Your opinions please

[Steve-o-bud]

What turns you on or off about the campgrounds that you visit?
On - Location, in an area of natural beauty (in a forested area, beach, etc.)
Off - Location, in an industrial/commercial area.

On - Plenty of grass, level/paved pads.

Off - Open fires not allowed.

On - Clean, well maintained restrooms.
On - A good quantity of bath houses, so that it is not too far a walk.
On - Seperating the restroom area from the shower area.
Off - Too few restrooms/bath houses. I went to the KOA in San Diego. They had one main central restroom/bath house area, and a small one near the pool. The main one got too crowded during the busy morning hours. And, even though they put in a great effort a keeping them clean, they could get funky real quick. Plus, when they had them closed for cleaning, that could be a real pain! And, if it did get funky, there wasn't a convienient alternate.

On - Organized kids activities.

On - KOA's cooking pavillion. Great idea for tent campers. Also, big sinks for doing dishes, much more convienient than trying to do them in the little trailer sink.

On - Space between sites, a little bit of privacy... nice green common areas, measures to reduce dust and dirt... i.e. paved roads/pads, grass.

What do you want / expect when you visit a campground?
Playgrounds for the kids.
Store
Camp rangers who make sure that the rules are followed by everyone, even if it means that they might remind me.
A number to call at night to report problems.

How long would you stay at your favorite CG?
4 - 5 days is usually my limit. But, if it is clean, and I can feel like I'm not getting too grungy, I can stay longer.

What would keep you coming back?
All of the above "On" stuff. Location near attractions (i.e. beaches, theme parks, etc.)

What do you feel is a fair price to charge for 2-night stay?
Prime season - $40 - $50 night.
Off season - $30 - $40 night.

[Starryart]

Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto to all of the above! Thanks for asking!
When we stay at our favorite TX SPs (sometimes for a week), we have paved roads, numbered sites, w/e and some times sewer, lots of trees and separated sites (a must!), the rules are enforced by the park rangers (especially the noise level and pet problems- like dogs off leashes, barking, etc), restrooms are clean, fire rings and BBQ pits are available, and we pay $14 a night with our yearly park pass.
   *Our main thing is the wilderness type sites with trees and brush for separation. We refuse to camp in open air closed together sites.You might as well park in the Wal Mart parking lot for a weekend. Nope won't go there at all!! Outdoors is the point of camping- not staring into the back window of our near neighbor.
     BTW, we go to our fav SP park so much that we are on a first name basis with the rangers and we try to show our appreciation for them by buying them goodies from a bakery or a pizza on Saturday afternoon

[iwantapopup]

turn on's
shaded lots, with a decent amount of breathing room in between
level lots
clean restrooms
playground for the kids
nature activities like MO State Parks have for families
hike/bike trails
convenience store
laundry facilities
pool
water at your site

turn off's
cramped sites
tight roads that are hard to manuever when trying to park
no shade!!
no fire rings
nasty restrooms

what do I expect: friendly, helpful staff, brochures for nearby attractions, I like campgrounds with websites so I can see pictures, site layouts etc., clean restrooms

I'd stay up to a week at a favorite campground

what would keep me coming back - if they had the things on the turn-on list plus a friendly, helpful staff

fair price - no more than $22 a night if they have a pool, otherwise maybe $17 a night, if they had lots of bells and whistles like maybe a lake and paddleboat rentals, I'd be willing to pay a little more

Linda

[Dee4j]

TURN ONS:

large sites
CLEAN STOCKED bathrooms
HEATED pool
shade
well maintained & safe playground
campstore
someone to enforce rules for the loud mouths at 1am
FIREPIT or have fully screen ones available (or bring your own) for higher fire areas.
sites off main street thru the campground so kids can ride bikes

Turn OFFS;

if any of the above criteria not met
sites super close together (like Campland in the bay in San diego and Pismo coast village)

how long would I stay up to 2 weeks

[griffsmom]

TURN ONS:
 
someone to enforce rules for the loud mouths at 1am

You mean like us?:yikes:   Would you like that beer with or without the hole in the side?:! :J

[garym053]

Our campground desires change as our objectives change. We camp every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day, MOSTLY Friday Night through Sunday Morning trips with a couple of long weekends thrown in.
We usually prefer State or National Parks, no planned activities, water and Electric doesn't matter, etc. However most of these stays are so we can Hike, Kayak, or otherwise enjoy the New England wildlife (4 legged or winged variety!)
However we also stay in one of the biggest private campgrounds in Wells, Maine, simply because it is well run and a 3/4 mile walk or drive from the beach. Sooo, it kind of depends, but here it goes...

What turns you on or off about the campgrounds that you visit?
ON: Friendly staff, Clean Bathrooms, Firepits cleaned, sites raked, reasonable site privacy, email or on-line reservations, quiet time enforced.
OFF: Dirty Bathrooms, Staff better suited for prison guards than camp hosts, Wall to wall cigarette butts on site.

What do you want / expect when you visit a campground?
To be left alone mostly. Ease of check-in, firewood and Ice available,

How long would you stay at your favorite CG?
Until they kicked me out because they were worried that "Squatter's Rights" would start! Just kidding! Probably a week or two would be the most consecutive days. However, it could also be 5 or 6 weekends in the Summer at a campground near the beach!

What would keep you coming back?
The above turn ON's!

What do you feel is a fair price to charge for 2-night stay?
Depends on what's provided!
State Park where it's Flush Toilets, Coin Operated Showers and not much else- $13 to $18.00 per night or $26.00 to $36.00 for two nights.
Private park with Electricity & Water: $22.00 to $35.00 per night or $44.00 to $70.00 for two nights, depending on what is in the area!

Hope this helps!

[barbjeff]

The biggest turn off by far is a CG that is dirty, or appears to be old and neglected, I find it hard to feel comfortable and welcome in a CG that has not been looked after. I realize that maintanence is a high ticket item for most small CG'c but they are in the service industry and must realize that in order to attract repeat business they must make the effort to show they care about the customers.

On check in we expect a friendly, knowledgeable staff. That includes knowledge about the local area, ie: attractions, resturants, etc. Nothing is more frustrating than talking to the person at the registration desk who professes to know nothing about the surrounding area!

The longest we usually stay at a CG is a week or so, altough there have been a couple of occassions at provincial Parks were we have stayed longer, but that is an different atmosphere than a private CG.

The first two paragraphs are what would keep me comming back.

somewhere between $20-30 per night depending upon what is offered.

[Firefyter-Emt]

"turn on's" as you say..
 
~Nice sites, quiet, secluded (some sort of buffer)
~A fire ring is a must.
~ Laundry.. We spent close to a week in one without... Major pain!!
~Pool.. Even though I rarely ever go in, the kids love it!!
~ Layout, Layout, Layout!! Dont park that Class-A with the generator next to a pop-up!! (really, I have been there!! Funny to see our little pop-up between 2 full awn Class-A's)
~camp store stocked with good stuff (food, gifts, ect.) Not that dime store garbarge...
 
"Turn off's"
~Quite hour rules not enforced.. (I would like to see a "no radio" rule, myself!)
~ Addtional charges above the nightly charge.. Sorry, but it get's expensive for a week if I pay say $5.00 per child! (say $20 a night)
~ being parked inbetween 2 Class-A's when my site is reserved weeks prior!!
~nasty bathrooms.. I mean come awn.. it is a campground!! It is not like you have hotel roms to clean!
~poor after hour check-in instructions.
~poor camp site numbers.. Gee, am I in the wrong site?? Heck, Let me just move it all!!