America's first automated RV park

Interesting idea--but on the pricey side.

Thanks for posting it.

I stayed in a park in Oregon 8 years ago where you paid for your spot at a kiosk and just placed the ticket so it was visible in your windshield. When I pulled in I had no clue what to do and I went into a store/bait shop to ask and they told me what to do. It was actually a pretty neat setup.

Do the campgrounds that you put your money in an envelope and put it through the slot in the door count as "automated" too?

Ken,
It is my understanding that you register online and then answer a email to turn on electricity and water and gain use of sewer. After your term expires water and electricity are cut off remotely.

If you think that compares to an envelope in a slot then to each his own.

So instead of having staff at the park watching you, they have everyone who has made a reservation watching you via cameras...

I've stayed at that park. It was a bit pricey for what it is, but it was very convenient. Water and electric worked fine. There were large boulders at the front of the sites, and you really have to watch your exit turn out of your space. Someone that had been in the site next to mine didn't, and drug the boulder a few feet, plus lost some of the fender area from their 5th wheel.

bgum wrote:
Ken,
It is my understanding that you register online and then answer a email to turn on electricity and water and gain use of sewer. After your term expires water and electricity are cut off remotely.

If you think that compares to an envelope in a slot then to each his own.

Just an observation is all....seems to me to be needlessly "automated" when other ways already exist. All this online bill pay and no contact shopping and high tech mumbo jumbo is just another way to collect personal information. I dislike it but am forced to participate in it. Just like the self checkout at the store, I don't like it but I have used it. Same with bill pay, I don't like it but yes, it is convenient. All this no contact stuff isn't good for manners in society. A pleasant greeting and a smile go a long way. A please and a thank you go a long way. It' is the world we live in today so we must accept it and participate in some of it. I doubt that is some place I would stay though because they can't take our ability to choose away.

If this the one on I44 we stayed there in 2020 while pandemic panic gripped the nation. Since we had been traveling every where west of the Mississippi and the Southern tier of states we had become quite use to not seeing a person at campgrounds. Everything was done by phone. As for the self service RV Park it was well lite easy to navigate with our DRW and 37ft 5er. Would I Stay there again, sure if it fell into our travel plan.

Instead of human park personnel at minimum wage you an get expensive and stress free online experience?

ken56 wrote:

bgum wrote:
Ken,
It is my understanding that you register online and then answer a email to turn on electricity and water and gain use of sewer. After your term expires water and electricity are cut off remotely.

If you think that compares to an envelope in a slot then to each his own.

Just an observation is all....seems to me to be needlessly "automated" when other ways already exist. All this online bill pay and no contact shopping and high tech mumbo jumbo is just another way to collect personal information. I dislike it but am forced to participate in it. Just like the self checkout at the store, I don't like it but I have used it. Same with bill pay, I don't like it but yes, it is convenient. All this no contact stuff isn't good for manners in society. A pleasant greeting and a smile go a long way. A please and a thank you go a long way. It' is the world we live in today so we must accept it and participate in some of it. I doubt that is some place I would stay though because they can't take our ability to choose away.

It's automated to save costs on labor. Labor is the biggest expense to most businesses.

I am not sure there is a net benefit to ownership. They still need employees to clean sites and restrooms, mow grass, do repairs etc. They would also need someone on call to handle emergencies and other issues that are time sensitive. Plus, without on site employees there is no security. They are exchanging the cost of a couple of employees for the added costs of all the automation and foregoing additional revenue streams such as cash customers and camp store sales.
There is always people looking for passive income opportunities and I suppose this concept might have traction if sold to investors that way. But anyone who has fallen for that pitch and bought laundromats, car washes and vending machines with ll tell you the truth is these fully automated businesses are anything but labor free.