Review issues!

We have been traveling with a fifth-wheel for 21 years now. Almost every state in the US and a couple of times into Canada.

Sometimes I really disagree with a specific rating either on Good Sam or on RV Reviews, but I have found it very helpful to consult both. It helps me to eliminate some campgrounds and to select others. It is surely good to have these reviews--better than not having anything. I consider both to be valuable tools to be used with understanding of their limitations.

troubledwaters wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
GS rates to very specific criteria. Each of the 3 #s are specific to a 1 -1/2 or 0 point with each category possibly adding up to 10 in each. If you walked the camp like the acct. reps do each year with the criteria they use, your Rating would likely match theirs...

So a guy can walk around a campground for a couple of hours and tell you what your experience is going to be like if you camp there for 2 weeks. Fat Chance.

No, a guy walks around for a couple of hours and sees if the park has a pool, what the surface of the roads are composed of, if there is fencing around the property, if there is a sign at the entrance, how many toilets there are compared to the number of sites, whether or not there is an attendant in the office etc. etc. etc. Fat chance that even an idiot could mess that up. Good Sam publishes the checklist and ratings criteria. Maybe people should do a little research BEFORE they start belittling the ratings.
I am not a huge fan of the system myself, but it is accurate for what it measures, much of which really has little correlation to what people will experience.

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
GS rates to very specific criteria. Each of the 3 #s are specific to a 1 -1/2 or 0 point with each category possibly adding up to 10 in each. If you walked the camp like the acct. reps do each year with the criteria they use, your Rating would likely match theirs...

So a guy can walk around a campground for a couple of hours and tell you what your experience is going to be like if you camp there for 2 weeks. Fat Chance.

I use RVParkReviews and Google Earth to look at the park. I have found that some poor reviews as well as some great reviews are the result of the reviewers particular travel interests. Like traveling with a dog--dog runs are important. Bad dog run= Bad Review. We don't travel with a dog so I ignore those. Again experience is sometimes the best guide or return to parks you like!

If you're talking about the rating that Good Sam gives the parks, there is a special criteria for that and the 'inspectors' are assigned to visit the park and go over the criteria and rate it depending on their in-person inspection of the park. However, even though it's supposed to be a uniform way of rating the parks, it still depends on the one 'inspector's' viewpoint. It's certainly not accurate.

GS rates to very specific criteria. Each of the 3 #s are specific to a 1 -1/2 or 0 point with each category possibly adding up to 10 in each. If you walked the camp like the acct. reps do each year with the criteria they use, your Rating would likely match theirs.
they are ratings. are not influenced by advertising.
Reviews on the GS site about the camp are from campers with a valid GS membership # Where there is noticeable discrepancy between the 2 of similar date and criteria is a red flag.

I often use GS to find a CG in a certain area, then check it out on RVParkreviews.

I check various RV park review sites in order to get an idea of what a particular place is like. IMO, there are some 'fake reviews' out there. The more you look at, the truer picture that you can get.

On any review site, I always take into account the number of reviews. People tend to complain more often than praise, so a low number of complainers isn't necessarily indicative of a bad review. And certainly, a park with 2 reviews (1 good and 1 bad) is not a review at all. The good is the park owner, the bad is his/her nearest competitor.

We used RVParkReviews on our 6 month trip and found the reviews of the places we stayed were pretty accurate, except one spot. Of course, the places we didn't go because it got panned on the site we know nothing about.

I always start right here. Most of the folks on here really want to help. I do agree that what one thinks is great may not suit me, but overall I find this site the best.