RV Park reviews

nomad297 wrote:

johnnyrv wrote:
Check the good Sam rating

Now, that right there is funny. I think the Good Sam reviews are the worst gauge of how good a campground is.

Bruce

x2 :D

Without expanding on the technique of using said site, which I contribute heavily to, it is only 1 site of 5 I use. (The more data the more informed the decision.) TripAdvisor, Yelp, RV Parky (iPad app) & a very new site called Campendium all offer reviews. As a full timer exploring new areas, these sites are invaluable. You will find the demographics of the users of these sites differ greatly. For what it is worth, I stumbled upon an absolute gem of a park (we only want the very best) in a surprising location on a short dinghy drive about a year ago. It was not listed in rvparkreviews. Glowing reviews at 2 of the aforementioned. The park I am sitting in right now (a condo park with many sites available for rent) is not listed in any of the 5 review sites. Our current site may well be the nicest we have ever had. $30/night. SoCal desert near Cajon Pass.

donkeydew wrote:
i drove out to look at it a couple of years ago and yes it is in a field,
it looked like almost all were seasonal residents, mostly fishermen.
not a lot there but was very reasonable for the coast

Very nice of you to check it out for someone else!
For what it's worth, I did the same about a year ago for someone on this site. The place he was asking about did not come close to living up to its website. In the process of checking it out for him, I found a great place that we wound up using the next time we were in the area!

aerbus32 wrote:
Without expanding on the technique of using said site, which I contribute heavily to, it is only 1 site of 5 I use. (The more data the more informed the decision.) TripAdvisor, Yelp, RV Parky (iPad app) & a very new site called Campendium all offer reviews. As a full timer exploring new areas, these sites are invaluable. You will find the demographics of the users of these sites differ greatly. For what it is worth, I stumbled upon an absolute gem of a park (we only want the very best) in a surprising location on a short dinghy drive about a year ago. It was not listed in rvparkreviews. Glowing reviews at 2 of the aforementioned. The park I am sitting in right now (a condo park with many sites available for rent) is not listed in any of the 5 review sites. Our current site may well be the nicest we have ever had. $30/night. SoCal desert near Cajon Pass.

Great info. Like you, we've found some absolutely great campgrounds for a very reasonable price/night. Proof positive that more expensive doesn't always equal "better".

Bird Freak wrote:

nomad297 wrote:

johnnyrv wrote:
Check the good Sam rating

Now, that right there is funny. I think the Good Sam reviews are the worst gauge of how good a campground is.

Bruce

x2 :D

Yes, but we know who paid their franchise fees on time.

Again I have to thank you all. I'm so excited about our trip and mostly plan to stay at state parks but as we are going without reservations, we need plan B and that may mean private parks. I wish I could take you guys along and ask about each stop but so far we have over 50 places we want to stop at and spend some time.

My experience is that some CGs change ownership every few years, so a review a couple years old may not be valid. I look more into what they are complaining about. For instance, many campers rate CGs low if the bathrooms are not modern and clean. For me, I use my TT bathroom and really don't care about their bathrooms, UNLESS they are an indication that the rest of the CG is broken down and not maintained. Also, people complain that there wasn't much to do for the kids, which is not applicable to me any more. Also, if the pool isn't nice and clean, I don't care when I camp off season and it's closed anyway.

It seems there are a plethora of comments about owners or staff being rude. I generally find that staff are as pleasant to you as you are to them. As long as they aren't berating me or taking hours to check me in, I really ignore the rudeness comments.

The comments I concentrate on are:

Site size and levelness
Access and circulation roads (condition, width, tight curves, etc)
Price
Availability and dependability of utilities
Flooding problems

Roy&Lynne wrote:
...Its Sunset Landing in Lincoln City Ore...

I looked up the review, it is short. It mentions not finding anyone onsite, lots of long term stays and the transient sites looking unused. Almost sounds like they did't stay there as there is no mention of the condition of the hookups, facilities, size/level of sites or anything else about the park. It was April, I have no idea how much camping goes on in that part of Oregon in March, but in places with grass, it usually grows pretty quick in the Spring. The review was from 2013 and the last review of only 7 by that poster.

We encounter lots of campgrounds across the country with no one onsite most of the time. Pick a site, put the money/check in an envelope or wait for someone to come around and collect. We have also stayed at a number of parks with mostly long term or seasonal stays, especially in vacation/weekend areas which from the website this would appear to be. We have never felt unwelcome or had a bad experience. We stopped judging on that criteria years ago after pulling into a small campground of mostly long term residents on a cold, cloudy Halloween Eve. We decided to stay as there was no where else within 100 miles that we could find in any of our many directories and websites. Well, as we were settling in, the campground hostess came up and invited us to their Halloween get together. We had a great time. The kids and grandkids of the residents were in their costumes. There was great food and even better homemade desserts. We have made it a point to stop back whenever we are going through the area.

In addition to Google map satellite views and street views, I've used Bing map's aerial views to check things out since their photos are from airplanes and you can often get 4 different angles.

Just one more tool. We've done it in advance of mooch-docking at friends ranches and vacation properties.

Roy&Lynne wrote:
How much stock would you place on a review that is from 2013 and was rated a 1 - terrible. Its the only review. My other choice is about double the price but offers about the same amenities.

I would give it NO credence what so ever. Anytime I deal with those Mob Rating Sites whether it be RV Park Reviews or God forbid, Trip Advisor, I assume they are being gamed and I discount the extreme reviews good and bad.

I would just call them on the phone and talk to them about your needs and get a feel for the people at the place. Much quicker, simpler and better results I think.