Campground Pricing

[NMWildcat]

Yes, $75 a night for what sounds like a $30 a night park is bad. It will be interesting to see if their location causes enough demand to warrant the price. For $75, I would expect all the amenities of an RV resort

We don't stay at full hookup parks very often. When we do, $55 a night is about my limit for a few nights. We usually pay $250 a week for some really nice parks in the southwest.

Hope you find another park that fits your needs.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by Beachbourbon

As a long time tent camper, but a soon to be newbie to RVs, I have a hard time with prices. What is the point of spending all that money on an RV PLUS $70 a night, when you could stay at a motel with maid service, cable, WiFi, plenty of clean towels and a hot shower steps away?

Bed bugs, jock itch, lice, rude hotel desk clerks, crappy coffee and continental breakfasts, and lots of other unhappy travelers paying too much for a room with lousy TV...

The more I research RV life, the less I’m finding it to be a fun get-a-way, and the more I’m seeing an expensive hassle. I’m sure I’m wrong, but lots of these posts make me nervous.

Try it before you knock it...

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by JayArras

Out West and in the deep South, I hear, prices are more reasonable.

Out in the middle of nowhere where there is nothing to do but sit around and drink beer, and maybe fish or do some quad running...maybe.

But once you get where everyone else from all around the country are all trying to go at the same time...

$80 bucks per night is cheap!

Even for some no-frill campgrounds!

[moose074]

75 a night I expect top of the line pool hot tub WiFi secluded spot with firewood chopped and delivered. I can stay in the hill country within short waking distance to llano river 22 a night I cried fowl when wife booked a stay in greybull Wyoming for 50 plus not only was it high priced but had to shut down by noon because it was so close to Yellowstone felt like wasted day

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by moose074

75 a night I expect top of the line pool hot tub WiFi secluded spot with firewood chopped and delivered. I can stay in the hill country within short waking distance to llano river 22 a night I cried fowl when wife booked a stay in greybull Wyoming for 50 plus not only was it high priced but had to shut down by noon because it was so close to Yellowstone felt like wasted day

There is always the Walmart parking lot!

[TitanMike]

On my just finished month long camping trip I encountered campgrounds charging from $20 to $75 per night. Funny thing, the cheap ones were usually half or more empty and the expensive ones were nearly full by mid afternoon.

Basic rule in "Retail", if you sell all you have and people are demanding more, then your prices are too low. Ask companies like Apple, Nike, etc.

BTW, if you want to know if the campground in the OP is charging reasonable prices you'd need to look at their operating statement. How much are they paying the bank each month? Labor? Insurance? Taxes, etc? Good chance that at the end of the year the owner gets to keep less than $10 of the nightly charge after all the expenses are considered.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by HappyCamper1962

x2 on demand drives price and if it irks you then I would stop camping there. We camp on average once per month (still working full time); I can't even tell you how much campsites cost at all of our favorite campgrounds because it doesn't matter. I just book and pay. Whatever the cost per night, it's still so much better than (and usually cheaper than) staying in a hotel.

My favorite campgrounds are in the National Forests around this part of the country. My "Senior Pass" gives me a 50% discount on any fee's charged and many of the really favorite campsites are free as they are undeveloped. Just bulldozed roads off the main road and small clearings in the trees.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by flosmith

Here’s the campground scoop:
1. On the banks of a lovely small river in the Texas Hill Country (South-Central Texas west of I-35)
2.We’ve been coming here for about 10 days a year for 21 years. DH camped here in a Pop-Up with his family when he was a kid. So, it’s hard to think objectively about this place.
New ownership as of Feb., 2018. Owner says they plan lots of improvements; most will take about 5 years, they estimate. Not specific as to what those improvements will be.

1. Not a bad price for riverfront view that you enjoy. It's expensive to put in improvements and it sounds like the camp has not been kept up.
2. You are NOT going to win an argument with someone who's been going there for 21 years and some of them with his family.

Soooo.... look over their fees and see if there is a weekly, or monthly rate that will take the average daily fee lower. Sometimes you can rent for a month and give them permission to rent the site when you don't need the campsite.

[ependydad]

As was mentioned, only you can decide if it is worth it. I've spent far more on places I felt were "worth it". But at $75 for a regular campground, I'm likely moving on down the road.

