Is a Resort REALLY a Resort & is a Park REALLY a Park or??

[Keeter59]

We all have probably run into this problem. We check a website and it looks great. We plan to stay 3 or 4 days and when we get there it is NOTHING like what it looked like on the website. I have been working for almost a year on an EXHAUSTIVE project that lists RV Parks & Resorts. I am tired of pulling into a "big-rig" friendly place that maybe go-cart friendly at most. If anyone is interested let me know. I might try to publish this project. It includes an Excel Spreadsheet cross-referenced to places I have marked on Google Earth. A Resort should be a Resort and a Park should be a Park and a Campground should be a Campground and a hell-hole should NOT be any of the aforementioned.
By the way, if any of you use Google Earth to check out a site, if you use the date of satellite passover tool you can see if the same vehicles have been there for an extended period. You can learn a lot with Google Earth and whether or not the site has long-termers or permanents.
Again, if anyone wants to help with this endeavor let me know. It is mainly for 40" and larger rigs which is where I feel "Big Rigs" start.

[Pogoil]

We used to camp with people like the OP. We would pull into a campground state or private it did not matter we would pick out a site and set up. Our friends would spend 45 minutes analyzing every aspect of every site then pick a site and set up.

Every one is different and sees things that bother them. I could care less if some are short term, seasonal or long term as long as the place is kept clean. Many people that RV. can barely maneuver in the largest of campgrounds so big rig definition is subjective.

Enjoy the park you end up at for what it is as most will not be there for long.

Pogoil.

[Bill_Satellite]

We have been traveling full time since 2000 and have never found the need for the Big Rig directory http://www.big-rigs-rv.com/ but it is a good reference book if you want to stay at what I would call a resort. It leaves out a lot of parks that are fully big rig capable. We have a 40' bus conversion and we use RV Parky (phone app + online available) since it became available and it has been an excellent resource.
As mentioned you can also check rvparkreviews for information on the parks you plan to visit.

[DutchmenSport]

Dictionary.com gives these definitions:

camp·ground [kamp-ground] Show IPA
noun
a place for a camp or for a camp meeting.
Origin:
1795–1805, Americanism; camp1 + ground1

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campground

noun
a site where people on holiday can pitch a tent [syn: campsite]


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Wikipedia.org uses this defination for RV park:

A recreational vehicle park (RV park) or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as "pitches" ("sites" in North America, Europe, and Australia). They are also referred to as campgrounds, though a true campground also provides facilities for tent camping; many facilities calling themselves "RV parks" also offer tent camping or cabins with limited facilities.

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Sounds to me the terms are highly interchangeable! But based on definition for campground, a campground is somewhere to pitch a tent. I suppose if the facility can accommodate anything more than a tent, it's then an RV Park.

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Dictionary.com gives this defination for "Resort". It did not have one for "RV Resort", neither did the encyclopedia:

resort
Use Resort in a sentence

re-sort [ree-sawrt] Show IPA
verb (used with object)
to sort or arrange (cards, papers, etc.) again.
Origin:
1885–90; re- + sort

Can be confused: re-sort, resort.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
re·sort [ri-zawrt] Show IPA
verb (used without object)
1.
to have recourse for use, help, or accomplishing something, often as a final available option or resource: to resort to war.
2.
to go, especially frequently or customarily: a beach to which many people resort.
noun
3.
a place to which people frequently or generally go for relaxation or pleasure, especially one providing rest and recreation facilities for vacationers: a popular winter resort.
4.
habitual or general going, as to a place or person.
5.
use of or appeal to some person or thing for aid, satisfaction, service, etc.; resource: to have resort to force; a court of last resort.
6.
a person or thing resorted to for aid, satisfaction, service, etc.
Origin:
1325–75; (v.) Middle English resorten < Old French resortir, equivalent to re- re- + sortir to go out, leave, escape, perhaps ultimately < Latin sort?r? to draw lots, though sense development unclear; (noun) Middle English < Old French ressort, derivative of ressortir

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So the bottom line is, according to the dictionaries and the encyclopedias, there's really not any difference, unless it's truly a "campground" exclusively for tenters, then it's truly a "campground". Everything else is an RV Park or RV Resort (or both).

