Community Forums

nbargolf · 07-15-2014, 07:26 AM

Campers BEWARE. Do Not stay at Northern Rockies Lodge on Muncho Lake. After 2 nights of dry camping we thought we would spurge a little and stay here, $50 a night for full hookups and Wi-Fi and a great location by the lake. First, the sites are close to the lake but in a ugly maintenance area. Second the free Wi-Fi is a joke what you get is 20mb a day at dialup speed which is on and off. 20mb might get me my email but not much more, if you want more it is $17 for 500mb at the same speed and useless connection. The sites are 30 amp no problem normally do it many times on the road never been a problem. There were 6 sites on one of the main breakers and each site had an individual breaker. It was hot everyone running AC. The main breaker popped four times but no individual breaker popped. This means no one was drawing over the 30 amps. The owner came down yelling saying he was throwing us ALL out because we were causing his power problem. One fellow tried to say something and the owner got right up in his face screaming at him. This man which we had met was a gentle giant, he told the owner don't get in my face and talk to me like that. The owner backed away and said he was calling the police to throw us all out. Well the gentle giant left but the others stayed not leaving without a full refund. No police the owner was bluffing as we knew. The man is a rude obnoxious person who know nothing about how to treat customers. His staff are also rude. Fuel diesel prices they give 20 cents a gallon off for guest. $1.96 a liter $7.42 a gallon with discount $1.76 a liter $6.66 a gallon such a deal. A few miles up the road $1.45 a liter $5.48. Breakfast here $15-20 ea plus $2.75 a cup for coffee we ate at home. Prices in BC are high but folks this is highway robbery. We have been Rving for six years full time for 2 and this is the worst campground and owners we have encountered. Do yourself a big favor and if you come this way bypass this park.

racersedge · 07-15-2014, 08:05 AM

I looked up the web site and it looks like a really really nice facility. hard to believe its as bad as the op claims.I think I will call the lodge and get there side of the story before passing any judgement. ON a side note the Wifi In Berrago springs RV resort near Palm Springs ca is just as bad and they charge 75$ PD for a pull through and no lake. I disagree with the worst campground as its very very nice for way up there
I shall wait with baited breath to hear the other side and report back

JohnBoyToo · 07-15-2014, 08:32 AM

go to rvparkreviews to input your story and review others story about the park...

racersedge · 07-15-2014, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnBoyToo

go to rvparkreviews to input your story and review others story about the park...

Good idea one review was positive and two were negative
Quote:
Nice owner, nicely laid out RV park. In need of some additional cleanup of old run down buildings. This campground is a rearranged old Alaska Highway lodge campground. Overpriced for what you get by about $10-$15, but in line with other Muncho Lake private parks. We camped here in a Motorhome.

People have to realize because of the remoteness the rates(everything) will be higher and because its power is generater things are not quite like downtown USA

R2Home · 07-15-2014, 08:52 AM

Muncho lake is out in the middle of no place. I suspect that they provide their own electricity and their wifi might be via satellite, which could be the reason it is so slow. We have driven by Muncho lake several times, but did not have the time to stop. Good looking lodge from the outside! While in that part of BC, I would not expect to have much for connectivity and for the most part traveling through Canada, connectivity is expensive.
I wonder what the OP was expecting in the first place? There are few places in remote Canada that will have the same services as places that they may be used to in the 'lower 48'!

Dr4Film · 07-15-2014, 09:11 AM

I have been traveling to and from Alaska since 2010. Even before my very first trip it was a known and published fact around the RV circles that the Muncho Lake area has been and still is the BIGGEST rip-off in the entire BC Providence especially for fuel.

I always enjoy the ride along the Muncho Lake area BUT have never stopped for anything other than to take a photo.

There are plenty of places to get cheaper fuel, places to stay overnight (boondock) so my money is NEVER spent on anything in the Muncho Lake area.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Orangepeel · 07-15-2014, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racersedge

I looked up the web site and it looks like a really really nice facility. hard to believe its as bad as the op claims.I think I will call the lodge and get there side of the story before passing any judgement. ON a side note the Wifi In Berrago springs RV resort near Palm Springs ca is just as bad and they charge 75$ PD for a pull through and no lake. I disagree with the worst campground as its very very nice for way up there
I shall wait with baited breath to hear the other side and report back

LOl!!!!! Wether OP is exaggerating or not; you expect you can call any campground, ask about an incident that potentially hurt their business and expect to get a truthful answer???

Ron_H · 07-15-2014, 09:33 AM

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

Though I have not been through Muncho Lake with our motorhome let (next May), I've been through both in our CR-V and on my motorcycle. Whenever I talk to someone about travelling to Alaska I include a warning about gassing up in Fort nelson and Watson Lake to avoid having to buy fuel at Muncho. It is the most costly fuel along the Alcan.

It real is unfortunate considering it looks like a wonderful place and the scenery is great along the lake.

cb1000rider · 07-15-2014, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnBoyToo

go to rvparkreviews to input your story and review others story about the park...