I recently answered a very similar post over on Reddit. Someone asked "what would you expect for $50/night?". Here's what I wrote:

$50/night is the absolute upper end of my budget of what I'm willing to spend except in a couple of specific instances. Disney World, I've paid up to about $140/night. Key West with an amazing private tiki hut and/or waterfront, I've paid close to $200. Both were our big vacation-spend for the year.

We were looking at spending $90-110/night to be near San Francisco and New York but were going to have to really limit the days we could be there.

You'll find RV parks ranging from low $30s to upper $60s around the US.

Once I cross $50 and up, I start to up my expectations a bit, I want:

• A paved & level parking pad and a paved patio area.
  
• Water + electric at a minimum. Sewer if you can do it with the river being right there.
  
• If you don't have sewer, offer a pumpout service.
  
• Not everyone likes to swim in rivers, so I'd want to see a nice size pool with a hot tub.
  
• On the river, I'd want a reason to go swimming in it- give me a swim platform and something for the kids to climb and play on.
  
• Cable would be expected, though I'd likely not use it.
  
• Same with WiFi (we carry our own, though I'm not sure my plans work up in Canada); for my uses, I need 3-5mbps down + up.
  
• Possibly offer 2-tiers of WiFi (free slightly slower/no streaming) and paid (allow streaming).
  
• Have a professional installation so that you can throttle abusers of both classes.
  
• Playground, mini-golf and a couple of games for borrowing (yard Yahtzee, horseshoes).
  
• Nice rec. center with a quiet "adult's lounge", some games, maybe a (decent) pool table, and a place to hangout.
  
• Decently spaced sites and preferably some vegetation between them.
  
• And for the love of peat, please don't nickle and dime me.
  
• Especially, don't charge extra for my kids.
  
• If you want bonus points for the motorhome users, put hookups on both sides so they can pull in and have a nice view out of their windows.
  
• Have a decent camp store (with fishing supplies!).
  
• Private bath houses - single room with toilet, sink, shower, neat and tidy.

In the $40-50 range, I want:

• Electric (50amp), water, sewer.
  
• Level-ish site.
  
• Somewhere to swim (be it pool, river, or pond).
  
• Playground is a nice to have.
  
• Rec. center is a nice to have.
  
• WiFi is a nice to have.
  
• Cable is a nice to have (though, I still don't use it).
  
• A camp store is a nice to have.

For the lower-priced ones, I want:

• A spot that I can hookup to electric.
  
• Maybe water.
  
• Maybe sewer.
  
• Hopefully level enough that I can get leveled easily.

In all cases:

• Make sure your staff is friendly and your cancellation policy well documented (and, if you take reservations over the phone- make sure it's reiterated at time of booking).
  
• If you have long-term folks, make sure their sites stay tidy and clean.
  
• Old rigs, I can do. Crappy rigs with tarps covering them or sites littered with stuff turn me off.
  
• Make sure I can maneuver around the campground OR make sure to tell folks with big rigs they you are not big rig friendly.
  
• Make sure I can back-into my spot without too much fuss. Trees are great but make sure there aren't so many that we can't decently easily get parked.
  
• Though, and here's the "you can't please everyone" - I know people who don't want trees at all. They're messy and carry the risk of dropping limbs onto the rigs. Plus it makes it harder to get satellite TV access.

[Ejs4029]

It seems my threshold is about $60 per night....I've paid more and I have paid less at certain campgrounds that we have enjoyed going to some don't have the amenities but we enjoy them anyway some had the amenities but we didn't enjoy them as much.

Honestly who wants to stay in a lousy site no matter how nice the campground is ? But then again one persons lousy site maybe another person treasured site

[maskins]

Ocean lakes in myrtle beach is 85-100 depending on time of year, but it is ocean front, has a water park, all pull thru sites. I would say that 75 is too high for what you described.

[Iwritecode]

This sounds an awful lot like the CG we used to be seasonal at. They used to be a family owned CG, but were recently bought by a larger corporation. Then they raised their seasonal rates about 30% and lost half (possibly more) of their seasonal campers over the next couple of weeks following the price hike.

This was after a large price hike the previous season in which they lost a number of seasonal campers as well.

I just checked their rates and the highest they charge for a daily rate is $50. That's for "in-season" full hookup weekends.

