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"?

[DarkSkySeeker]

Unfortunately for many, camping = drinking.

[Crabbypatty]

We had that trouble in a place in Massachusetts and complained to management they were quieter after that. Some people though have no consideration so we try to time our stays to at the most include only one weekend. Seems like Friday nights are the worst.

[valhalla360]

MarkTwain wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
So when you made the reservation, quiet time didn't start until after midnight and the group partied until after midnight. You didn't make the reservation based on the paper you were handed when checking in.

I'm failing to see where you have a complaint. It may not be your style park but unless the party went until WAYYYYY after midnight, sounds like you were informed of the rules ahead of time and you chose to go there anyway.

Now if you want to post a factual review that there was a group that utilized all the non-quiet time, that's legitimate but "slamming" the RV park seems a little excessive.

Being Monday, I assume the weekend group has left, so why leave early if it was otherwise nice?

Defending obnoxious ,disruptive ,loud people who fail to demonstrate reasonable consideration for other people in RV parks is asinine:):):):)

So you were there and saw it in person? I've come across enough situations where people get grumpy over things that aren't a big deal that without any details, it wasn't clear that these people were that bad (since then the OP has posted some more info but even then it sounds like it might have been mildly annoying but nothing horrible).

[valhalla360]

david1601 wrote:
I love this forum and although I do not post very often I have read most everything the past couple of years and learned a lot from the kind people who are here to assist everyone.

I stated twice already but will try again for the sake of valhalla360 mainly. I will try to go slowly just for him this time.

I am not trashing the campground. If I were, I would name them. I stated in the original post and I quote "... Broke every rule known to any camper. I will not go into each and every rule." I thought most intelligent people would know what that meant.

But just for you I will list a few. "NO GLASS. STRICTLY INFORCED." It was all caps in the rules. Beer bottles were everywhere. "No more than four campers per site." They likely averaged around eight or nine but by dark they were mostly at one campsite.

"Responsible drinking is allowed in concealed containers or a koozie. Those intoxicated will be removed or asked to leave the property." They compound fractured this one.

"Keep noise including the playing of music or shouting at a reasonable level." They slaughtered this one.

"Guests and visitors must leave premises by 6 pm." The guests not camping started arriving after six the first night.

I could go on. All I wanted was to know was if anyone thought the 12:30 am quiet time was strange on the surface. Jeez!

Thank you for providing a little more detail. "broke every rule known to any camper" means nothing. Could be a wild out of control bacchanalian orgy or could be a grumpy old guy upset that other people are having fun.

A few of the items seem legitimate but others seem like being a busy body:
- Who cares if they have glass bottles or if they hide them in koozies? That sounds more like a hassle for staff to clean up if they get broken. It's not really for the benefit of other guests.
- Unfortunately not being there we have no idea if the music was too loud or if they were over the top intoxicated. This could be very subjective, so understandable if it's not clear cut, they don't want to get middle of it.
- As far as the number of guests per site, that's usually referencing how many sleep at the site. It's not normally a limit on how many can congregate at a site. Been camping for 50yrs and it's never meant that you aren't allowed to visit other campsites for fear of exceeding the site limit.

Guests after 6pm could be an issue but as an event center (in addition to campground), were they covered as event visitors?

So based on the updated info...probably not an ideal response from the staff but doesn't indicate a horrible situation.

PS: I was referring to the other posters saying to lambaste the campground when they really had no idea what really happened.

[Lantley]

david1601 wrote:
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.

I don't disagree that you were ambushed so to speak. Management seemed to give you a subtle sly message that this would not be a normal weekend vs. telling up front a large group is booked for that weekend.
You should have been clearly forewarned before your reservation was made and given the opportunity to choose another time to visit the CG.
AS to loud music etc. that would not have bothered me too much as long as the partiers stayed in their area. Once upon a time I partied and made lots of noise! So that part I understand/tolerate

[JAC1982]

We had a similar problem at a park on Memorial Day weekend. We had been at this park before, but not on a holiday weekend. This park had cabins, and those were the groups that were the worst. They had 10-12 people in each cabin and partied until 2-3am including music so loud I could tell what song it was and sing along from inside my camper, from 3 sites away. The campground didn't have any quiet hours that I could find. I don't think we'd go back there on a holiday weekend. When we visited on a non-holiday weekend after Labor Day, it was totally fine and very quiet.

The owner of the park in the OP was put in a rough spot too... one person vs a group of 50+ drunk people can turn badly very quickly. I would ask for a refund and then decide what recourse I was going to take from there.

[MarkTwain]

valhalla360 wrote:
So when you made the reservation, quiet time didn't start until after midnight and the group partied until after midnight. You didn't make the reservation based on the paper you were handed when checking in.

