Opinion on a campground?

[david1601]

I was wondering about everyone's thoughts about a camping experience we endured this weekend. We made a reservation some time ago to visit what is called a ranch and events center that included a campground. The place is very nice with lots of open spaces to stroll with several lakes. Lots to do.

We arrived on Wednesday and had two great days of exploring and hanging out in peace and quiet. Friday night a group of nine RVs arrived together for a fraternity reunion. Most of the campers were older and not youngsters. They were just a couple of spots down from us where all the sites are very close together.

They set up and then others in cars and trucks began to arrive. At least 25 other vehicles came by night fall. Seems it was a local group from a nearby college. They played the music loud, drank to excess and partied until after midnight Friday and Saturday night. Broke every rule known to any camper. I will not go into each and every rule.

I did not count how many people were there at any one time but it had to be more than 50.

Upon reading the campground rules we were given upon our arrival quiet time is from 11 pm until 6 am. An email sent to us when making the reservation states quiet time is 12:30 am until 6 am. WHAT? I failed to notice that one earlier.

Needless to say we complained Saturday and the owners promised to take care of the problem but never did anything. We have reservations through Wednesday but will be leaving tomorrow. I will not request any refund but just wondered what others thought about a campground with those times as "quiet time"?

[Geo_Boy]

YOU should have called the authorities due to the size of the crowd and this little thing called COVID-19. Why do you think this thing is getting worse? It’s remote events like this that are causing Covid to continue to rise/spread.

[david1601]

OP here. I can clear up a few things. Yes we did receive an email with the quiet times prior to arrival. I just missed that line. Nothing was mentioned when we arrived about a group. The other rules were the usual stuff about pets, no loud music, two vehicles, four campers per site and the basics.

The campground only has about 28 sites which are not much more than a gravel parking lot. FHU and clean but all the sites are side by side in two rows.

I feel they should have warned us upon arrival. The owners were very nice and accommodating the first two days but have totally ignored us since. Like they knew what was coming.
No thoughts of calling the cops.

My post was not so much about getting a refund or just complaining about a misadventure. It was to ask what others thought of the quiet time hours being between 12:30 am and 6 am.

We are half-timers I suppose so we are off today on a new adventure. This will be in the rear view mirror soon.

'Lantley' - I agree but why have a set of rules if they will not be enforced? I would have no problem with a group. We have traveled in a group at times. My problem is with 50 people together drinking, loud until after midnight, music all day and most of the night, cars and trucks everywhere clogging up the roads and every corner of the campground.

[pitch]

I am going to say "suck it up and move on" Write your review and forget it.
Campground owner looks at how high the stack of bills you payed as a single customer,compares them to the stack of bills that 25people and their guests left.
What would you do? Seriously 300 bucks compared to 45. U think groceries and making payroll outweighs principal in this case!

[Lantley]

The OP mentions an Email was sent, I assume before his arrival, informing him of reduced quiet hours. What else did this Email say? It seems this Email was trying to alert him that there was a group event planned that weekend.
Seems the OP missed, misinterpreted or ignored that warning!
Sounds like communication could have been better, but I don't fault the CG for taking advantage of a money making opportunity.

[bucky]

Are yoy going to share the name of the place? You certainly don't owe them a favor.

[GDS-3950BH]

MarkTwain wrote:

I would have called the local police or sheriff's office and reported the loud music and drinking. My quess is that many of the partiers were under the legal drinking age:)

Unless you were an adjacent property owner and the municipality where this campground is located has a noise ordinance in place, you would be wasting your time. I doubt a large group of college alumni were not of legal drinking age, unless they brought the kids along and were letting them booze it up.

That's assuming it's a private campground and not public, which it sounds like it is.

Ownership can choose to enforce, or not enforce, whatever rules they choose despite what they have published in a brochure or sent out in an email. Its private business/property

The only remedy the OP has is to not patronize the campground. I suspect the large group is an annual customer and probably has been for some time.

[MitchF150]

Pretty sure the 'groups' camp fees exceed yours, so.. If you leave they still make more money than you just leaving... Even if they give you a refund, which you should totally ask for..

It's not right by any means... Just sounds like a place that has so called 'rules', but if you have a group that is probably paying a lot more to be idiots, then what can you do..

It's a private business on private property, so calling the cops is not going to do anything either.

Tough deal for sure.. I've been burned by a hotel chain to accommodate a large group and basically said my reservations were cancelled on the day I arrived... They gave me an alternative option of $50, which I took, but that only paid for dinner that night for 2 of us, but we did find a much better place to stay in the end, so whatever..

Good luck! Mitch

[MarkTwain]

david1601 wrote:
I was wondering about everyone's thoughts about a camping experience we endured this weekend. We made a reservation some time ago to visit what is called a ranch and events center that included a campground. The place is very nice with lots of open spaces to stroll with several lakes. Lots to do.



They set up and then others in cars and trucks began to arrive. At least 25 other vehicles came by night fall. Seems it was a local group from a nearby college. They played the music loud, drank to excess and partied until after midnight Friday and Saturday night. Broke every rule known to any camper. I will not go into each and every rule.



Needless to say we complained Saturday and the owners promised to take care of the problem but never did anything. We have reservations through Wednesday but will be leaving tomorrow. I will not request any refund but just wondered what others thought about a campground with those times as "quiet time"?

I would have called the local police or sheriff's office and reported the loud music and drinking. My quess is that many of the partiers were under the legal drinking age:)

[navigator2346]

Ask for a refund and if you don't get it, post on campground reviews plus Yelp, and Trip Advisor. I think more people look at Yelp and Advisor than campground reviews

[coolmom42]

I would ask for a refund, and leave.

[time2roll]

Why would you not ask for a refund? You can bet I would if they were unresponsive.

[agesilaus]

No, not right. But, guess not much to do about it if owners will not take care of reported problem.

Agreed, post a nasty review in campgroundreview, and don't go there again. We have had a few such experiences in 40 years of camping. You get the bad with the good. Happily there is a lot more good.

[LadyRVer]

No, not right. But, guess not much to do about it if owners will not take care of reported problem. As you stated you are leaving due to problem, maybe you could ask if you can be moved to a different site away from the party goers for the remainder of your stay? Last thing I would know what to do... leave a review on rvparky.com or if you are on some FB RV pages, tell it like it is.