- RV park reviews can help you and other campers in planning your travels. Photo via Shutterstock Standard License
How RV Park Reviews Make Camping Better
If you own an RV, chances are you’ve spent time in at least a few RV parks, and if you live and travel in your RV full-time, you’ve probably stayed at more than a few. No matter the number of parks you’ve had the chance to experience, you almost certainly have an opinion on each and every campground you spend time in.
Perhaps the RV park you stayed in most recently has an amazing hot tub and a friendly staff, and you think very highly of it. On the other hand, maybe the campground you last stayed at was a dud with a dirty bathhouse and sites full of garbage, leaving you feeling disgusted. Of course, the most likely reality is that a given park falls somewhere in between the two, having both pros and cons.
In any of these cases, you should always leave RV park reviews on RV LIFE Campgrounds.
Now, there’s no arguing the fact that leaving a review does take a bit of time, something most of us don’t have a whole lot of. This might leave you wondering why in the world you should use your precious time to leave reviews for every RV park you stay in. There are actually a few different reasons to do this. All of them help the RV community as a whole, and some could even help you personally in the future.
1. Help RV parks improve
The number one reason to leave RV park reviews after every campground stay is to help the parks you use know what they’re doing right, and what needs improvement.
Sometimes it can be hard for the manager of a campground to look at their property from a camper’s point of view. Other times, they might be completely unaware of a less-than-stellar situation, especially if the problem is happening after dark, when the manager and staff are likely asleep. There are even some cases when a manager or staff member might be aware of a problem, but aren’t aware of just how much it affects a camper’s stay.
Owners need to know the truth
In all of these cases, hearing about issues and inconveniences from you will help the RV park owners, managers, and staff improve situations. It will also let them know what you love so they can do more of those types of things and hold onto their best amenities.
Not only does this make things better for other campers, it could also boost the campground’s business, and will even make things better for you if you choose to visit the same park in the future.
- Are sites too cramped? Let others know about your stay on RV LIFE Campgrounds. Photo via Shutterstock Standard License
2. Point other campers in the right direction
If you do any RV trip planning at all, chances are you’ve read reviews to help you plan. Why wouldn’t you? RV park reviews provide inside information on campgrounds from a camper’s point of view. They let you in on the downfalls of a park before you ever visit, and allow you to get excited about the awesome little perks that may not be advertised on the park’s website.
Knowing how RV park reviews can be helpful to campers as they plan their travels should motivate you to share your own experience in order to help point fellow wanderers in the right direction.
If you really disliked a park, it can be incredibly helpful to others to know that you disliked it and why. On the other hand, knowing that another camper really loved a particular park can help those same people feel confident when choosing it.
3. Use for future reference
A totally unexpected perk of leaving reviews about every campground you ever visit is the ability to look back on your own reviews. Why would you want to do this? To remember how you felt about a particular park and decide whether or not you’d like to return.
This might seem silly in the moment, but as you visit more and more parks over the years it can actually become quite difficult to remember those little details that could make or break a trip. Having a log of those details, especially a log that you created that addresses the things that most concern you personally, is absolutely wonderful when those little things inevitably start to slip your mind.
4. Thank the best parks
A good RV park review is one of the very best ways to thank a park that you love. Not only does reading those good reviews make the managers and staff feel good about their work, but as we pointed out earlier, those good reviews help them know what they’re doing right and which things they definitely need to keep doing.
On top of all that, good RV park reviews help bring business to campgrounds. Reviews are excellent for the parks, as they will pop up when the campground is searched, giving the park a stronger online presence.
Additionally, as mentioned before, positive reviews about a park help other campers feel confident when booking. This means people are more likely to choose the park with a few excellent reviews than the one with a lot of mediocre ones. Therefore, adding your excellent review to a favorite park’s lineup will likely give them a boost in business.
There are plenty of great reasons to review the RV parks you stay at.
Whether you’re leaving a positive review or a negative one, as long as it is detailed and honest, you will be helping the park, other campers, and yourself have a better camping experience.
For all of your camping and trip planning needs, look no further than RV LIFE Campgrounds and RV LIFE Trip Wizard. RV LIFE Campgrounds is a trusted source of campground and RV park reviews offered by camping and RV enthusiasts just like you. With its accompanying RV LIFE App, RV LIFE Trip Wizard gets you to your camping destinations utilizing RV-friendly routes specific to your RV and travel preferences.