I'm failing to see where you have a complaint. It may not be your style park but unless the party went until WAYYYYY after midnight, sounds like you were informed of the rules ahead of time and you chose to go there anyway.

Now if you want to post a factual review that there was a group that utilized all the non-quiet time, that's legitimate but "slamming" the RV park seems a little excessive.

Being Monday, I assume the weekend group has left, so why leave early if it was otherwise nice?

Defending obnoxious ,disruptive ,loud people who fail to demonstrate reasonable consideration for other people in RV parks is asinine:):):):)

[david1601]

I love this forum and although I do not post very often I have read most everything the past couple of years and learned a lot from the kind people who are here to assist everyone.

I stated twice already but will try again for the sake of valhalla360 mainly. I will try to go slowly just for him this time.

I am not trashing the campground. If I were, I would name them. I stated in the original post and I quote "... Broke every rule known to any camper. I will not go into each and every rule." I thought most intelligent people would know what that meant.

But just for you I will list a few. "NO GLASS. STRICTLY INFORCED." It was all caps in the rules. Beer bottles were everywhere. "No more than four campers per site." They likely averaged around eight or nine but by dark they were mostly at one campsite.

"Responsible drinking is allowed in concealed containers or a koozie. Those intoxicated will be removed or asked to leave the property." They compound fractured this one.

"Keep noise including the playing of music or shouting at a reasonable level." They slaughtered this one.

"Guests and visitors must leave premises by 6 pm." The guests not camping started arriving after six the first night.

I could go on. All I wanted was to know was if anyone thought the 12:30 am quiet time was strange on the surface. Jeez!

[CFerguson]

Nasty reviews at Campground Reviews wont necessarily work as there is some editing of the facts by that site going on.

I had about 10 reviews there (all positive) before i had a bad experience at Ocean Lakes CG in Myrtle Beach SC. Basically a bunch of drunks were breaking multiple CG rules and i asked Ocean Lakes CG to calm them down. Office person said sure and then did nothing. Asked again, different front office person, and was shined on yet again. Another call or 2 (this has been about 10 years ago) and they couldnt keep their lies straight that they were telling me. Since they were also breaking SC/county laws that the local popo get quite serious about, i just called the county police. Problem Solved and i dont think anyone went to jail, tho it appeared that some tickets were issued.

I posted all this at CG Reviews. The review was promptly deleted and i received an email saying that CG Reviews didnt believe me. I invited them to check the Horry County police reports.

No idea why i wasnt believed as the review was completely factual and not written in an antagonizing manner. I just wrote it off as Sponserhip money being involved and resolved to not completely trust any rating on the CG Reviews site. The Happy Ending was that we moved the next morning (OL gave us Zero crapp and immediately issued a proper refund) to a nearby CG that has become our fav beach CG of anywhere.

[gbopp]

So, what is the name/location of the campground?

[ppine]

RV parks rarely give refunds no matter how bad they are.
I almost went after a park manager once in a similar situation. It cost me about $100, but that was better than being arrested for assault.

This would be an example of why I like boondocking so much, and avoid campgrounds when they are crowded. The world is full of obnoxious people. You just have to work around them. If they want a reservation I think twice about going there. I do not like to pay in advance. I want to be able to leave at any time.

[valhalla360]

So when you made the reservation, quiet time didn't start until after midnight and the group partied until after midnight. You didn't make the reservation based on the paper you were handed when checking in.

I'm failing to see where you have a complaint. It may not be your style park but unless the party went until WAYYYYY after midnight, sounds like you were informed of the rules ahead of time and you chose to go there anyway.

Now if you want to post a factual review that there was a group that utilized all the non-quiet time, that's legitimate but "slamming" the RV park seems a little excessive.

Being Monday, I assume the weekend group has left, so why leave early if it was otherwise nice?

[Geo_Boy]

Crowe wrote:

Geo*Boy wrote:
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.

There's a lot of merit to this as well. It would depend on what the state's rules are-they all vary.

I checked the State of Alabama and it limits groups to no more than 10 people.

[Crowe]

Geo*Boy wrote:
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.

There's a lot of merit to this as well. It would depend on what the state's rules are-they all vary.

[Crowe]

agesilaus wrote:

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.

Absolutely. One of my pet peeves is when a business of any sort will not enforce their own rules. And I would ask for a refund. They are guilty of breech of contract by not enforcing quite hours. Having quiet hours not start until 12:30 is nuts. Most cgs I've been in start at 10 or 11, with a rare exception to midnight, and go to about 7 in the a.m. You don't want to prevent people from sitting quietly around a fire at night but stopping the loud groups is only common decency.