Campgrounds charge for guests!

[tmh462]

We went to a campground a couple of weeks ago that didn't have the additional fees. We would have gone to a closer, nicer one that at first glance charged much less. It went something like this:
Site Rental: $25/night
Occupancy: $5 per person/night
Electricity: $5/night
Water & Sewer: $2/night
Pet: $5 per pet per night
Cable: $3/night
WiFi: $3/night
Washroom Key: $2
Day Guests: $5 per person per day, must vacate by 8 PM.
Plus, the municipality it was in charged a 15% hotel/motel tax.
The place we ended up staying at, only charged us a flat $37 a night, including WiFi, but they had no cable (not the end of the world).
I think charging us $5 a night for our dog is what pushed me over the edge. If I have to pay extra for my dog to stay in our own trailer, she'd better be able to swim in the pool!

[UFO Pilot]

I know there has to be a rule on how long your "guests" visit but I believe some guests charges are unwarranted. We have a KOA about 5 miles from us where we used to go for a short weekend. The last time we were there they charged us $12 for our 2 friends to come in and eat dinner with us. When you are already paying $60 plus for the night, the extra $12 for a 2 hour visit is over the top. We haven't returned to that campground and we will not stay there again.

[chasfm11]

Originally Posted by OldHiker

Quite a response, but I really did not make myself clear or qualify the question. Let me restate it.

I object to commercial campgrounds charging for guests who visit us. When I used to stay in hotels while traveling, there was never a charge if someone came to my room. As a matter of fact, all guests enter the hotel free. I also rented a condo from time to time and never a guest charge. Now I own a motor home and the only place to park it is at a campground where I pay a nightly parking fee. They charge me to park. Do I get a refund if I am not there all day? No.

I was not referring to public campgrounds where every visitor pays a fee.

It just creates a hassle. Yes, I can be a big shot and pay the $5 fee, but that really is not the point.

I understand your point. It seems unreasonable to pay $60 and then the guest fees on top of it. It is one of the reasons that we typically try to avoid commercial CGs. The fees are higher and there always seem to be additional charges, even for the two of us. OTOH, we stayed at a commerical CG in Lake Palestine, TX where a party of 18 happened on a site two down from us and lasted into the wee hours of the morning. That CG charged $25 per night and had not guest charges. Management had no valid response to me when I complained the next morning. Guest charges can help to eliminate situations like this. Some folks just seem to need some incentive not to run roughshod over others, whether the CG is commerical or not.

[JackHammr']

I can understand and agree with your comments ..

We're all different ..

We get away to be away from people

And nah we aint crotchy anti socials , well she says I am , but I disagree

[f-150]

if you dont like it dont stay there or buy your own campgroud yes it suck but it is their campground so their ruels

[Jim Stewart]

Originally Posted by tmh462

We went to a campground a couple of weeks ago that didn't have the additional fees. We would have gone to a closer, nicer one that at first glance charged much less. It went something like this:
Site Rental: $25/night
Occupancy: $5 per person/night
Electricity: $5/night
Water & Sewer: $2/night
Pet: $5 per pet per night
Cable: $3/night
WiFi: $3/night
Washroom Key: $2
Day Guests: $5 per person per day, must vacate by 8 PM.
Plus, the municipality it was in charged a 15% hotel/motel tax.
The place we ended up staying at, only charged us a flat $37 a night, including WiFi, but they had no cable (not the end of the world).
I think charging us $5 a night for our dog is what pushed me over the edge. If I have to pay extra for my dog to stay in our own trailer, she'd better be able to swim in the pool!

Ok, now that's just downright wrong. They do own the place and have the right to charge whatever they want. They are obviously having trouble making ends meet so they are trying to nickel and dime you out of the park. In a lot of parks, this attitude is going to further push them down the tubes.

Park one charged you $50 without cable and Park 2 charged you $37 without cable. If park 2 would have still charged you a flat $50, my guess is you would still feel better about it and stay at park 2. It's the Park 1 types that really get under you skin.

[JackHammr']

I agree , thats not right ..

Internet isnt a stay stopper for us , nor tv ..

One place we stayed at , I reserved online , and played with all the numbers ..

30 amp was $10 cheeper per day than 50 amp ..

Two peeps with and without toad was same price ..

extra peeps were abt $3 per day per person ..

I didnt see an option where they charged for guests , not camping ..
They did have a limit of 8 per site tho'

I can see where they are coming from with the fees , keeps big parties from going all night , or peeps abusing the privilege ..

Like everything else , the abuses of a few mess it up for everyone else ..

[Wayne M]

I just stayed at a "plush" resort for one night. My son had to deliver something to us. He would only be staying an hour or so. I told them up front that he was coming in. I did not have to pay for him to come to us and sit for a little while. That's the way it should be.

