Showers and bathhouse craze

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Isaac-1

Isaac-1

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Can someone explain to me why so many people in large RV's likely with reasonably large bathrooms, seem to be obsessed with the conditions of the shower facilities at RV parks?

I have seen this time and again, people traveling in seemingly nice self contained RV's and their biggest concern on checking in for the night at an RV park is the condition of the shower facilities.  Most recently I saw this at an RV park in central Texas a few weeks ago, the couple in the office checking in ahead of me were specifically asking for a space near the shower building, they were driving a 15-20 year old nice model diesel pusher (Monaco if I recall correctly).  Sure I can understand concerns about shower facilities when tent camping, or in a smaller RV with a wet bath, but a diesel pusher?
 
Black tanks will retain odors if not cleaned properly, polyethylene is porous and absorbs odors some people like to use the camp facilities when available. We shower in ours but dont poop in the trailer if possible at 4 yrs old our 5 er still smells new, and all we do is open a bag of charcoal when not in use
 
The shower facilities of most RV parks are a whole lot nicer than the shower in most RVs. I always used the park shower when traveling, use up their propane instead of mine.
 
I love our own shower in our own bathroom in our own trailer where I can walk right in barefooted and I like our own toilet in our own trailer where I can sit down on the seat without covering it with toilet paper.

jack L
 
I am with you Isacc-1.  No way would I use the "facilities" of the cg when I have my own.  Actually on our trip to the local state park  (200 miles away) we were one spot away from the "bath house".  Neither of us even went near it, but plenty of our neighbors did and they were all in much nicer rigs then we were.  In fact one of the deciding factors in our new TT is the huge shower.  It can easily hold both of us with room to spare. 
 
If you drop the soap in my RV's shower there is not enough room to bend over and retrive it.  IT is that small.. Plus I've only got six gallons of hot water..

Park shower is larger and at the minimum a 40 Gallon hot tank.
 
I don't have my rv yet, but having done a lot of tent and pop-up camping, i get it.
I imagine most of the time a quicky shower in the rv would be just fine, but sometimes you just need that endless hot water rejuvenation shower that takes 20 minutes.
 
I've heard a lot of personal kinds of reasons (pro and con) over the years and there is already a good sampling of them in this topic.  There seems to be three categories of those who choose the public bathhouse even though they have an adequate bath in their rig:

1. Some folks want the typically greater size or amount of water that a bathhouse can provide.
2. Some people fear to use their RV's plumbing for any of a variety of reasons
3. If no sewer on the sites, some want to reduce the need to use a dump station.

For those who avoid the public baths, they seem to fall into two categories:

1. The RV is more convenient than a trip to the bathhouse
2. "Mine" vs the alleged unknowns of a public facility



I'm in the "my own is more convenient" group and a good sized shower/bath area with adequate hot water was one of our major buying criteria.
 
Rest areas, service stations and even Campground toilet facilities can be somewhat dirty to totally disgusting.  I can live with the smell from time to time and while all RV's don't have a black tank rinse, there are other options to clean and minimize the odor. 
 
Isaac-1 said:
Can someone explain to me why so many people in large RV's likely with reasonably large bathrooms, seem to be obsessed with the conditions of the shower facilities at RV parks?

I have seen this time and again, people traveling in seemingly nice self contained RV's and their biggest concern on checking in for the night at an RV park is the condition of the shower facilities.  Most recently I saw this at an RV park in central Texas a few weeks ago, the couple in the office checking in ahead of me were specifically asking for a space near the shower building, they were driving a 15-20 year old nice model diesel pusher (Monaco if I recall correctly).  Sure I can understand concerns about shower facilities when tent camping, or in a smaller RV with a wet bath, but a diesel pusher?
Click to expand...

because of several reasons....if the showers/restrooms are clean and kept up, the park is well managed.  Even with "nice" facilities in their RV's, a shower house still has more room, a great hot water supply and no need to worry about draining tanks when done.
 
Even with "nice" facilities in their RV's, a shower house still has more room, a great hot water supply...
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Hmmm, I could dispute that, but perception is more important than fact here.  Obviously if you believe one is superior to the other, you would choose to use the better one.
 
a great hot water supply..
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With full hookups, I have as much an "endless hot water supply" in my coach as the RV park does, and so do others who have the Aqua Hot, Oasis, or other hydronic furnace/water heater. Without those, though, the park supply is obviously much greater. But Gary's "but perception is more important than fact here" statement applies in spades, regardless.
 
Even with a six-gallon water heater, I've never run out of hot water in the shower. Not using your own toilet? That's crazy talk.

The only time we go near a campground bathroom is on an extended stay without full hookups.
 
decaturbob said:
because of several reasons....if the showers/restrooms are clean and kept up, the park is well managed. 
Click to expand...

+ 1 on this, I think bathroom facilities can be used as a metric in measuring how well kept a campground is.  It's the kind of thing that shows that whoever is managing it, does so well and cares about details, and that other facets of the campground that you may not immediately notice will be kept at a similarly high standard of care and working order.  Things like the electrical system, or the fresh water system. 
 
HappyWanderer said:
Even with a six-gallon water heater, I've never run out of hot water in the shower. Not using your own toilet? That's crazy talk.

The only time we go near a campground bathroom is on an extended stay without full hookups.
Click to expand...

Same here. I've yet to figure out why folks are scared to use their RV equipment for what it's designed for.
 
I love our own shower in our own bathroom in our own trailer where I can walk right in barefooted and I like our own toilet in our own trailer where I can sit down on the seat without covering it with toilet paper.
Click to expand...

I've yet to figure out why folks are scared to use their RV equipment for what it's designed for
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Amen to both!  I once was asked what we do with our suitcases in the motorhome and the ensuing conversation was quite an eye-opener.  The suitcases in question were used for carrying their stuff in/out of the house to/from the motorhome.  Said suitcases were stored in their shower because there was no room elsewhere.  And, of course, because the shower was used for storage, they had to use the campground facilities.  I explained that we use boxes to carry the stuff in/out and leave the boxes at home because they're not needed when traveling - and that we used our own shower and toilet.  These people had never used the shower in their very nice DP motorhome!

ArdraF
 
I use both, and now that I have a larger shower in the motor home I'll use the coach more often. I have only seen a couple of "nasty" showers in my travels. Most of the park facilities that we visit have nice showers and laundry facilities, which is something else I won't be using any longer, the new motor home has a W/D.
 
I tent camped for 10 years before I got my first pop up. Fifteen years later we bought our first trailer with a toilet and shower. In the 15 years since then, I have not voluntarily used a campground shower since, though I do sometimes use the toilets if they are handy. In my own place I don?t have to worry about athlete?s foot or the clammy feeling I get in a shower building with too many showers and too little ventilation. Even my showers at home are pretty short, so I never had a problem even with a 6 gallon water heater.
 
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