Camp Club Memberships…How good are they?

October 7, 5:19 PMPhoenix RV Lifestyle ExaminersKimberly & Jerry Peterson

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For full-time RVers it is almost a necessity to join several of the camping clubs available, especially when they can save you a ton of money. Several times we have traveled across the country using our other camp club memberships, Happy Camper, Passport America, Camp Club USA, and Good Sam. Of course, we would find some bad parks with a ratio of about 1 in every 10, but so far with Coast to Coast, our ratio for bad parks are 100%, two for two.

We had looked into purchasing a membership to Coast to Coast several times but the cost had always been too exuberant for us to budget. While working at Camp Hatteras over the summer, we were given the opportunity to get a membership at a next to nothing cost, so we joined. We had always been under the impression by some of the other campgrounds/resorts we had looked into with this membership, that they were up-scale resorts, we have learned differently our last few stays.

It was a fabulous drive, the roads were perfect, no interstates, only highways with trees lining the way, we thought it was going to be a fabulous day. We got to Lake Livingston, Texas where we passed by so many nice resorts, right on the lake or near to them with great views, our imaginations went wild since we too were going to be staying at the Holiday Villages of Livingston, not only did they have a RV Resort but they boasted about their 5-Star Condos. Not sure exactly where they were hiding all they claimed to have but we never found it. What we did find was a run down area with broken down trailers, trash everywhere, roads that had so many potholes that we were unable to dodge them and dogs running loose. This was not a resort, this was an environment not fit to be called a resort or anything even close to it. Boondocking in the middle of the desert in Quartzsite, Arizona is more of a resort than this place could ever begin to be.

We should of got the first clue when we pulled up to the guard shack and he advised us to make sure to check the electric, water and sewer at the site prior to us settling in because many of them are in need of repair. And, again he was the one upon our departure that when we advised him that we would not be staying, he immediately asked us, “What do you Coast to Coast people expect for $10?”

We made our second reservation with Coast to Coast but this time, we checked into the campground thoroughly, we went to their website, checked out reviews in several different places but still upon arrival we were concerned. We had planned to stay for 9 nights but again this place turned out to be more like a trailer park and not a RV Park. It wasn’t as bad as the last place, sure it was a little run down and once again most of the sites were occupied by long staying folks which left a lot of trash out around their site. And, even though we were not comfortable, we did stay for two nights but were not happy on the last night as we watched folks allow their dogs, one of them being a Rottweiler, to wander about as they stopped right next to our rig for a smoke break.

How can you trust these clubs if they are adding them to their memberships, apparently sight unseen? We have always thought we could rely on them, especially when they have a campground rating system in place but it is apparent that we can‘t. How do campgrounds get away with calling themselves a resort, when they are nothing more than a trailer park? This is a subject we will continue to look into and try to find some sort of solution so that we are not put into this position ever again, please feel free to send comments or suggestions on how you believe this can be resolved.