Good Sam - what's in it for the campgrounds?

TinyoneRV wrote:

JAC1982 wrote:
Before the internet was a "thing", you had to rely on things like Good Sam or AAA to tell you which spots were the best rated. I'm in my mid-30s, and I remember my mom planning our trips using the AAA guidebook when I was a kid. Nowadays, you can go on various websites and read reviews from actual people who stayed there recently, to see if the spot is worth a stay. Once a book is published it can become immediately out of date. So I don't blame RV park owners for wanting to ditch it and just rely on internet advertising and word of mouth since that is more up to date and in many cases, free or low cost.

Reviews from real people are flawed by their impression of the campground; ie, it is subjective instead of objective. They can rate the entire campground as poor because one thing didn't meet their criteria. Also, as much as I hate to say it, people are paid for good and bad reviews. I have been in highly rated BS campgrounds that had a messy restroom at the end of a long weekend. Likewise, I've been in moderately rated campgrounds that I thought deserved a higher rating. Nonetheless, go through the rating sheets and you'll come out nearly the same as the book. Like most rating systems, it's not perfect but it's pretty good.

That's why you read the actual reviews, not just what they rated it. If they gave it 1 star but said it was because of something I don't care about (like I don't care if the bathrooms were dirty because we don't use them), then I don't really give that review much merit. But if the review mentions that there was a lot of road noise, or there were a lot of bugs during the time of year we want to go, then I give that review more weight. If a review is vague and just says "Awesome stay!" then I don't really count that either

This is a perfect example of a review I find helpful, even though they only rated this park 1 star. This is for the KOA in Laramie, WY "As a KOA RV park this is very disappointing. The slots are long enough but very narrow, couldn't extend my awning without hitting the coach next to me. The park is right on I-80, the traffice noise is horrendous all day & night. There is a nice grassy area for dogs and a small dog park. This is a good spot for an overnight but not for extended stay."

That review tells me that it's a perfectly fine place to park our camper to basically just sleep in when we go up for a football game.