Hospitality at RV parks

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yeah, that sure is nice....and I too love to hear about a family business.  Such a great concept.

We for the most part go to places like state parks, or similar
On our trip this summer, we stopped at a commercial place near ABQ, American RV Resort, and we were escorted to our site by a guy in a golf cart.  He got off his cart, walked back to guide me into our back-in site.... then he had to show me the water connections, etc...
I didn't get the feel that it was "family" like in your example, but clearly trying to go a step above in customer service.
Honestly it made me a bit uncomfortable.... partially because I'm not used to that level of service & also because I'm capable and independent....but mostly, I didn't know if it was expected for me to give the guy a tip!

That level of customer service isn't unusual, but certainly isn't universal.

Much better than the places that slide a map across the counter that shows no resemblance to the actual campground layout, and the sites aren't marked when you finally find the right area.

yeah, that sure is nice....and I too love to hear about a family business.  Such a great concept.

We for the most part go to places like state parks, or similar
On our trip this summer, we stopped at a commercial place near ABQ, American RV Resort, and we were escorted to our site by a guy in a golf cart.  He got off his cart, walked back to guide me into our back-in site.... then he had to show me the water connections, etc...
I didn't get the feel that it was "family" like in your example, but clearly trying to go a step above in customer service.
Honestly it made me a bit uncomfortable.... partially because I'm not used to that level of service & also because I'm capable and independent....but mostly, I didn't know if it was expected for me to give the guy a tip!

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A couple of years ago that would have been unusual for the places we stayed at. Now every place we go they take us out to the site, help us pull through or back in and show us where all the hookups are, but I never thought they were looking for a tip.

I don't let anyone back me into a spot except my DH. We have had some bad experiences with either staff or "helpful" (spoiler : NOT!) campers trying to help. Luckily we had no damage because I only follow Kevin's directions and blissfully ignore everyone else. It is nice to get escorted to a site, but we want to decide where to place the trailer on the site. I know how long my hoses are, and we are quite capable of putting the trailer so they fit. It is more complicated because we have two gray tanks, something many folks providing directions don't seem to get.

If someone offers help, I politely decline it saying I am used to Kevin's instructions, and we have been doing this for 30 years.

I dont go to parks often but they usually do have a person on a golf cart show us where to go. I figured it was because of damage caused by some who are not real good at parking or hooking up. It does make it easy to just follow someone so I thank them kindly.

I don?t really mind the golf cart escort since a lot of times the campsite numbers aren?t clearly marked. But after that, we kinda have our own routine when getting set up, so additional ?help? really isn?t helpful. But I?m never going to be a jerk to someone who is just trying to be helpful. One time when I got to my spot there were several vehicles at the campsite directly across from the one I needed to back in, no way could I swing my fifth wheel in with that truck sitting in the road. The dudes were just sitting outside drinking beer (I like beer too) and didn?t offer to move, or give me a beer either. ? Luckily in this case the camp hostess had led me in on her golf cart. She ?encouraged? them to move to a visitor parking lot since they weren?t part of the allotted campsite party, so saved me from having an irritating camping experience.

I don?t really mind the golf cart escort since a lot of times the campsite numbers aren?t clearly marked. But after that, we kinda have our own routine when getting set up, so additional ?help? really isn?t helpful. But I?m never going to be a jerk to someone who is just trying to be helpful.

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Us too, if someone from the park is willing to take the time to help us we just go with it. Can't remember a time there was a problem.

I too tend towards staying at public campgrounds (national forest, state, local parks, etc.), though when I have stayed at commercial parks, particularly those that are the type places that accept reservations, have a camp store, and other facilities, I have been provided golf cart escort to the site about half the time, and the escort generally stays and makes sure we know where the hookups are located, how they work, ... 

I was at one fairly large 100+ site commercial high daily turnover park this summer that had an entire assembly line of set up for check in, 3 rows of parking spaces by the check in station, 2 guys on foot directing traffic in, and another 3-4 on golf carts to lead people to their spaces.  I was number 6 in line when I pulled in just before sunset, and numbers 7-9 were in line behind me before I could get out of the coach. Even there with the rapid pace my guide to the space took the time to make sure the outlet at the power post was in good working order, told me about the complimentary donuts in the office in the morning, ....

Overall I think it is a good service for everyone, and probably saves the campgrounds a fair amount of damage vs say my most recent stay at a commercial park, a KOA Journey (KOA's roadside basic park) where I did not have an escort to my site where the power post was leaning at an odd angle and had obviously been hit multiple times.    I have been to parks where I wish I had a golf cart guide to get to my site, one sprawling fly fishing  river front commercial park, with a very poor hand drawn map comes to mind.  Not only was the map not drawn to scale and not accounting for bends in the roads (map showed park as more of a rectangle and an S. There were also no signs, so I ended up in a dead end driveway that was not shown on the map instead of making the left turn  to get to the loop where my site was.

Can't recall where it was, but one private park we stayed at the park staff insisted on hooking us up, black hose included.