Now, when they visited us in a campground and were spending two nights with us, I went to the office and paid $12 for the both of them for both nights (total).

It's ridiculous to be charged for a 1 or two hour visit during the day light hours, and probably even the evening hours.

[Lynnvt]

I think they have a right to charge whatever they want and you have a right not to stay where you don't like the charges. I think a day use charge makes sense when you have amenities that the guest might use. But I do think it should be a flat fee whether you stay one hour or the whole day. It's just too much "book keeping" to see who is visiting which site and for how long.

[Corvette Man]

I am against having to pay for guests if they stay less than a couple of hours, ie for lunch or dinner. I don't mind having to walk or drive to pick them up. If they use the facilities then they need to pay. How to control this is the problem. I agree that talking to the owner is the best way to get your 2-4 hour guests in for free. Most owners are nice and just don't want a lot of non paying people parking in empty spots, driving all around the campground and using there costly facilities for free.

[Spoonman]

Most campgrounds do not have the staff to police how long guests are staying. 2 hrs ,6hrs , doesn`t matter.
I have seen many instances where people, especially on holiday w//ends turn their campsite into family reunions,or just plain beer bashes. Most offenders have no regard for their neighbors and are of the opinion they have rented the campground not a site.
As is usually the case, a few will make everyone suffer. Just like the Wal-Mart abusers.

[georgetown350]

Koa in Niagara falls allows guests for free up to 2 hours.

Steve

[Max Hubrich]

Okay Gals and Guys,

Here's my take on all this---

We have a very short camping season in Maine. It really didn't even start until the third week in June this year. The weather was terrible-- rainy and cold. The kids didn't even get out of school until June 22nd. The season ends on Oct 12th. The campground closes on Oct 12th because all our water lines are above ground and the lines are drained at that time. We are sitting on "ledge" (granite). Very little is buried. It was a major chore to install sewer pipes at most of our RV campground sites. We have to constantly repair the roads because of "washouts" caused by torrential "Nor-Easters"-- We've had two this year already.

We've worked up here for 5 years now (Cindy and I). I constantly repair items in the bathhouse-- due to misuse. We pick up dog poop, and try cutting all the grass, and edging required on non-raining days, even when we're off duty. We clean fire pits and build and repair/paint picnic tables. We move and store tow dollies for guests, both when they are coming and going. We find tripped circuit breakers in the bath house because appliances, compressors (for air mattresses), and heating plates are improperly used mostly by our tenters-- and even some of our Rv'ers. We have twice, this year, removed plumbing in the showers to retrieve lost earring's-- one time for a man! We have found a pair of mans boxer shorts in our sewer treatment filter (when it backed up) that had to have been flushed down the toilet. One time I had to remove a commode completely because we could not get it to flush. When I got it out in the yard and turned it upside down I saw 3 shinny brass contacts staring me in the face. A man had a phone call while sitting on john and dropped the cell phone into the toilet (his daughter told me that after he left- He was a visitor). It couldn't make the final 180 degree turn to clear the toilet.

We also operate/maintain a sewer treatment facility to comply with federal and state mandates. This takes time and requires good record keeping.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining- we do this because we need to keep busy and we like it.

This is everday life in a campground. There is one heck of a lot of work that goes into the daily operation of a class facility. We have our own private beach on the ocean, our guests can Kayak, with ours, or bring their own. We provide a pier and a float out into ocean for stripper fishing. The children can get nets and buckets (free) in our office to catch critters like crabs, shell fish and baby lobsters in our two water access points. Everyone looks for and collects "sea glass". We cook lobsters for our guests that the owner catches, normally twice a week. We keep them in a tank out in the ocean (we sit on the entrance of a harbor). The view of the harbor and ocean makes the "eyes" feel good-- the scenery is spectacular. This property has been in the owners family for almost 200 years. Very few places in the world have anything like this for campers and tenters.

Our office duties requires lots of time on the phone for reservations and the processing of guests.

We charge for guests, whether for a short visit or overnight. The fee is higher for overnight. We charge for extra vehicles. They all use our water, bathroom facilities, our beach, our piers our property and our limited parking spaces. There is no Cable TV in our location, AKA: DSL internet. The owner had to have a network established via microwave to provide first class internet service for the guests.

We discourage "off the road" RV's using our dump station with a high fee. We simply don't need the extra waste in our system.

If the family can't make a living providing a quality campground, it will disappear-- like so many others. There were four campgrounds in our area- now there are two.

You have to pay for all these amenities folks.

I don't see "extra's" ever going away -- It's a "must" in this business.

[Jim Stewart]

As always, we tend to forget that there are two sides to every story. You have done an excellent job in telling the other side. It seems you have many valid points and have persuaded me to jump ship and side with the Campground Owners on this one!