny trail for a second, one time we were fortunate that we were able to check out a park we were thinking about staying for a few days at, and the pics showed nice wide spaces with plenty of room between them, etc. Turns out that when they took the pics they managed somehow to have the RVs with a vacant space between them that gave the impression the spaces were wide and open, etc. In reality the RVs were crammed in like a bunch of sardines. When we got home we read the reviews and they all stated that this place sucked big time and was nothing like it was advertised to be in their brochures, etc. Anyway, we look for easy to use and conveniently placed hookups, good water pressure, power pedestals that put out the power they are supposed to and not 5-10 amp less, clean facilities as that speaks volumes to us as to how clean the rest of the park is going to be or not be, knowledgeable and pleasant check in staff, spaces where we can receive satellite reception, a LEVEL pad whether it's concrete, asphalt or gravel/dirt. This is a big thing with us as there is no excuse for a badly out of level space in "any" RV park IMHO. A few wheel barrow loads of properly place gravel will solve the problem of a non level space and eliminate the problems of running your fridge if it isn't an upscale commercial model. We also like for a park to enforce whatever rules they have set down and enforce them for "everyone". Nothing like sitting out in the evening with a glass of wine enjoying the sunset or whatever you are enjoying, and having dogs and/or even people coming thru your space or intruding in some way on your privacy. We aren't loaners and we like to meet new folks and share stories and a glass of wine if appropriate but at the same time we don't appreciate unwanted guests using our space as a walk thru or to let their dog take care of business and then walk away without picking up after them. Once again, and as I've stated before, have the park be what it is advertised to be, that's basically all we ask. If that is done then it's up to us whether we choose to stay or move on, or reserve a space based on the website and reviews.............. Didn't mean go be so long winded here but I guess when I get on a roll, I roll a long ways before coming to a stop................ Happy camping everyone, BankShot............(aka Terry)
Could we call this the 90% rule? I agree, how often do we see as you described and along with that see dilapidated rv's with blue tarps everywhere and trashed bathrooms. Campgrounds/rv parks that don't enforce enforced their own policies and security. Speaking of Rv park rules & policies, 90% of the rules are common sense.IMO Mike