Always an "interesting" mix of "helpful" people.  I've been escorted and luckily so at one as the spots weren't marked well.  Also been escorted at one and told to pull up farther --- which would put me on an incline --- but he felt I should be closer to the sewer -- which was too high for me to use anyhow. Had a "helper" at the GNR this year who was insistent on standing between my front bumper and the other RV's rear bumper while he directed me forward.  I didn't budge till he moved to the side.  He didn't seem to understand getting squished!

I rarely stay in commercial campgrounds, but I think the real reason for the escort is to make sure you don't run over their utility posts.  And I also will not allow someone to tell me exactly where on the space they think I should park. I use my mirror and backup camera and get out and look to determine where I want to be.  And if I am staying somewhere for only one night, I will seldom hook up my black tank, so thanks, but no thanks. 

We normally insist that we only take directions from each other, and have adopted a set of hand signals we both know well. Chris normally drives, but one time I was driving and was 'directed' by well-meaning rally officials at an FMCA rally. A friend who was standing nearby was yelling to them to let them know they were putting me into a tree, but they kept telling me to continue. Sure enough, we still have the dings as souvenirs.

Tom said:

Can't recall where it was, but one private park we stayed at the park staff insisted on hooking us up, black hose included.

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Don't know that I would be happy with that. Sounds like a good deal as long as they didn't insist.

And if I am staying somewhere for only one night, I will seldom hook up my black tank, so thanks, but no thanks.

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When we're traveling we'll go four or five nights without hooking up the sewer hose. Sometimes just we'll just connect the power cord.

The best customer service I've seen was at the RV park I stayed in while I was working in Los Angeles.  Their model was to treat their guests as they were staying in a hotel.  The owner led the staff, he was one the hardest working people I have ever met and clearly loved his job, treating his customers like family.

When a guest arrived, if they had a trailer or 5th wheel they unhitched at the office and the owner and his crew delivered the trailer to their site using a forklift with a hitch on it's front end.

Motorhomes were backed into place with the owner walking next to the driver's window and clearly telling the driver what to do while another employee acted as a spotter.

When the rig was positioned on the site, the staff made sure it was level and offered to connected all of the utilities including the sewer hose.  Approximately 2/3 of the overnight visitors were people who had just picked up their rental motorhomes, many were overseas tourists, and they were happy for the assistance as often the instructions provided by the rental companies were less than complete.

The office staff acted like a hotel concierge, getting tickets to nearby attractions (Universal City, Disneyland, Hollywood shows, etc), arranging for a rental car to be delivered to the park or for Uber or taxi rides as needed.  If a guest wanted to use public transit the owner made sure they knew how to get where they were going and gave them rides to and from the Metro station a couple of miles down the street.

When it was time to leave the process reversed itself - employees conformed the guests had emptied their sewer tanks and filled their fresh water tanks, showing them how to do it if needed.  Then they towed the trailers up to the front of the park where people could hitch up or guided the motorhomes out of the sites.

wow, I sure wouldn't have liked that. 
I guess I could see "offering" it and I can imagine some renters or new folks would enjoy it....
But making me get out of my own helm....no thanks!

do any of these folks ever expect a tip?

I'm especially thinking maybe a bit more likely I suppose of these ultra high end "resort" places, but you never know....maybe I made a major etiquette faux paux by not tipping....

blw2 said:

wow, I sure wouldn't have liked that. 
I guess I could see "offering" it and I can imagine some renters or new folks would enjoy it....
But making me get out of my own helm....no thanks!

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A long time ago we stayed at the FamCamp at Travis AFB, CA. Upon arrival I was told the policy was staff parked all RV's. So a staff member drove my truck with 5th wheel hitched to the spot and backed it in. He told me the reason was management did not want campers driving and backing over the grass.

We had our first experience with this earlier this summer at a KOA resort near Dayton, OH.  First time we'd visited one, and it was just for a night while we were in transit.  The place was immaculate - even the fire rings were raked out!  Never seen that anywhere before.  Very nice for <>$40. 

We got the golf cart escort to the site, and the nice young lady offered to guide us as we backed in.  However, like others, I'm not 100% comfortable with that, so we politely declined and backed in ourselves. 

We thought it was a nice service, and I'm sure that it does help from getting lost or having to turn around.

I have been in campgrounds where it was not easy to find our site, so I really like and appreciate when they escort you to your spot. As to helping, I am (to put it mildly) not good with backing up a trailer, so when they offer advice or even offer to drive my vehicle to get us properly backed in, I greatly appreciate the help. FWIW, I always ask for a pull thru spot so backing in only happens when nothing else is available. As to hooking up, I have never been offered, much less insisted, that staff do this for me.

vito55 said:

I have been in campgrounds where it was not easy to find our site, so I really like and appreciate when they escort you to your spot. As to helping, I am (to put it mildly) not good with backing up a trailer, so when they offer advice or even offer to drive my vehicle to get us properly backed in, I greatly appreciate the help. FWIW, I always ask for a pull thru spot so backing in only happens when nothing else is available. As to hooking up, I have never been offered, much less insisted, that staff do this for me.

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I'm kind of the opposite. I like to look at the site and imagine how I want my RV positioned. Some sites you can't do that because of the size or hookups layout. We just got back from Woodland Valley State Park in the Catskills. I chose the spot specifically for the view of the stream. I was able to position the trailer so the door was parallel to the stream. I don't think a staff member would have done that.