Am in the process of writing a feasibility study for a new RV Park on the Texas coast and am interested in opinions and recommendations.
1. What would you consider reasonable price for overnight in a 1st class park? Here are the proposed amenities:
Free WiFi
Free laundry
Lap Pool
Free shuttle to area features
Concrete Wash pad with wands, free if you do the work; $20 and up for park crew to do it
Satellite TV via cable to each site (free)
All sites concrete with tables and morning trash pickup.
14 day limit during summer months with monthly rates for Winter Texans. No permanent, worker trailers, tents or park models. Also will have a fishing pier and boat launch.
Trying to set rates near $44 to $ 47 for Big Rigs with discounts.
Appreciate input.

Question:
What is a rate that would attract you?
Are these amenities too much or too little?

Choices:
#1 per foot?
More or less?

 

After 35 years in the building industry, the one thing that has always surprized me is the success of the builder who offers homes cheap, then "upgrades" to a price higher than the builders who offer homes that are already upgraded. It never made sense to me that people didn't see through this, but that has always been the way it is, at least in Florida.
Why I bring this up is the amount of free amenities you are proposing. Reasonably priced coin laundry, coin wash station, a few bucks for shuttle service etc. could offset expenses enough to lower the nightly rate a buck or two, without alienating any RVers. Of course, looking at rates in upper class parks in Florida makes your rates look low already, but I guess that's all relative. I notice you didn't say anything about age restrictions [coach] which some upper class parks have.
Just my 2 cents worth.

A dollar a foot sounds reasonable to me - I agree with Danny on what makes the mind work... Free wifi & standard tier cable could be given - the rest should be moderately priced.

All those amenities at $44 could be quite a bargain, IF the guest plans to be at the park for several days/weeks and have a chance to use everything.

But otherwise for just the overnight guest, over $40 would be on the high end. I'd rather boondock in a Walmart lot for free. So there certainly is merit to the "pay as you use" idea too. Perhaps offer some basic features as included, and then offer an "unlimited pass" option for use of the others.

Some things the park may not need to spend a lot of money to install, like all-concrete pads. That would be a considerable expense, and many folks (like me) don't care about that feature. That's why my rig has hydraulic jacks! The park could install a few of those pads, and charge a little extra for those sites. Same idea for full hookups. I don't mind stopping at a dump station on my way out, if it'll save me $3-5 per night (the extra amount many parks charge for full hookup sites).

I would not stay. That is over $1200 per month for a piece of dirt. When traveling we use truck stops, wayside rests, shopping centers etc. Out west here it might be BLM or national forest. We even spent one night at a motel because it was cheaper than the RV parks in the area.

We don't need wi-fi (cell phone works). Don't use cable TV (antenna works). Electricity is great when it is hot.

We have water and sewer on board and it is usually easy to find a dump and fill location. In fact in many small towns you will find this at the sewage treatment plant.

I am considering spending $50 per night in LA at the GTG in May. But this is only because the Barth folks are meeting there.

" Here are the proposed amenities: Free WiFi; Free laundry; Concrete Wash pad with wands, free if you do the work; $20 and up for park crew to do it. Satellite TV via cable to each site (free); All sites concrete with tables and morning trash pickup."
These are necessities if you're after "Big Rigs" which include Barth types regardless of length.
14 day limit during summer months with monthly rates for Winter Texans.
No permanent, worker trailers, tents or park models. Absolutely necessary not to have these!
Also will have a fishing pier and boat launch pier and boat launch. . Not necessary as these services are common on the Coast. Boat guys/fishermen prefer a new area every day {twice each day?})
Lap Pool Necessary on Texas Coast
Trying to set rates near $44 to $ 47 for Big Rigs with discounts. Prices sound right. "Big Rigs" are accustomed to paying more, and they obviously use more of the expensive "amenities" e.g. electricity.
Appreciate input. Question: What is a rate that would attract you? Are these amenities too much or too little?
Several years back this question was posed by a (Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama?) non-Barth entrepreneur and if memory serves a sizeable post resulted. Check back in the archives (and post what you find, please).

i can run my diesel genny for alot less tha 40 dollars a night ! and luvs truckstop will accept your solid waste and letyoy park over night! water is easy enough to obtain ! seems like if motels are cheaper they are pricing thier selfs out of the market! 1200 $ a month hmm two week cruise is about the same ...............