They have (or are working on getting) much of the same amenities you describe. Pool, hot tub, 30 and 50 amp service, river sites, satellite TV, wi-fi, snack shop, camp store, a small swimming beach, etc...

But being on a river, they also get flooded at least once a year. Recently it's been more like 3-4 times a year.

For me, $75 is way too high for what you are getting. Although I'm in a completely different part of the country so the COL around here may be different.

[grumpy0374]

Wow!!! I remember my first camper, 16 foot Midas Smokey, 1971.
Looked for campgrounds via Woodalls/Good Sam. Had to follow their maps and free Shell/Texaco roadmaps to find the campground (go 3 miles past Sinclair gas Station, turn left at red barn. Go to 3rd dirt road and go right...) and when found, hoped they would have a spot for us.
Everything was done by stopping somewhere and using a pay phone.
Lucky if campground had full hookups (water, electric, sewer).
We'd pull in, set up, and break out the Radio Shack tv antenna and moung it to the clamps we installed on the camper side. Hooked it up to our little 13 inch portable tv, and hoped we could pull in the 3 local stations.
For that we paid 10-14 bucks.
Now we expect stright, level pull thru spots, full hook ups including 50 amp (almost unheard of in 1971) service, cable tv, wi-fi service, cell phone service.
In 71, restrooms/showers were, at best, something you used as a last resort. Office was just that...an office.
Now we expect restrooms and showers that are better than we have at home, online bookings, and a fully equipped camp store. We call from our cell phones while an hour out from the campground we found on RV Park Reviews while brousing our IPad, and are upset when they don't have an open spot on such short notice.
Yeah, prices have gone up. but so has gas, food, cost of vehicles, campers, motorhomes.
So you have to pay 70 bucks for a nice spot. What would you have to pay for a nice hotel room? Now kick in price of going out and buying 3 meals per day per person.
In 71 price of my new Buick wagon and new camper was less than 6 grand.
Now 6 grand will just barely get you a new set of tires for your big class a. Costs twice as much as my camper costs in 71 just to set up a toad for towing.
Times sure have changed!!!
Grumpy

[Iwannacamp]

I guess we are lucky. Our favorite spots(COE and state parks) range from $15-27 with 30 and 50(some) electric and water. No sewer, but free dumping. I guess..thank you SW AR and NE TX.

To me $70 gets resort type camping

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by flosmith

Our favorite destination just raised their rates about 37% for 2019 over 2018 charges. I’m questioning the reasonableness of the new rates, and would appreciate your input.

Here’s the campground scoop:
1. On the banks of a lovely small river in the Texas Hill Country (South-Central Texas west of I-35)
2. Family owned campground with about 30 30-amp sites and 10 or so 50-amp sites. Near very small town
3. Most campsites are spacious & shady
4. Four (4) of the 50-amp sites have full hookups
5. None of the 30-amp sites have sewer hookups
6. Sites are notoriously NOT level
7. Bathhouse can be described as rugged, at best
8. Poor WiFi
9. No cable or satellite
10. No cell phone service
11. Roads into & around grounds are narrow, pot-holed, and rough. In 50-amp loop, road/path isn’t paved at all (grassy)
12. Electric utility is either 30- or 50-amp service only; no 15-20 amp service at all (except by extension cord from trailer).
13. In rainy conditions, very difficult to pull RV out of sites due to mud (no pavement except crumbling asphalt RV pad, and even that in only some sites)

Extra fees for:
Pets
Honey wagon service
Shuttle up-river to tube/kayak

New prices are $70/nite for most River-front sites; $75/nite for two of the River-front sites on the ends of the area (30-amp, no sewer). We paid $55 before our Good Sam discount this year

Used to be a multi-use campground, but disallowed tents beginning 1/1/17, adding 30-amp electric and going RVs only at that time. This is the reason we bought our TT, and why we bought when we did, so we have only been doing the RV camp thing a little over a year.

Similar, smaller campground in the area has many more amenities, fewer sites, but a little further (+200 yards) from river. The rates there are $61 for summer, dropping to $44 per nite after Sept 1 each year (haven’t been there, just checked them out online).

We’ve been coming here for about 10 days a year for 21 years. DH camped here in a Pop-Up with his family when he was a kid. So, it’s hard to think objectively about this place.
New ownership as of Feb., 2018. Owner says they plan lots of improvements; most will take about 5 years, they estimate. Not specific as to what those improvements will be.

