A question about campground reservation.

[Plumbob2]

Why do some campgrounds let you pick your site when making a reservation and some will not tell you which site until you get there?

[jplante4]

I can see where this is going and it's no where good.

CLOSED

[maddog348]

4x4van ~~ Thank You.

My MotorHome is small ~ My Truck Camper is smaller. I am still worthy.

JM2¢ ~~ YMMV

[4x4van]

JAC1982 wrote:
And, as people with a larger rig, it sure gets annoying to see someone in a tiny camper taking up a spot we could have fit in, especially when the spot we do end up having is a tighter fit. This happened to us last year, and to make matters worse, the people with the tiny camper in the site next to us sat there watching us and making off hand comments about big campers while trying to get our camper out without running into boulders or scraping the side of the trailer on a low hanging tree.

Are you, as the owner of a "larger" rig, paying more than those with the "tiny" camper? Then they have just as much right to the big site as you do; more so, in fact, since they arrived/paid for the site before you. Their comments were likely uncalled for, but still...are you willing to "give up" a nice big site to someone else that arrives later because their rig is slightly larger than yours? Where is that line? Tiny, small, medium, big, bigger, behemoth... I guess that management could attempt to put people only into sites that match their rig's length exactly, but if you are traveling with others whose rig is a different size...you end up separated.

I have had to squeeze into small sites before when that was all that was left. Bummer for me, congrats to those that arrived/booked earlier and got the better sites. It is what it is. I've also gotten sites larger than actually needed, because I booked early; allowing me to spread out more. Congrats to me, bummer for later arrivals.

One campground that we go to every year for Superbowl weekend, we KNOW that we must reserve exactly 6 months (to the day) in advance, or we will not get level beachfront sites. Booking later means I am now in a 2nd or 3rd row site that requires liberal use of blocks to get level. Been there, done that, all while watching tent campers in those beachfront sites that would accommodate a 40' DP. Good for them; they booked early, I didn't; they deserve the site, I don't.

Bottom line is that yes, I prefer to pick my own site when I book, especially if I have been there before and know the campground. At the same time, I can see the need for some campgrounds to control/assign sites as they see fit, in order to maximize the use of their "inventory". And I certainly don't assume that I should get a site someone else has simply because they "could fit" somewhere else easier than I can. That's not my call to make.

[JAC1982]

Bird Freak wrote:
Could also be they have a few 40 to 50 ft sites and they can make sure they are available for a big rig instead of a guy with a pop up or tent taking it leaving lost revenue for them with the big rig.

^^ this. The state/county parks here let you pick sites for the most part. And, as people with a larger rig, it sure gets annoying to see someone in a tiny camper taking up a spot we could have fit in, especially when the spot we do end up having is a tighter fit. This happened to us last year, and to make matters worse, the people with the tiny camper in the site next to us sat there watching us and making off hand comments about big campers while trying to get our camper out without running into boulders or scraping the side of the trailer on a low hanging tree.

But, overall, we like to be able to pick our spot, but it's also nice to have the guidance from the park owner to "help" with that selection.

As a disclaimer, I'm not talking about nice sites next to water or anything. I understand that those can and should be taken by whomever gets there first, regardless of rig size.

[coloradoparkown]

It is really a simple case of economics. If I have two sites and you reserve site 1 for Mon-Tues and Fred reserves site 2 for Wed- Thur then when Joe calls and wants to stay Mon- Fri I have to tell him I don't have a place. There are also always the folks who sign up for 3 days but then want to stay longer. If I can't move reservations around I have to tell them sorry you'll have to leave. I can not afford to let half my inventory set vacant. I have to optimize the occupancy to pay the bills.
The govt parks on the other hand don't have the need to pay for property acquisition or insurance and don't have the need to optimize occupancy. But then again maybe that is why they always say they can't afford to take care of their deferred maintenance and need more tax money..

[westernrvparkow]

azdryheat wrote:
There are various software packages a park can buy. Some allow picking a site and some don't.

What tics me off is an expensive resort that says you can't pick a sight and won't assign you a site until you arrive. Say the site you're assigned on arrival does not meet your needs so you ask for another site that is currently unoccupied. You're told that the new space is reserved. Huh? Thought they didn't reserve sites. Thought they didn't assign sites until your arrival. It's caused us much grief at one of our otherwise favorite resorts.

