I do not frequent KOA's but have stayed in them quite a few times through the years... I can honestly say I haven't run in to rude owners or workers... I have stayed in a few that were old and in need of some repair and some updating... I would give them a average rating...
Love my mass produced, entry level, built by Lazy American Workers, Hornet
Well this thread has NOT sent me to the computer to cancel my reservations at KOA in Astoria, Oregon tomorrow.......In fact, I'm looking forward to my stay.....!
ratherBcampin wrote: Well this thread has NOT sent me to the computer to cancel my reservations at KOA in Astoria, Oregon tomorrow.......In fact, I'm looking forward to my stay.....!
That's exactly the point.......KOA's can range from excellent (hopefully the Astoria location falls into that category) to the horrible, clearly an unacceptable range for any franchise operation. JMHO.
KOA has been around forever, and when nice campgrounds were few and far between they were a welcome change. The industry has changed and nice campgrounds are common now, and some of the original KOA's are showing their age.
having travel quite a bit for quite awhile, I think the KOA's still offer an acceptable minimum 99% of the time. In some remote areas of the west, they are the only reasonable option.
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I can't believe this. come on now... if you don't like it don't go back. simple.
But no need to bash the entire chain and say things like "all KOA desk clerks are rude" etc. Personally, I've only been once and although I didn't really like the location the people there were top notch.
We recently (month or so ago) stayed at the Wapakonetta, Ohio KOA. They advertise that they are the #2 KOA in the nation as per the surveys that are filled out from campers. I must agree it was really nice. Nice pool, 2 dog runs, decent mini golf. The spots were a touch tight but the owners and staff were excellent. We are under a Emerald Ash Borer restiction in most counties on Ohio and can't transport wood. Well the campgrounds sell the wood, and it is a touch expensive, but when I walked to the office to buy a bundle, the owners wife took the money and by the time I got back to the HTT the owner had delivered the wood to the site. They were constantly riding around in their electric golf cart waving at everyone. Very nice people. Unfortunately there was some reason for a large number of very loud motorcycles to be in te campground the weekend that we were there. I have to say thought that other than the loudness when they left and arrived, you did not know they were there. They started to get a little rambunctios the first night and we say the owners stop by their Kabin and talk with them and never heard a peep. We wound up there by accident as we had reservations for the Buckeye Lake KOA but the night before we were to arrive there was a really bad storm. The freeway was flooded near there, the compground was flooded. The called to advise the campground was closed. I asked for a refund and they said that they would prefer we use the reservation at a later time. They claim to be very proud of all the work they have done to their campground and want people to come and enjoy it and get word of mouth out. I read between the lines and figured they just did not want to let my deposit go. But they said to think about it, and if I called and would rather cancel as opposed to use the reservation later that they would gladly refund my money. We will probably use it in a month or so. My wife and I are both Police Officers and she is also Army reserve and it seems to be typical for KOA's to give discounts for either. We will probably use them in the future, but in reality not as a first choice.
While I was not going to be the one to bump this thread back on top, I'm glad someone did. I just returned (night before last) from my first ever visit to KOA, in Astoria, Or.
When I pulled up to the office, I noticed a banner that said, "Presidents Award Winner".....When I walked into the WELL STOCKED store to register, there was a long line.......When it was my turn, one of the 3 ladies behind the desk said, "I can help the next smiling face".....Her comment made me smile.....
As I was registering, I had intended to ask questions about the local sights in the area but before I could ask,the clerk answered ALL the ?'s I had......She even circled the sites on a map she gave me......She then gave me a map of the campground and circled, explained, and wrote in the times of the activities that were available
She said the store was open from 7:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. and said if I put my trash on the road between 9-11 & 3-4, staff would pick it up and haul it to the dumpster! Then she gave me a 2 page survey and said I would receive a free coffee from the internet cafe (which BTW is FREE to use the computers), if I filled it out.
The whole time she was checking me in, she was SMILING.......She said, "Do you have any ?'s"...I said, "no, you already answered them"!
2 days later, my 10 y.o. niece, at the FREE all you can eat pancake breakfast, noted how EVERYONE in the campground was sooo nice, polite and smiling all the time!
My only regret about staying at THIS KOA is that we didn't spend ENOUGH time on the property as we were busy taking in the sites the clerk at check-in had circled!
This KOA is TRUELY a DESTINATION campground....!
BTW, for those who think prices at fast food franchises are all the same, think again...On our way home I paid 1.75 for a Jumbo Jack in Cresent City, Ca.......They are 1.25 in Lakeport, Ca......Just call each store and ask.
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