We had to go to Kalispell....

[mowermech]

to attend a funeral. Planned to arrive 5 Aug, leave 7 August.
Every campground close to town that I called was fully booked, no sites available.
EXCEPT the relatively new RV Park right on the edge of town. The one that I said I would not stay in because of the price.
Yep, "Montana Base Camp". Lots of empty spaces. It is easy to see why...
First, the price: $120/night!
Second, all sites are back-in. No pull-through sites at all.
Third, amenities, or lack thereof. No store, the office is difficult to find (it looks like just another laundry/shower building). Free laundry, though. a washer and a dryer in a little cabin with the shower facility in the other end.
Fourth, new park, so no shade. What few trees there are haven't grown enough yet.
Fifth, it is right next door to a log home building business, so that is noisy. There is also quite a bit of highway noise. We slept soundly, but I can see where some would find it terrible.

On the plus side, the single access road and all sites are paved. The sites (full hook-up) are well laid out, with lots of space. There is an emergency exit at the cul-de-sac at the end of the road. They allowed our kids to pitch a tent in our site ($27/night extra, not bad, really.). The park was easy to find. Entrance and exit is from/to a round-a-bout, so quite easy.
All in all, not a truly BAD experience, except for the price. I doubt if I will go back again.
Montana Basecamp, Kalispell, MT Good spot when there is nothing else available!

[mowermech]

Somebody from Boise is planning a trip to Northwestern MT, so I will boost this up so it is easy to find

[mikestock]

Lantley wrote:

mikestock wrote:
The first rule in business: Charge too much and you won't make money, charge too little and you won't make money. The best rate to charge is the one that maximizes profit. Unless this campground is full when all others in the area are full he needs to adjust accordingly or learn the hard way.

While there is a sweet spot. "Chick Filet" Capacity does not equate to success. Ruth Chris does not want to set their prices such that they have a line wrapping around the building like a McDonalds.
There are profit margins. Capacity alone does not = profitablity.
You can be just as profitable at 50% capacity as you can with 100% capacity if your rates are set at a profitable level.
Low rates are not necessarily the key to success/profitabilty.

Not to say there are no other variables. There are many, of course. Free gov't money as your competition for workers is hard to predict.

[hornet28]

Alt 93 with the traffic circle it's off from is where I went through

[bobsallyh]

hornet28, it is hard to see from US 93. there is a goofy connector to it, and just last month in the K-Town paper, the city or county is thinking about re-doing it. An outfit from Florida came up and built it. If he was an elks Lodge member, about two miles toward K-Town, they have an RV park. We use it all the time.

[hornet28]

I was through that intersection early June 2020 and don't remember seeing a campground. Maybe that's the reason for newness appearance

[wapiticountry]

mikestock wrote:
The first rule in business: Charge too much and you won't make money, charge too little and you won't make money. The best rate to charge is the one that maximizes profit. Unless this campground is full when all others in the area are full he needs to adjust accordingly or learn the hard way.

Apparently that park has a business plan that works for them. They were able to accommodate a last minute traveler when all the other parks were full. According to the original poster, the rate was much higher than the other parks, but he still paid because it was the only park with a vacancy that served his needs. The business plan of the park may very well be becoming the provider of last resort. The original poster said the park had no visual appeal, didn't have a lot of amenities and yet it was half full of guests who were paying double what other parks were charging. That means that park has much higher margins and lower costs than their nearby competitors. It may very well be the most profitable of all, and that is what the ownership ultimately interested in.

[cptqueeg]

mikestock wrote:
The first rule in business: Charge too much and you won't make money, charge too little and you won't make money. The best rate to charge is the one that maximizes profit. Unless this campground is full when all others in the area are full he needs to adjust accordingly or learn the hard way.

In this case the OP is comparing rates to others in different location(s) that weren't suitable to his needs.

[cptqueeg]

Bionic Man wrote:
I was just in Montana for business a few weeks back. I couldn't find a Marriott or Hilton property for less than $350/night, and that was with advanced reservations. People coming in without reservations were paying over $500/night for a Fairfield (if there was a room available).

Supply and demand, as well as lack of available employees, at work. (The hotels were limiting capacity due to lack of staff).

Montana State Fair shot the rates up in Bozeman a few weeks ago.

[Lantley]

mikestock wrote:
The first rule in business: Charge too much and you won't make money, charge too little and you won't make money. The best rate to charge is the one that maximizes profit. Unless this campground is full when all others in the area are full he needs to adjust accordingly or learn the hard way.

While there is a sweet spot. "Chick Filet" Capacity does not equate to success. Ruth Chris does not want to set their prices such that they have a line wrapping around the building like a McDonalds.
There are profit margins. Capacity alone does not = profitablity.
You can be just as profitable at 50% capacity as you can with 100% capacity if your rates are set at a profitable level.
Low rates are not necessarily the key to success/profitabilty.

[mowermech]

mikestock wrote:
The first rule in business: Charge too much and you won't make money, charge too little and you won't make money. The best rate to charge is the one that maximizes profit. Unless this campground is full when all others in the area are full he needs to adjust accordingly or learn the hard way.

My sentiments, exactly!

[mikestock]

The first rule in business: Charge too much and you won't make money, charge too little and you won't make money. The best rate to charge is the one that maximizes profit. Unless this campground is full when all others in the area are full he needs to adjust accordingly or learn the hard way.

[mowermech]

wapiticountry wrote:
A very successful friend in retail always says you can tell the price is right if the buyer is cursing the price while reaching for their wallet. It appears the park's rate was spot on.

No. I reserved and paid because I had no choice! I tried to find a lower rate near Kalispell, and there just were not any sites available. Keep in mind the park was nearly half empty! That, in itself, tells us what others thought of the rates and the park. I quite likely could have found a site at a better rate anywhere from 10 to 30 miles from town, but for that time such a distance was not acceptable.

[wapiticountry]

A very successful friend in retail always says you can tell the price is right if the buyer is cursing the price while reaching for their wallet. It appears the park's rate was spot on.

[mockturtle]

(The hotels were limiting capacity due to lack of staff)

Kinda like hospitals now.