[BillMFl]

Gotta say that the Roads and Routes forum has been a great help for me. When taking an unfamiliar route I post it and ask for opinions on where to stay near likely overnight locations. Have been very happy with results.

[afrescopXx]

There are several good resources currently in existence: www.rvparkreviews.com and Tripadvisor. While the latter has some parks the former has almost all parks. I prefer to read the comments of actual visitors to these parks/resorts.

I have my own "rule" about staying at a particular park. It is similar to one I used to use when advising people about an apartment complex: If it is full of junk rigs/cars you move on. Full of late model rigs/cars it might be ok. Not very scientific I'll admit but it has worked for me. I might feel different in a few years as my MH ages but, for now, it works.

[korbe]

Even within this forum it is not clear the differences in an RV park and campground. Who will be making the clear definitions - without any overlap? 🙂

[rgatijnet1]

John&Joey wrote:
I hate to say it, but when you're traveling cross country you just have to bear and grin it. IMO, the nicer the rig you got, the less you have to bear it. Put the slides out, draw the shades, and enjoy the FHU's.

It really is no different then hoteling it. You can check the room out first, but if you're tired and it's the only place around, well....

That is right and sometimes, there is just not ANOTHER RV park, within a reasonable distance, as an alternative.

[John_Joey]

I hate to say it, but when you're traveling cross country you just have to bear and grin it. IMO, the nicer the rig you got, the less you have to bear it. Put the slides out, draw the shades, and enjoy the FHU's.

It really is no different then hoteling it. You can check the room out first, but if you're tired and it's the only place around, well....

[rgatijnet1]

The only time we make reservations is if we are going to an RV park that we are familiar with. Other than that, when we pull in to an RV park we check it out BEFORE we check in. Several times I have had to drive through an RV park just to exit it and head down the road to another park. I tell the park owner/manager that I take their "no refunds" seriously and that I want to insure that their park meets my needs before I give them my money. I do use the rvparkreviews website but unless it is a recent review, things can change.

[FormerBoater]

This is a legitimate problem.

Last weekend we stayed in an "RV Resort" that advertises itself as 50 amp, cable TV, wifi etc. The pads were so small and close together that my rear jacks had to be used on the dirt behind the pad in order to get the car in sideways in front of the MH.

Our site was 30 amp (50 amp plug was in the pedestal but had been disconnected), cable jack was there, but not active as only half the sites had active cable connections.

We were there for my wife's cousin's birthday so we only used the "resort" for sleeping but to my surprise the place was 99% full with folks that looked like they were spending the entire winter there.

On the web the place looked great, like a destination RV resort. The reality was quite different.

[fla-gypsy]

Sites like this one are your friend;

http://www.campsitephotos.com/

[sharbra]

Your idea is a good one but there is already a Big Rigs guide out there and it is a good one. The authors actually visit the parks in their book. They may not have stayed there, but they have been there, know the measurements of the sites and give you the numbers of the big ones. Also list restaurants and various activities in the area of the park.

[jerseyjim]

40" "GOTCHA!" says buchphi......

Seriously, my CASUAL observations....the further you are from a major metropolitan area, the more you're going to get "real" big rig friendly campgrounds. The same with "snowbird" destinations.

"Resorts" almost always charge more even tho you don't use some/many of their facilities. Things like exercise rooms, etc., etc.. Other "resorts" like the "ENCORE" chain charge 3 bucks a day for any and everything....never could figure out why. But even tho they happily take overnighters, they all seem to be "destination" parks.

Campgrounds is campgrounds. Many of the older ones were never built to accomodate the large RVs we have today. Sometimes a struggle with even a 30 footer.

While "on the road", (cross country) I find that most cgs that are "easy-on/easy-off" are mostly pull thrus. That's their market. Overnight, full hookups no disconnecting the toads.

And the ads for the places? Sometimes you can't judge a book by its' cover. Sometimes you have to make the best of it. Other times, where you find one cg, another is right nearby. Just find the exit and go.

"Google Earth" to find a campground? Really? But whatever floats your boat.I use Trailer Life Directory and look at RVparkreviews.com....plus being a member of KOA, they have their directory too.

You have a 40 footer. Pulling a toad? That's 50 feet or more. Sometimes YOU have to bend a bit. Enjoy your travels.

[BUTCHPHI]

40 inches is really not a very big rig. :):B