Harvest Host

I wouldn't call Harvest Host Camping, its about having a safe interesting place to stay overnight while on the road. I really like it as we had stayed at many varied places from wineries and farms to Museums. All of the hosts we have encountered have been wonderful and we enjoyed the great wine and saw some museums we probably otherwise had not known about. Id rather go a few miles out the way then spend a night in a parking lot somewhere or spend campground fees just for a place to sleep for the night.

agesilaus wrote:
From their FAQ:
"How much should I spend at a Host location?
Please support your Host to show your appreciation for their hospitality. When considering how much to spend at a Host, please consider the amount of money you saved in campground fees. We suggest spending a minimum of $20 in support of your Host."

Interesting. I hadn't read their FAQ page in a long time.

HH also recommends that you offer any host that provides electric, water etc something for the utilities. Not all will accept of course and this is 100% understandable as they should not pay for electricity for everyone that comes, but if I'm going to spend something towards electric/water/sewer or dump (some have metered water) and also spend on their business venue, I might as well pay to stay at a campground with FHU.

We don't see HH as a money saving plan. We usually spend more than we would have at a campground but have had great experiences that don't happen in a campground. AND we go away with a couple of bottles of nice wines that we would not have found any where else.

From their FAQ:
"How much should I spend at a Host location?
Please support your Host to show your appreciation for their hospitality. When considering how much to spend at a Host, please consider the amount of money you saved in campground fees. We suggest spending a minimum of $20 in support of your Host."

So it's 20 not the 30 I thought I saw

However since this is dry camping, my normal expenditure for a Boondocking site is $0 so I guess that's what I should 'contribute'.

But it all comes down to your camping style, we would never visit a winery or golf course so this would never make sense for us. If you like those sort of places that it might make some sense but still $80 is rather stiff.

We have stayed at a few different locations and I keep paying for it each year, but we rarely get our money's worth out of the membership. It's our style of travel, it's not a limitation of the program - we rarely do overnight stays and, when we do, we are arriving very late (10:30pm is "early" for us). One of the "rules" of HH is that you arrive during business hours.

I don't mind the small purchase and stressed about what was appropriate. I've never read a suggested amount on the HH site or emails (and if anyone has a link- I'd love to see it).

The Golf clubs, be careful with - some of the parking lots seem to be pretty cozy.

Here's a full review:
https://learntorv.com/overnight-at-wineries-farms-and-other-places-with-harvest-hosts/

New owners bumped up the price. It was $49 a year when I joined.

This is a great "club". Most hosts will take you in with short (1 or 2 day) notice. In fact, the couple of times I called more than a few days in advance, I was asked to just call when I'm on the way. We've stayed at farms, vineyards, alpaca farms and berry orchards. Never a bad experience. Although HH says 1 night only, most hosts are happy to have you stay as long as you would like (within reason of course).

They have added golf courses to the list of places you can stay. Some require you play a round, others not. On that note, it is customary to make a purchase from the host as a kind of good will gesture. This can far exceed the cost of an overnight stay at a campground if, for instance, you're a wine drinker. :) However, HH does not specify the amount you're expected to spend. We spent as little as $5 at a farm's bakery and $95 at a vineyard on Cape May. The Sunday brunch at the berry orchard near Hartford CT was well worth the $30 we spent. I can still smell the Belgian waffles.

The alpaca farms off I-95 in Maine.


The berry farm near Hartford CT


Cape May vineyard

I belonged back when it was $40 yearly. My problem was they asked to give the hosts at least a 24 hour notice, and buy something then for $20. While some of the sites seemed outstanding, they were all without hookups and dump stations. With Passport America, I can get a partial hook up with dump station for the same $20 without planning my route 24 hours in advance.

Pawz4me wrote:
Yes, we've used HH sites a few times. We only joined a few months ago, so haven't had time yet to use them a lot. Our experiences so far have been very enjoyable--we've done a winery, a farm and a wildlife rescue. We didn't travel more than a few miles off of our planned route for any of them. It's true that you're expected to patronize the business, but the amount we've heard suggested is $20.

The $30 figure was off the HH site but maybe they changed it.

Some of the most enjoyable memories I have had camping came as being a member of Harvest Hosts.
All that was suggested to me was to do the wine tasting sample which usually runs anywhere from $3 to $5.
That being said I usually buy 2 or more bottles of wine per visit.
I've stayed as little as 1 night but have stayed 3 nights and it was made known to me that I could stay more if I wished.