Been to a campground lately? Don’t forget to leave a review! Reviews help other RVers like yourself, and they help the campground. Leave a campground review today!
Chelsea is a full-time RVer who teaches in campgrounds and online as she travels. She shares roadschooling tips and more on her blog, Wonder Wherever We Wander.
I always leave reviews but find it frustrating when I read reviews that say poor wifi and unfriendly staff These are least of my worries. I want to know size and space of sites and if I need extra dump hose. Laundry and wash room. Is the park clean and does it feel safe. We have been to campgrounds in some strange uncomfortable places. Does a train run beside campground. Plus the percentage of permanent to transients, we hate going into parks that more permanent.
What are the websites to best leave a review?
Additional thought – leaving a good review on a place you may return to could have distinct benefits. If the park tracks reviews they may recognize your name on next reservation and give you that little extra bit of customer service, a premium site, etc. And agreed on mediocre reviews, gives them opportunity to improve OR others see repetitive comments over the same issues which shows no improvement and interpreted as don’t care.
I disagree about Facebook, in this day of misinformation
I for one do not use FB for anything at all.
Until they change their privacy and tracking they’re out!
Love your intro!
Sadly, they also remember when you leave a poor review too.
If I leave a bad review for a bad site I do hope they will improve the issues in the review, but I don’t count on it enough to ever go back to the site.
If there was a problem but I would like to go back to the site l would communicate directly with the manager/owner and if they don’t have a way to do that or don’t respond positively then I leave a bad review for the lack of service and never go back.
Excellent article. We make every effort to leave a review, however in some cases there isnt a location on their website, or where on this forum to leave a review of a specific park and there have been some doozies on both sides of the fence.
I’m leaving fewer reviews these days unless they are quite positive. I’ve now been banned from more than one place because I left a negative review.
I don’t put a lot of stock in RV Park/Campground reviews. I have seen some doozies.
I only gave it 3 stars because:
1. Could only get one bar on my cell phone, or
2. The trees blocked my satellite signal, or
3. Couldn’t stream movies due to poor Wifi, or
4. No Golf Course or Wineries in the area, or
5. No restaurants nearby, and my favorite
6. It rained our entire stay.
A friend stayed in an RV park in a great location that advertised itself as being “secure”. They loved the park and said so in the review but also mentioned they had 2 sets of high end bikes stolen while there. They planned to go back the next year but without bikes but the owners banned them for life because of the comment in the review.
I can see how leaving reviews can help RV parks improve. I would like to do this. Maybe I can stay at a couple and then compare all of them.
Most really don’t care for the most part. There park is always full regardless of reviews.
Work in Park System for 10 years reviews in parks
Sites to small for my 40ft.trailer.
answer State park from the 40’s
and RV keep getting bigger.
Some of reviews from campers like this one that the campers do not like this answer and get bad reviews. Could on about the reviews we get.
I look for RV park reviews, and make sure to leave my own most of the time. I wish there were more reviews or website filters to find the parks that truly do have ADA showers, toilets, and level sites (near these facilities). RV camping has been a wonderful adventure with my elderly (96yo) mother, but without actual shower photos, I usually have to call the park to verify that they have grab bars on 2 walls, a shower bench or chair, hand held shower spray, and raised toilets (with grab bars).
Some showers are giant, without grab bars, others have grab bars that are out of reach, others have no bench or stool (I bring a small shower stool just in case). The worst showers have none of the ADA features, and I can’t even attach the suction grab bars we bring because the shower wall surface isn’t smooth so they don’t stick.
Yes, toilet and shower safety info (with pics) are extremely important info to include in every review!
I usually review the campgrounds, and try to be honest. So far, I haven’t been banned from any. However, when I leave my current park; I will be leaving reviews everywhere. I’m a snowbird who does her research, and might get banned from my reviews but who cares. I will never be back due to the misrepresentation and lying in several conversations with me and other campers.
I to have been banned for leaving honest reviews of a park I went to every year for several years. My reviews averaged 8 out of 10 positive, but owner’s father said owner didn’t like that I always had negative comments on the wifi.
Presently with the difficulty people are having reserving campsites. It is not a good idea to post a good review. It may make it difficult to get another reservation in the same campground for yourself in the future.