I am pretty new to RVing and rely a lot on forums and reviews to find a place to land. I went to post my first review of a park where we stayed a couple months to find out that my post will not be published until I have written several reviews. Which will take quite a while since we do not move a lot for now.
The rv park has mostly good reviews over there, yet I had an awful experience. I am not mad at good reviewers. Each person experience is different... plus some people need new glasses.... and "fake" reviews can be posted by the owner of the park.... I know about that but I wish I could post it in case it helps another poor soul to not fall in the same trap. Too bad I wasted time to craft an honnest review... I am afraid it won't happen again.
Learning things the hard way.... maybe this is why some recent reviews are dated 2009...
Is there a place we can trust for reviews?
The Bear II said
10:21 PM Aug 28, 2012
RV Park Reviews is the best source I have found. It's easy and quick to use. If you read through the reviews (including the older reviews) for a park you can quickly get a sense for how good your experience at a park will be.
I look for key words like trashy, lots of permanent residents, noisy, bad staff, needed repairs...etc.
I also ignore the reviews of people who violated park rules...for example one of my favorite parks that I consider a 5 star RV park. An RVer wrote a review that their kids were constantly being told not to ride their scooters in the park. The rules clearly show no scooters or skateboards. This is a regulation imposed by the parks insurance company due to liability concerns. You can't fault the park for the kids and parents not obeying the rules.
If I see a park with mostly good reviews it gets on my list of candidates.
If you've toured another park write a review about it just to get your two in. RV Park Reviews has the two limit rule to make sure you're not just a one post wonder...they want reviews from people who have experience with other parks to make the reviews more meaningful. If you have nothing to compare the park to....how good or bad will your review be.
patoneill said
11:20 PM Aug 28, 2012
Thanks, the Bear II.
I tend to ignore the older reviews because of ownership changes. I have found that by "googling" the park name, I can find another variety of reviews from google, yahoo or even people blogging. People's blogs are a great source of information.
Very educational experience. I do not regret anything.
That said, since this week-end we are in a new location which has been nice so far. I am going to post a review so that I'll have 2 ;)
rclvnv said
01:34 AM Aug 29, 2012
Hi, Agree with Bear 110%. Have used RV Park Reviews extensively,and have never been disapointed.Most recent trip utilized 30 gampgrounds, all found through RV Park Reviews. The difference is as opposed to directories, the reviews/listings are not paid. It is necessary to look at all of the reviews for a property because different folks are looking for different things. I once stayed at a park close to the ocean,which packed you in like sardines and made no effort to deal with hammered parents who let their kids run wild. If I had looked back at older reviews, I could have saved myself a week of misery, oh yes, I would have seen the no-refund policy in that review,as well. The only limitation I find is that not all possibilities in a given location are shown, unless they have been reviewed, but for me, if I can't read about it from someone who has been there, I'll pass. As said, do a second review,you will find it a continuing source of info.
Richard
Red Wolf said
02:48 AM Aug 29, 2012
We have utilized rvparkreviews.com for about two years while traveling through thirty-seven states. We've only had one disappointment, but that was due to a lazy manager who wouldn't stick around to help us get our electric set up properly. I also used other sites, if rvpr doesn't have the CG on their site. I've posted about sixty some reviews and will continue to do what I can to help others have the great rv experience that we've had. Next week we'll head west from Helena, MT to WA and have already used rvpr to help set up our itinerary. A great site with excellent assistance available, when needed. Happy Trails!
RVRon said
01:48 PM Aug 29, 2012
RVParkReviews.com has been one of my tools for years and now that we're fulltiming I've started posting my own reviews as well. What I look for in the reviews is trending and consensus. If there is one bad review among several good ones I'll usually not put much value in that one bad review. I remember reading one review where the reviewer gave the campground a 1 (out of 10) because they arrived late at night with no reservation and there was no site available. If the older reviews were kind of bad but the recent ones are better then that's a plus. Many campgrounds get new owners that make improvements and fix things that the older reviews complained about. Conversely, if the older reviews were good but the newer ones are bad that may mean the owners are letting things go.
Technomadia said
09:10 PM Aug 29, 2012
RVParkReviews.com is a great resource - we utilize them in our research, and contribute by leaving reviews ourselves.
