Good Sam Campground did not measure up to its high ratings

[KZ_Tahoe_Camper]

Just finished a week at a "Good Sam" park with an overall 9.0-9.5 advertised rating which I feel is not only undeserved but highly erroneous. 1) WiFi available? Not true. Even the seasonal campers can't connect to the supposed 'free service'. 2) clean restrooms rated 9.5? When? Where? The park has kids cleaning the restrooms who have little or no knowledge about good sanitation procedures. The restrooms were cleaned(?) twice during our week long stay. With 4 days of torrential downpours and muddy unpaved roads and sites, you can imagine the mess. 3) Water pressure at the sites, especially when the park filled up on the weekends, was pathetic. Talking to the seasonal campers, found out that this has been an ongoing issue for years. 4) Why can't management mow grass and drag sites during the week (at slow times) rather than waiting for the middle of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to perform this work?
The campground is Sky High Camping Resort at: N5740 Sky High Drive
Portage, Wisconsin
I cannot fathom how this park was rated so high, but I can assure my fellow Good Sam RVers I won't be back until the park measures up!

[wbwood]

Take pics and send to good sam

[KZ_Tahoe_Camper]

I see your ????, K Charles, and realize I left out some critical lead-in info. We checked in on a Saturday and the site we reserved over a month previously, had not been mowed or grated. The following Monday and Tuesday, it did not rain and the sun was out. It rained Wednesday and Thursday and they cut the grass Friday afternoon. We would have selected another site if there had been one available in the full hookup area. I'm never bothered by 4 days of torrential rain as long as the park lives up to it's reported ratings. My Mrs. And I stayed in a campground in Charlestown, West Virginia back in the 80's when the weather took a similar turn. The park we stayed in had some of the cleanest, most well maintained sites and restrooms we have ever seen, and in spite of the weather, we had one of our best and most memorable camping trips. Sorry I wasn't clearer on my first post.

[K_Charles]

The OP said 4 days of torrential downpours and they didn't mow the lawn. ????

[dodge_guy]

magnusfide wrote:

dodge guy wrote:


I use RVPR. they seem to be spot on. with the occasional complainer. I haven`t been to a campground that wasn`t as it was described.

Even Rv Park Reviews have huge problems with accuracy regarding certain cgs as they have heavily edited out critical reviews (search this forum for those issues). This is why RVers have increasingly used TripAdvisor.com. To get a decent idea of a situation it's always important to consult several sources.

Your right, as a few of mine were edited. I was going to mention that, but i forgot. So even those lately can be questionable.

[dodge_guy]

kcmoedoe wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Good Sam ratings are objective.
1- wifi is not a rated issue
2- 9.5 rating for washrooms is related to construction, not to cleanliness otherwise they would have a star * for cleanliness.
3- It rained all week. Sorry your trip was inconvienienced by the weather. is it possible that the camp had larger issues to work on than a puddle or rut on your site?
If permanents have a problem there, why are they still permanents?

I will have to challenge you on a few things.

1- If WiFi is advertised it should work.

2- If they are rating washrooms on construction then Good Sam should not be used to pick a campground, or rating campgrounds for that matter!

3- I think the issue for them with the rain was that the washrooms were muddy, going back to the rating!

I don`t even use Good Sam to pick campgrounds because of these very reasons. they are all over the map.

I use RVPR. they seem to be spot on. with the occasional complainer. I haven`t been to a campground that wasn`t as it was described.

You have good points, but I believe the gentleman from the campground was trying to explain how the system they use to rate the parks works, not justifying whether or not that system was the ideal way to do it. No need to shoot the messenger when you don't like the message. As a side note, if it is muddy outside, I kind of expect the public bathrooms at a park to be muddy also. Every time a person entered them, mud would be tracked inside. Don't know of any park that would have a full time bathroom mopper on duty.

No, i don't have a problem with SD. Just with the system.
The OP said they were there for a week. It sounds as if the bathrooms barely got cleaned in that time. I too would expect mud in that environment, i would also expect it to be cleaned up in a timely manner!