They assign sites, but may have changed those assignments a dozen times before you arrive. That unoccupied site may have a guest arriving a day or two later and staying for two weeks. You may be staying only 4 days. Then the guest following you is staying three days, then the next guest for two weeks. There is no way to change sites with the two week stay that doesn't require them to move, which violates our number one criteria when assigning sites, never make a guest move during their stay.
There are many reasons a park would need to have the flexibility to move sites. There may be a group of 4 rigs coming together and if the park doesn't move you, the group will be broken apart and you will be in the middle of them, which isn't great for you either. There may be only certain sites that can accommodate certain rigs. There may be a special request that can only be filled by certain sites (i.e wheelchair accessible).
And yes, sometimes long time repeat guests can and do reserve the same site year after year and we honor that request since we may get $4000+ a year from that guest, year after year. That is only good business. It isn't just as simple as you arrived and a site is vacant at that time so you should be able to have it.

[azdryheat]

There are various software packages a park can buy. Some allow picking a site and some don't.

What tics me off is an expensive resort that says you can't pick a sight and won't assign you a site until you arrive. Say the site you're assigned on arrival does not meet your needs so you ask for another site that is currently unoccupied. You're told that the new space is reserved. Huh? Thought they didn't reserve sites. Thought they didn't assign sites until your arrival. It's caused us much grief at one of our otherwise favorite resorts.

[wanderingbob]

We operated a 122 site campground for thirteen years and learned first hand the difficulty with promising a certain site . Obliviously the most desirable sites were the ones requested most often . We could not afford to let a site sit empty for several days just because you wanted it next week . Also campers all ready in the campground would not understand why they could not have the site as it was empty .

[FunnyCamper]

bukhrn wrote:

FunnyCamper wrote:
drives me batty I can't go site specific on some of our state parks cgs and other places. I want to look at the map and pick a number 🙂 I always want that nice waterfront site in the cgs I book. I saw some of Georgia's state park cgs are site specific and some are still not taking site number reservations. Come on already, change it over all to site specific for me please 🙂 🙂

ok from my post you can see I love site specific reservations.

Your not alone, that's one reason why we love the Fed parks, NP, Nat Forest, COE, and Many State Parks ,they are site specific.

Thanks!! I so want a certain type of experience and with our kayaks along I want waterfront on the lakes, or I am WAY less controlling if I am doing a state park for some other destination type vacay we are doing but I still want that control, lol, ...you and me both LOL

[WTP-GC]

bukhrn wrote:

FunnyCamper wrote:
drives me batty I can't go site specific on some of our state parks cgs and other places. I want to look at the map and pick a number 🙂 I always want that nice waterfront site in the cgs I book. I saw some of Georgia's state park cgs are site specific and some are still not taking site number reservations. Come on already, change it over all to site specific for me please 🙂 🙂

ok from my post you can see I love site specific reservations.

Your not alone, that's one reason why we love the Fed parks, NP, Nat Forest, COE, and Many State Parks ,they are site specific.

I love site-specific CG's...when I've had a chance to visit the campground and review each site. But if I'm coming in blindly, I would like the chance to pick my own. Georgia SP's are where we go most often, and that's been one of the nice things about them. If you pick the site when you get there, you can usually find one or several that fit your needs. In the middle of the summer down here in the south, I want the chance to find a site with some shade.

Bird Freak wrote:
Could also be they have a few 40 to 50 ft sites and they can make sure they are available for a big rig instead of a guy with a pop up or tent taking it leaving lost revenue for them with the big rig.

One of our big pet peeves is when you see a tent setup on a site that's meant to accommodate a Class A with full length slides. Or when there are only a limited number of FHU sites, but one or more of them are occupied by tent camplers. I'm not against tent campers or pop-ups or small rigs, but the CG management should try to make sure they assign units according to the size of your rig. Most places we visit do this well, but when a tent camper gobbles up a last minute reservation opening, I know it can be challenging. That's when management needs to at least attempt to re-assign folks.

[Bird_Freak]

Could also be they have a few 40 to 50 ft sites and they can make sure they are available for a big rig instead of a guy with a pop up or tent taking it leaving lost revenue for them with the big rig.

[bukhrn]

FunnyCamper wrote:
drives me batty I can't go site specific on some of our state parks cgs and other places. I want to look at the map and pick a number 🙂 I always want that nice waterfront site in the cgs I book. I saw some of Georgia's state park cgs are site specific and some are still not taking site number reservations. Come on already, change it over all to site specific for me please 🙂 🙂

ok from my post you can see I love site specific reservations.

Your not alone, that's one reason why we love the Fed parks, NP, Nat Forest, COE, and Many State Parks ,they are site specific.

[Dick_B]

and some campgrounds let their computer choose the site so even the staff can't pick the site. That may be why at a completely open campground the transients will be assigned sites right next to each other.

[Dutch_12078]

The KOA online reservation system doesn't allow site specific selection, although you can request one in the "Special Instructions" section with no guarantee you'll get it. The Escapees RV Club reservation system for their parks is similar. For the most part, it seems to be a space management issue that gives the park better flexibility in fitting various size rigs in the most efficiently.