However, I'm not terribly fond of their old-school user interface. I don't like that there's no way to read more about the reviewer via a profile and/or links their website (they're actually somewhat anonymous). I find it a bit clunky to find things, as you have to know the city name.
I love the user interface of RVParking.com - which aimed to address those sorts of issues. It's far more modern style Web 2.0 stuff with social engineering tossed in. More like a Yelp for RVParks. It's a great system, and even has a free mobile app for your smartphone/table to aid in finding parks on the roam. And you create a user profile there, which makes it a lot easier to determine if someone values similar things that you do. As a result, you can be contacted by others (which we consider a huge plus) - we've gotten invites from other users for free driveway parking and even had RV Resorts invite us in for free to review them. The downside is - they don't have nearly the momentum of RVParkReviews, so there's not as many reviews yet. Which means it's not as useful. I'd really love to see these two merge and create a more ideal resource.
- Cherie
WestWardHo said
04:34 AM Aug 30, 2012
Cherie & Chris, found you comments very relevant and will look at RVParking.com. Thanks!
Fordiesel250 said
09:33 PM Sep 2, 2012
The way I use it is to throw out the worst review and the best review and then get an average score. It works for me and the ratings are pretty honest and fair.
TXRVr said
06:37 PM Sep 5, 2012
patoneill wrote:
The rv park has mostly good reviews over there, yet I had an awful experience. I am not mad at good reviewers. Each person experience is different... plus some people need new glasses.... and "fake" reviews can be posted by the owner of the park.... I know about that but I wish I could post it in case it helps another poor soul to not fall in the same trap. Too bad I wasted time to craft an honnest review... I am afraid it won't happen again.
Is there a place we can trust for reviews?
Every RV forum has some type of rules associated with posting - this one included. I personally like rvparkreviews.com as the better campground review site currently available. That is because my respect for a review site starts with what rules are in place for that particular site and how they are enforced. They seem to make that happen.
Picking a CG that you will be pleased with is not unlike picking a DVD movie rental. You hear about a good one, you read a few user reviews from online sources, you filter that information using your own personal preferences, and then you make the decision to 'rent.' If you are like everyone else, you sometimes get burned on both movie and campground recommendations.
I put more credence in the reviews from individuals who take the position that it is more about helping us as fellow RVers rather than the "it's-all-about-me" approach. I would just like the facts about the campground facilities and preferrable aimed at all types of RVs, not just the one the reviewer is in. It is helpful to hear what the campground has in the way of extra amenities and if they provided a service that was worth what you paid. I also prefer that in the Reader's Digest version. That's all I need to make the decision to use the CG or not. I don't really care that someone stated, at nauseum, that the staff didn't give them an extra twinky at check in because they thought that it was all about them. I take negative reviews into consideration, but a personal rant is worthless to everyone except the person doing the venting.
You sound like a person whose reviews I would like to read as valid opinions for considering where I want to camp. Please do whatever is appropriate within the published rules for the website to continue posting your reviews. I think that you can help others in deciding on a campground.
I am pretty new to RVing and rely a lot on forums and reviews to find a place to land.
I went to post my first review of a park where we stayed a couple months to find out that my post will not be published until I have written several reviews. Which will take quite a while since we do not move a lot for now.
The rv park has mostly good reviews over there, yet I had an awful experience. I am not mad at good reviewers. Each person experience is different... plus some people need new glasses.... and "fake" reviews can be posted by the owner of the park.... I know about that but I wish I could post it in case it helps another poor soul to not fall in the same trap. Too bad I wasted time to craft an honnest review... I am afraid it won't happen again.
Learning things the hard way.... maybe this is why some recent reviews are dated 2009...
Is there a place we can trust for reviews?
I look for key words like trashy, lots of permanent residents, noisy, bad staff, needed repairs...etc.
I also ignore the reviews of people who violated park rules...for example one of my favorite parks that I consider a 5 star RV park. An RVer wrote a review that their kids were constantly being told not to ride their scooters in the park. The rules clearly show no scooters or skateboards. This is a regulation imposed by the parks insurance company due to liability concerns. You can't fault the park for the kids and parents not obeying the rules.