[magnusfide]

dodge guy wrote:


I use RVPR. they seem to be spot on. with the occasional complainer. I haven`t been to a campground that wasn`t as it was described.

Even Rv Park Reviews have huge problems with accuracy regarding certain cgs as they have heavily edited out critical reviews (search this forum for those issues). This is why RVers have increasingly used TripAdvisor.com. To get a decent idea of a situation it's always important to consult several sources.

[kcmoedoe]

dodge guy wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Good Sam ratings are objective.
1- wifi is not a rated issue
2- 9.5 rating for washrooms is related to construction, not to cleanliness otherwise they would have a star * for cleanliness.
3- It rained all week. Sorry your trip was inconvienienced by the weather. is it possible that the camp had larger issues to work on than a puddle or rut on your site?
If permanents have a problem there, why are they still permanents?

I will have to challenge you on a few things.

1- If WiFi is advertised it should work.

2- If they are rating washrooms on construction then Good Sam should not be used to pick a campground, or rating campgrounds for that matter!

3- I think the issue for them with the rain was that the washrooms were muddy, going back to the rating!

I don`t even use Good Sam to pick campgrounds because of these very reasons. they are all over the map.

I use RVPR. they seem to be spot on. with the occasional complainer. I haven`t been to a campground that wasn`t as it was described.

You have good points, but I believe the gentleman from the campground was trying to explain how the system they use to rate the parks works, not justifying whether or not that system was the ideal way to do it. No need to shoot the messenger when you don't like the message. As a side note, if it is muddy outside, I kind of expect the public bathrooms at a park to be muddy also. Every time a person entered them, mud would be tracked inside. Don't know of any park that would have a full time bathroom mopper on duty.

[dodge_guy]

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Good Sam ratings are objective.
1- wifi is not a rated issue
2- 9.5 rating for washrooms is related to construction, not to cleanliness otherwise they would have a star * for cleanliness.
3- It rained all week. Sorry your trip was inconvienienced by the weather. is it possible that the camp had larger issues to work on than a puddle or rut on your site?
If permanents have a problem there, why are they still permanents?

I will have to challenge you on a few things.

1- If WiFi is advertised it should work.

2- If they are rating washrooms on construction then Good Sam should not be used to pick a campground, or rating campgrounds for that matter!

3- I think the issue for them with the rain was that the washrooms were muddy, going back to the rating!

I don`t even use Good Sam to pick campgrounds because of these very reasons. they are all over the map.

I use RVPR. they seem to be spot on. with the occasional complainer. I haven`t been to a campground that wasn`t as it was described.

[dodge_guy]

I haven`t been there since I was a kid 30+ years ago. back then it was owned by my parents cousins (or something like that LOL). I know they sold it off a long time ago. I do remember it being a fun place, but with time anything can change I guess.

[kcmoedoe]

bobsallyh wrote:
How big is their ad in Trailer Life Campground book?

Now that is an interesting theory, so I checked it out in the 2013 book, unlike apparently everyone else. They have the smallest ad you can buy. Uh oh, another theory shot down buy facts. And they also don't get the star the ratings give for a clean bathroom, just like the park owner said.

[Drbolasky]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

We no longer use just one source for researching CG's; often I'll start with the TL directory, then solicit experiences here or rvparkreviews.com.

In the case of the latter, I'll scroll back through maybe a year or two of reviews. What usually becomes apparent rather quickly is an overall picture.

[soricobob]

Good Same, like all other ratings, are NOT objective. They are based on the rater's perceptions, past experiences, influences, and opinions. We all know that "clean" to one, may not be "clean" to another; same with "cut grass", "good repair", and "caring front desk help", and you get the current rating system for any hospitality business.

[SDcampowneroper]

Good Sam ratings are objective.
1- wifi is not a rated issue
2- 9.5 rating for washrooms is related to construction, not to cleanliness otherwise they would have a star * for cleanliness.
3- It rained all week. Sorry your trip was inconvienienced by the weather. is it possible that the camp had larger issues to work on than a puddle or rut on your site?
If permanents have a problem there, why are they still permanents?

[bobsallyh]

How big is their ad in Trailer Life Campground book?