2gldnrtvers wrote: My wife and I are currently building a new family RV Resort in West Michigan. The sites will all be concrete, with concrete patios, paved roads, landscaping, and many amenities. We have been struggling with this 10 year rule issue. The majority of our competitors use the 10 year rule. We don't want to turn away folks with well taken care of older units, however, we are an upscale facility, and don't want to be full of junk.
If you're an upscale facility, I'm assuming your rates will also be upscale and that alone will USUALLY eliminate most of the "junk". But from what most people say, a lot of parks have the 10-year rule with a current picture or inspection required if the rig is over that age. I certainly understand the need for SOME kind of rule, other than "sorry, we don't like the looks of your RV"--but unless the 10-year rule is strictly enforced, you'd still have to resort to that if someone with a junker 11 years old DOES ask to stay.
Personally, if we're staying at a public campground, it doesn't bother me what kind of rigs the neighbors have. Some of the nicest people we've met have been in tents or small, older trailers. But if I'm going to spend "big bucks" to stay in an RV Resort, I wouldn't appreciate a junker next door. AND, if we have any choice in the matter, we'll keep on driving rather than stop at an RV park where most of the rigs staying there look like junk.
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osbornk wrote: I think the 10 year rule is generally used only when the RV has not been well cared for and looks bad. If the rig is well kept and nice, they "forget" to ask about the age and let you in.
So would you let this "7" year old rig into a resort? New Paint Job
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How many people with worn-out junk RVs are going to pay to stay at an expensive, high-end snooty RV resort?
I'll bet if they eliminated that rule, they'd really have very few problems with junker RVs. They may get nice RVs older than 10 years like the OP, but that should be fine.
They probably think they need to cater to the old, rich geezers who spent most of their lives yelling at kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN!".
"How many people with worn-out junk RVs are going to pay to stay at an expensive, high-end snooty RV resort?"
You obviously have not been west, like Calif. I understand what you are saying, but until you see some of the junk in the 75 dollar a night parks, it is hard to understand.
2gldnrtvers wrote: My wife and I are currently building a new family RV Resort in West Michigan. The sites will all be concrete, with concrete patios, paved roads, landscaping, and many amenities. We have been struggling with this 10 year rule issue. The majority of our competitors use the 10 year rule. We don't want to turn away folks with well taken care of older units, however, we are an upscale facility, and don't want to be full of junk. I know that other parks use the 10 year rule because it is easy to define, and not up to interpretation. I would love some feedback from other RVers as to how we should ensure that our standards are kept high without turning away potential good customers. Just saying that you must show "pride in ownership" is very hard for us to define to employees and to guests, as one's definition of "pride in ownership" will differ greatly.
Best of luck on the Resort. It's a huge undertaking. I think that you're going to have to apply some sort of "10-yr rule" maybe with allowable exceptions for well taken care of older units. Heck, during our cross country trip we hit rain in CO, then continued on to Utah with dirt, dust and heat. You should have seen our rig by the time we got to Nevada. You wouldn't have believed it was only a year old!!
Ultimately, it's your business and your call. No matter what rule you decide on, etc., you're going to offend someone or have someone unhappy. It's just impossible to do it otherwise. If it were me, I'd word the rule so that well taken care of "classics" are an exception.
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