Campground puzzler

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Many KOAs (and sometimes other RV places, but mostly KOAs) have specified monthly sites and a very limited number of them. Why?

Why couldn't any site be a monthly? You just stay for a month instead of a day or a week, what's the big deal? I asked at a KOA once and the guy got pissy with me, which I didn't understand, and he didn't give me an answer. So perhaps he didn't know the answer because it's one of those arbitrary things - a rule for the sake of rules and no reason behind it.

I've run through some reasons why this might be, then promptly shot them down:

  • Monthly sites are usually smaller, and therefore cheaper and less revenue: big deal, just charge more for a better site if the customer is willing to pay it (and we are.
  • They don't want a ton of people living full time in their campground and crapping it up: okay, so you limit it to one month max.
  • I can't think of any other reasons.
What's the difference if we stay at that site for a month or 4 other RVers stay there for a week each? Even if they're constantly booked solid, which they never are, what's the difference who parks at that site as long as they're paying?

Any ideas?
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I got around this at the Mount Pleasant (Charleston) KOA. When they told me they didn't have any sites available for 6 weeks, I got online and booked 3 weeks, then 3 consecutive weeks. So they did indeed have sites available for a 6 week stay, and I have no idea why they initially turned me away.

And then when we checked in and the lady saw that we were 3 and 3, she booked us into the same site for the whole 6 weeks. It puzzles me why they didn't just do that in the first place.
 

limblips

Well-Known Member
In NY State campgrounds they limit you to 14 consecutive days at any one park. We book for the 14 days and usually if they have openings they will let us move to another site in the same park. They way they explained to me was they want everybody to get an opportunity for camping during the summer. Most campgrounds in the ADKs are only open May-Sept so there is a lot of demand.
 

Auntie Biache'

Well-Known Member
Maybe it's just their way of keeping the riff-raff from settling in. Some parks don't mind, others do. The park I lived in for 5 months has short term, long term, and perm resident sites. They're privately owned, also. Maybe, like most franchises, KOA requires that certain guidelines are followed in order to stick their name on your sign. Privately owned parks can make their own rules. 🤷
 
People who are there for a longer period don't necessarily like the noise and commotion of folks moving in and out in the site next to them, so they group long stay sites together. Quieter.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
It's annoying when I want to buy someone's product/service more than they want to take my money.
 

Yooper

Up. Identified. Lase. Fire. On the way.
Many KOAs (and sometimes other RV places, but mostly KOAs) have specified monthly sites and a very limited number of them. Why?

Why couldn't any site be a monthly? You just stay for a month instead of a day or a week, what's the big deal? I asked at a KOA once and the guy got pissy with me, which I didn't understand, and he didn't give me an answer. So perhaps he didn't know the answer because it's one of those arbitrary things - a rule for the sake of rules and no reason behind it.

I've run through some reasons why this might be, then promptly shot them down:

  • Monthly sites are usually smaller, and therefore cheaper and less revenue: big deal, just charge more for a better site if the customer is willing to pay it (and we are.
  • They don't want a ton of people living full time in their campground and crapping it up: okay, so you limit it to one month max.
  • I can't think of any other reasons.
What's the difference if we stay at that site for a month or 4 other RVers stay there for a week each? Even if they're constantly booked solid, which they never are, what's the difference who parks at that site as long as they're paying?

Any ideas?

Could it be something silly like "flow through" being a part of the KOA franchise agreement? Perhaps this is a KOA-desired metric to help with KOA advertising? For example, 1 guest who stays for 30 days counts as 1 guest, but 30 guests staying on the same site/pad counts for 30 (the latter giving the appearance of a 30-fold increase in traffic/business).

--- End of line (MCP)
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Regardless why they do this asinine thing, I think I'm going to go with a different resort. The place I just inquired about, you pay for a site no matter how long you stay there. As in, there are no "daily" or "monthly" sites - there are just sites and you book them for however long you want to stay. Pull-through, back-in, large sites, smaller sites, doesn't matter.

The difference between privately owned and corporate bullshit.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
  • They don't want a ton of people living full time in their campground and crapping it up: okay, so you limit it to one month max.

There is the answer. Just like Marinas dont want more than x number of liveaboards, campgrounds dont want to turn into trailerparks.

Depending on the state and county, there may also be a zoning and/or tax angle to this. A property used as 'campground' is a commercial property that doesn't have to be taken into account (and may not be taxed) for school planning. Once your 'campground' becomes a permanent residence, the county has to provide a school bus stop, count it towards dwelling units for water management purposes etc.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
There is the answer. Just like Marinas dont want more than x number of liveaboards, campgrounds dont want to turn into trailerparks.

Depending on the state and county, there may also be a zoning and/or tax angle to this. A property used as 'campground' is a commercial property that doesn't have to be taken into account (and may not be taxed) for school planning. Once your 'campground' becomes a permanent residence, the county has to provide a school bus stop, count it towards dwelling units for water management purposes etc.

I don't think we've ever been to a campground or RV resort that didn't have people who live there full time. Including KOAs. We saw the school bus coming to pick up the kiddies at many places.

But it doesn't matter. Now the KOA is calling me because they've suddenly found a suitable spot for us, but they're too late. I already found a resort in Las Cruces that didn't give me any hassle, and in fact moved a few reservations around to accommodate the XL pull through I wanted. Privately owned, no bullshit.

 
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