If I see a park with mostly good reviews it gets on my list of candidates.
If you've toured another park write a review about it just to get your two in. RV Park Reviews has the two limit rule to make sure you're not just a one post wonder...they want reviews from people who have experience with other parks to make the reviews more meaningful. If you have nothing to compare the park to....how good or bad will your review be.
Thanks, the Bear II.
I tend to ignore the older reviews because of ownership changes. I have found that by "googling" the park name, I can find another variety of reviews from google, yahoo or even people blogging. People's blogs are a great source of information.
Very educational experience. I do not regret anything.
That said, since this week-end we are in a new location which has been nice so far. I am going to post a review so that I'll have 2 ;)
Hi, Agree with Bear 110%. Have used RV Park Reviews extensively,and have never been disapointed.Most recent trip utilized 30 gampgrounds, all found through RV Park Reviews. The difference is as opposed to directories, the reviews/listings are not paid. It is necessary to look at all of the reviews for a property because different folks are looking for different things. I once stayed at a park close to the ocean,which packed you in like sardines and made no effort to deal with hammered parents who let their kids run wild. If I had looked back at older reviews, I could have saved myself a week of misery, oh yes, I would have seen the no-refund policy in that review,as well. The only limitation I find is that not all possibilities in a given location are shown, unless they have been reviewed, but for me, if I can't read about it from someone who has been there, I'll pass. As said, do a second review,you will find it a continuing source of info.
Richard
RVParkReviews.com has been one of my tools for years and now that we're fulltiming I've started posting my own reviews as well. What I look for in the reviews is trending and consensus. If there is one bad review among several good ones I'll usually not put much value in that one bad review. I remember reading one review where the reviewer gave the campground a 1 (out of 10) because they arrived late at night with no reservation and there was no site available. If the older reviews were kind of bad but the recent ones are better then that's a plus. Many campgrounds get new owners that make improvements and fix things that the older reviews complained about. Conversely, if the older reviews were good but the newer ones are bad that may mean the owners are letting things go.
However, I'm not terribly fond of their old-school user interface. I don't like that there's no way to read more about the reviewer via a profile and/or links their website (they're actually somewhat anonymous). I find it a bit clunky to find things, as you have to know the city name.
I love the user interface of RVParking.com - which aimed to address those sorts of issues. It's far more modern style Web 2.0 stuff with social engineering tossed in. More like a Yelp for RVParks. It's a great system, and even has a free mobile app for your smartphone/table to aid in finding parks on the roam. And you create a user profile there, which makes it a lot easier to determine if someone values similar things that you do. As a result, you can be contacted by others (which we consider a huge plus) - we've gotten invites from other users for free driveway parking and even had RV Resorts invite us in for free to review them. The downside is - they don't have nearly the momentum of RVParkReviews, so there's not as many reviews yet. Which means it's not as useful. I'd really love to see these two merge and create a more ideal resource.
- Cherie
Every RV forum has some type of rules associated with posting - this one included. I personally like rvparkreviews.com as the better campground review site currently available. That is because my respect for a review site starts with what rules are in place for that particular site and how they are enforced. They seem to make that happen.
Picking a CG that you will be pleased with is not unlike picking a DVD movie rental. You hear about a good one, you read a few user reviews from online sources, you filter that information using your own personal preferences, and then you make the decision to 'rent.' If you are like everyone else, you sometimes get burned on both movie and campground recommendations.
I put more credence in the reviews from individuals who take the position that it is more about helping us as fellow RVers rather than the "it's-all-about-me" approach. I would just like the facts about the campground facilities and preferrable aimed at all types of RVs, not just the one the reviewer is in. It is helpful to hear what the campground has in the way of extra amenities and if they provided a service that was worth what you paid. I also prefer that in the Reader's Digest version. That's all I need to make the decision to use the CG or not. I don't really care that someone stated, at nauseum, that the staff didn't give them an extra twinky at check in because they thought that it was all about them. I take negative reviews into consideration, but a personal rant is worthless to everyone except the person doing the venting.
You sound like a person whose reviews I would like to read as valid opinions for considering where I want to camp. Please do whatever is appropriate within the published rules for the website to continue posting your reviews. I think that you can help others in deciding on a campground.