So, what is your opinion?
What kind of conditions do you expect for a $75 per nite camp fee?
Are we fools to continue to vacay there?

Thanks!

Stop going there and find a new place $70 a night is crazy with out full hook ups and Evan with

[spock123]

You can pay about what you want. Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach about 90 bucks a night. Fort Wilderness in Disney World, a hundred bucks and more a night. Mayberry campground thirty bucks. Key West is how deep your pockets are or how lucky you are. Your choice you can pay what you want. I was just at a campground in Pigeon Forge TN, 57 bucks and tight spaces or forty bucks at another campground and plenty of room. We have choices

[lsauer1]

I would not pay $75 a night. We've stayed at some beautiful resorts, with tons of amenities, and never paid that much.

[dbledan]

I also think only you can judge based on your history there. It is too pricy given the aminities to me. I will spend $50 without a lot of thought but over that I begin to wonder why I am not getting a room. I certainly question why I don't get a level site paved or not decent wifi, paved roads, and good rest rooms over $50.

Maybe you shorten your stay there to 5 days and move for the remainder. Who knows you may find something better. If you find out you like the original site best then you could always go back. Regardless I would let the new owners know why you shortened your trip there. In the end the market will dictate the price but it may take a year for them to realize it.

[pismolocal]

Been RVing for many decades...always thought it was the poor mans way to travel. Not anymore. If I need to stay at a RV park I will. But if I can get away with boondocking somewhere, I perfer that. Getting an RV is easy now. More people are doing it than ever before. This means camp grounds are going to raise rates. Supply and demand as mentioned before. Might need to go in the off season or find free places to camp and get into boondocking.

[OKI Marine]

Originally Posted by flosmith

Our favorite destination just raised their rates about 37% for 2019 over 2018 charges. I’m questioning the reasonableness of the new rates, and would appreciate your input.

Here’s the campground scoop:
1. On the banks of a lovely small river in the Texas Hill Country (South-Central Texas west of I-35)
2. Family owned campground with about 30 30-amp sites and 10 or so 50-amp sites. Near very small town
3. Most campsites are spacious & shady
4. Four (4) of the 50-amp sites have full hookups
5. None of the 30-amp sites have sewer hookups
6. Sites are notoriously NOT level
7. Bathhouse can be described as rugged, at best
8. Poor WiFi
9. No cable or satellite
10. No cell phone service
11. Roads into & around grounds are narrow, pot-holed, and rough. In 50-amp loop, road/path isn’t paved at all (grassy)
12. Electric utility is either 30- or 50-amp service only; no 15-20 amp service at all (except by extension cord from trailer).
13. In rainy conditions, very difficult to pull RV out of sites due to mud (no pavement except crumbling asphalt RV pad, and even that in only some sites)

Extra fees for:
Pets
Honey wagon service
Shuttle up-river to tube/kayak

New prices are $70/nite for most River-front sites; $75/nite for two of the River-front sites on the ends of the area (30-amp, no sewer). We paid $55 before our Good Sam discount this year

Used to be a multi-use campground, but disallowed tents beginning 1/1/17, adding 30-amp electric and going RVs only at that time. This is the reason we bought our TT, and why we bought when we did, so we have only been doing the RV camp thing a little over a year.

Similar, smaller campground in the area has many more amenities, fewer sites, but a little further (+200 yards) from river. The rates there are $61 for summer, dropping to $44 per nite after Sept 1 each year (haven’t been there, just checked them out online).

We’ve been coming here for about 10 days a year for 21 years. DH camped here in a Pop-Up with his family when he was a kid. So, it’s hard to think objectively about this place.
New ownership as of Feb., 2018. Owner says they plan lots of improvements; most will take about 5 years, they estimate. Not specific as to what those improvements will be.

So, what is your opinion?
What kind of conditions do you expect for a $75 per nite camp fee?
Are we fools to continue to vacay there?

Thanks!

Sounds like they are raising rates ahead of scheduled improvements maybe to help generate cash flow to pay for or help with the cost some. Question is what will the rates ballon to once upgrades are done. For that much per night I would expect more. Especially FHU. Life is about choices. I would look elsewhere unless you like the place and are comfortable with those rates and increases.