RVparkreviews tends to "filter" negative reviews. The parks are their customers. If you use it, try to include good reviews for camps that you're happy with.

racersedge · 07-15-2014, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orangepeel

LOl!!!!! Wether OP is exaggerating or not; you expect you can call any campground, ask about an incident that potentially hurt their business and expect to get a truthful answer???

Yes I do and believe in this case the OP is being very slanted as to exactly what happened and why
HERE IS STATEMENT FROM THE LODGE
Read and make your/form your own opinion

Thank you for your email. It is a beautiful time to come up to Muncho Lake

The incident referred to in the review below had just happened a couple of days ago. Every once in a while we get people who simply don't understand that we are in the middle of wilderness and expect city services where there are none.

Operating in serene wilderness as we do presents great opportunities and challenges. You get to enjoy beautiful views and unsurpassed peace and quiet. At the same time, we are off the grid, which means no cell service, we have to generate our own power, our own water and sewer systems. In addition, getting internet up here was a very expansive and arduous task.

People who come here to experience the great wilderness we have here appreciate our services. As well travelers on the Alaska Hwy. appreciate the relatively high level of services we provide in the middle of nowhere.

These particular travelers came in with very large RVs consuming 50 AMPs of power, when we are able to supply only 30 AMPs. As a result our breakers dropped a couple of times and the guests decided to find the breaker and turn it back on again by themselves, which made things worse. They were asked to avoid using the full 50 AMPs because our generators may only support 30 AMPs and their response was very aggressive toward the front desk clerks and demanded a refund. Due to our remote location we are not able to refund bookings because we can't resell those spots.

In short, 99% of travelers appreciate our services. Considering our remote location, we provide a high level of services in each and every department. Many consider us to be the best place to stay on the Alaska Highway.

I hope that clears things up for you.

Thanks,
Niro

cb1000rider · 07-15-2014, 02:07 PM

Regardless of the misunderstanding, screaming at customers (assuming this happened) should never occur.

It sounds to me that this particular park has power limitations as well as internet limitations. It's reasonable that if you pay for a service, you'd expect to get that service.. Especially on the power side. IF the main was popping - we'd need to understand the layout to know if this was a distribution or a design problem.

I'm not sure how RVs would be consuming 50A of power when the connection is at 30A. That would blow the local breaker, not necessarily the main.

It's too bad that it couldn't be worked out in a civil manner via some people dropping to gensets for a while and reasonable refunds...

racersedge · 07-15-2014, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cb1000rider

Regardless of the misunderstanding, screaming at customers (assuming this happened) should never occur.

It sounds to me that this particular park has power limitations as well as internet limitations. It's reasonable that if you pay for a service, you'd expect to get that service.. Especially on the power side. IF the main was popping - we'd need to understand the layout to know if this was a distribution or a design problem.

I'm not sure how RVs would be consuming 50A of power when the connection is at 30A. That would blow the local breaker, not necessarily the main.

It's too bad that it couldn't be worked out in a civil manner via some people dropping to gensets for a while and reasonable refunds...

I have replied to the lodge people asking for clarification on 50amp question also and the screaming deal because as u see he claims they started harassing the office staff?? and they also started fooling with the electrical circuts which they should not be doing.Its not there position to be touching anything.If it were me and they did that I would holler at them also
One thing is when your way in the middle of nowhere don't exspect too much.for $50 up there is CHEAP.

Fred1609 · 07-15-2014, 02:17 PM

I looked where that is on RVparkreviews map and satellite.....looks pretty nice. Being that high North I'm even surprised there is internet, but that's progress I guess. This comes down to a "he said she said incident". Should have checked RVparkreviews before making the reservation. Hope the rest of your trip is ok.
As for RVparkreviews not putting up a negative review.....I don't think that's true.....The filter comes into play when a review is personal or 3rd party. They don't owe CGs any loyalty. Reviews should be done with relevant info and leave the emotion out of it.

cb1000rider · 07-15-2014, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racersedge

I have replied to the lodge people asking for clarification on 50amp question also and the screaming deal because as u see he claims they started harassing the office staff??

Respectfully, you weren't there. You're going to get two very different view points on the same story. I'm not sure that such "settles" the issue.

I think you've established that there are power limitations at that camp and the total power capacity may not meet the needs of the camp if everyone is drawing power. Rural internet will be slow - and often expensive. How people were treated is going to be subject to some interpretation.

Fred - I've had negative reviews removed. No personal attack involved. It may be due to a policy change, but I'm not sure.
Here's another indication: http://www.campgroundreviews.com/invboar...&mode=threaded

And here's the policy requiring a minimum number of reviews:

Quote:

We have found it necessary to add some more security to the website when it comes to approving reviews. All members will now have to submit a minimum of three (3) different campgrounds before any of their reviews will be posted on the website. If you have not seen a recent review you submitted posted on the website that is because it is in a holding queue until the three review quota has been met and then they will automatically transfer to the approval queue and will then be posted. Any member that has already posted three or more will see no change. Sorry we have to do this but some campground owner's/employees think they don't have to follow the rules of this website and continue to try to post great reviews about their campground.