Changing my mind...

[punomatic]

...about KOA. I have not had good experiences with KOA. They are mediocre parks, in my experience, with incredibly high prices and unsympathetic staff. Well, we are camped at Benbow KOA in Garberville, CA. The park is old and in need of upgrading. KOA apparently bought an older park and is in the process of upgrading it.

So, we have been pleasantly surprised by the friendly, helpful staff, and the fact that, instead of charging us the advertised $57 a night, we were charged $35 minus a 10% discount because I am a veteran! 🙂 Not only that, but the cable service is good, and I can watch my Oregon Ducks as they lead the TCU Horned Frogs 31-0 at halftime in the Alamo Bowl. Way to go KOA. We will stay here again.

BTW, the park has a little golf course and a pool, for those of you who like that sort of thing. The setting is beautiful, in the California coastal mountains. So, I am warming to KOA...at least to this one. Thanks Benbow KOA.

[lap527]

NoVa RT wrote:

.…but the cable service is good, and I can watch my Oregon Ducks as they lead the TCU Horned Frogs 31-0 at halftime in the Alamo Bowl.

Now tied, 31-31, heading to overtime. I'd blame KOA. 🙂

Wow...what a game!

[dvitale300]

I prefer to stay at the privately owned parks - those that have at least 40% or so of the occupants full time. I call ahead - if I get a friendly helpful voice - I'm in. There's nothing better that reading reviews and talking with the front office folks to get a good feeling as to where you'll be staying.

[NoVa_RT]

.…but the cable service is good, and I can watch my Oregon Ducks as they lead the TCU Horned Frogs 31-0 at halftime in the Alamo Bowl.

Now tied, 31-31, heading to overtime. I'd blame KOA. 🙂

[colliehauler]

I have been to some that were nice and some that weren't. One KOA I stopped for a overnight and it was so pleasant I stayed an extra day. Another KOA I stopped at they put me in a site that was very unlevel and dirt. The maintenance man blew dirt from a leaf blower all over my truck. It rained hard overnite and washed the truck off but in order to get from the camper to the truck had to walk in about 4" of mud that washed down from the hill and carry the Collies to the truck. I then had to hitch up walking through the same slop, not a happy camper. Staff was indifferent as well. So my take is some are nice some are not. Another KOA I stopped at tired from a long drive was filled up and they put me in the overflow. The campground was kind of tight but the overflow (with hookups) was nice and open and quite. I ended up staying several days. Staff and owner were nice as well.

[BB_TX]

KOA is no different than individually owned private RV parks. Some are better than others. Some are very good. We have stayed in many of them and, so far, have not encountered a "bad" one. They are typically a few dollars higher than nearby RV parks of equal quality due to having to pay for the name.

And as far as the often quoted "keep on adding", I have never paid more than the price quoted on their web site. Some do have amenities they charge extra for, but we have never used those. All so far have had free wifi, although as with most RV parks of any name it is not always good.

[korbe]

We have stayed there before it was a KOA. It was pricey just to see family and play some golf. We will watch and see what happens.

[agesilaus]

Actually I think KOA is more of a franchise operation. They lease their KOA name and enforce the KOA culture on independent operators. I get the impression that there are roving inspectors that grade the parks on how well they comply with that corporate culture. Failure results in the parks being given the boot.

I was moderately a fan of KOA, not a cheerleader. We would stay at them several times a summer camping season. At least you know that you are getting certain amenities at a KOA. But their huge price increase last year made me write them off our list except as a last resort. At Devils Tower for example ($85/night after the KOA discount).

People griped at me that the parks had the right to set whatever charge that they wanted to. That's true, I am a total believer in Smithian economics. But the buyer has a right to refuse to pay that fee and to vote by finding somewhere else to spend his money. That is what we did.

But I'm glad you found, maybe, the last sensible KOA park.