$44 to $47 is about the going rate for a high end park around here. The amenities you propose seem above and beyond any I remember reading on local listings. I can't say for sure because I do not stay at high end parks. I do not use a lot of the things you propose so I see no need to pay for something I wouldn't use. If I am "camping", I don't want concrete. Having no choice to get away from concrete sites would turn me away. Plenty of places have concrete for free.

I think your pricing with what you are looking at offering is right in line with most places I have used. And none of them offer all that you are stating. I would love to find a campground/RV park that was going to offer all that you speak of at $1 per foot. Hell, I'd like to find one that offered just the basic amentities at $1 a foot!!!
Not that I am a fan of paying $40-50 per night for a site with full hook ups at a campground/RV park, but that seems to be the norm in this area unless it is "off season". When I am looking at a place to stay, I want full hook ups, some space between me and my neighbor, cable TV, WiFi availability, a pool, clean restrooms and a neat and well kept overall campground/RV park. Most campgounds/RV parks around here offer the 7th night free if you stay a week. I agree that the concrete pads are nice, but I just appreciate a level site, so I don't need that. The wash area might be something that you could do without and because of the price of equipment, save some major dollars initially. And it can be added later if there is a demand for that. I have yet to find any place that offers free laundry. It is a great way for a campground/RV park to make some extra money to support the overhead of running your business. Just make sure the laundry is clean and equipment is kept up.
And a side note of my opinion---The idea of "saving" $3-5 a night for a site less sewer does not make sense to me, especially if I am only going to be there for a short period of time. I find it very convenient to be able to keep the coach septic system clean on a daily basis rather than find a dump station and spend an hour making sure everything is empty and clean for the next trip while frustrating the folks behind me waiting to use the dump facility. Our Barths do NOT have black or grey tank washers as standard equipment and I am anal about keeping those tanks clean. I don't like those foul smells coming from the tanks because I was in a hurry and didn't take the time to fully rinse out ALL of the waste! This usually means multiple times of filling and dumping the tanks.
I know that in the NJ-PA-NY-DE-MD-VA area it would be hard to find a GOOD motel for less than $50-60 per night. Oh yea, then add the sales tax and local room fees to that and the next thing you know, your at $60-75 per night. And then you are only getting a room with a bed, tv and hopefully AC or heat that works. If it is during the summer months or some sort of special event in the area, the prices are over $100 per night.
And lastly, before I would make a big deal with paying less than $50 per night for everything you mention I would make more of a big deal at paying $4-5 a gallon for fuel. That, it would seem to me, would be a bigger detterent than the fee to stay some place.

Use "Search" for BUILDING NEW RV PARK by "Dogill" for the previous discussion (year 2005).

quote:

Originally posted by Gunner:
Use "Search" for BUILDING NEW RV PARK by "Dogill" for the previous discussion (year 2005).

BUILDING NEW RV PARK

Does anyone know if Dogwood Hills in Hattiesburg was built, and if so has anyone ever visited it?

Nick

Your high end park is high end when compared to old parks, but should be considered basic compared to new parks. There are many county parks with these facilities for less than half of what you propose.

Compare any old vs new buildings and you see that the new standard is the old high end. The old bowling alley vis the new one. However the new one can not charge much more than the old one.

I for one try to avg $20/night so there are $50 stops and free stops. When it gets to $50 I need a reason to stay, like the Oasis on the strip in Vegas, expensive for me but great location. And very nice also.

The days of free wifi and free TV as anything but standard are over. If you want to charge me to use your router, I will go another place. I would rather stay in Walmart and use the free wifi at the local coffee shop.

High end has sauna/crafts/shop/attractions/movies/etc.

Just my two cents

Tom