Campground Review: KOA Flagstaff, AZ
Posted by: Rene in Local Flavor, Quality of Life, Resort Life, Full-Timing Tips, Live
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Do yourself a favor, and skip this area of AZ any other time of year except winter.
We don’t like KOA parks, but we decided to stop here because it was easy to meet my parents there, and we could use it as a base camp to explore the area south, Sedona. The tightwad in me also wanted to avoid the few overpriced RV parks closer to Sedona. So upon check in, we weren’t expecting much other than the standard swimming pool and hookups that would allow us to run our AC. But what we found out after check in was, this KOA is, simply put, a dump.
The place is run down, trash is everywhere, the sites are crammed together, and management is so cheap they won’t even buy toilet seat covers for the restrooms. Unlike other KOAs we’ve overnighted at, this one had no DVDs for rent, the office doesn’t open till 8am and you can’t even buy a newspaper until then because they’re in the office. And they don’t even have a pool! In Arizona!
As we sat in the cool comfort of our Fox’s air conditioner while the outside world baked in 100 degree heat (ok, it was 95, but is there really a difference?), someone knocked at our door. It was a KOA Flagstaff clerk, who arrived to tell us that we weren’t allowed to run our AC on their 30amp hookups, “because the park is so old it can’t handle it.” If we had been told this ahead of making the reservation, we never would’ve stayed there.
We were told that we could run our AC if we ran our generator. Oh great, sucking up exhaust is loads of fun for people who are sitting outside. But that was moot. Our Honda EU200i Super Quiet Generator is lean and mean and quiet, but the downside is that it won’t run our AC. So we sat. And we baked.
Out of anger and desperation for AC and a pool, we looked into LoLo Mai Springs Resort near Sedona. Their base rate is fine, $33, but for our two guests and their extra vehicle, they wanted us to rent a SECOND site, which would mean a $66 a nite rate! And this isn’t even in Sedona proper!
We stuck it out at the KOA. Saw Sedona and Jerome and had a great time with the parents. But when it came time to leave after 5 days, we couldn’t get out there fast enough. It’s good to be out of Arizona.
In addition to the KOA frustrations, we hadn’t experienced so much racist, xenophobe, Dixie-mentality since….since I don’t know. There are a lot of good people there, but in general, racist and xenophobe T-shirts, hats and Southern flags are proudly displayed in a lot of places in that state. I guess living in Humboldt sheltered us from the rampant anti-immigrant hatred that’s overrunning places like AZ. Scary.
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July 8th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
You could of gone to Cottonwood just south of Sadona and statyed in the Cottonwood state park for $15 full hookups.
July 9th, 2007 at 7:14 am
Really? Wow I was told by a friend that stayed there that there are no hookups. I hear it’s really nice, but we didn’t go because we needed hookups since we had my parents with us.
July 9th, 2007 at 11:37 am
From your post (I guess living in Humboldt sheltered us from the rampant anti-immigrant hatred that’s overrunning places like AZ. Scary.) Dude you ain’t seen nothing yet! Wait till you get to the midwest or the real south!
July 9th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Like where your hillbilly relatives come from?
July 10th, 2007 at 11:27 am
YeeeeHaaaaaawww!! Yall come back now Ya here
July 12th, 2007 at 9:06 am
We too stayed in the Falgstaff KOA about 3 years ago. We found them to be unfriendly, unresponsive and down right rude. It’s obvious their goal is to maximize their income, not to make your stay a pleasant one.
Even though we travel in a Class B, we still like to have a full hookup site. They stuck us in a tent site saying that was all they had. As we walked around the park later that evening and early the next morning, we noticed plenty of full hook up sites.
We will never stay at this particular KOA again, and will pass along our opinion about this particular KOA every chance we get.
The bright side to all this is the next year we went through Flagstaff and stayed at the J and H RV park. It is everything the KOA wasn’t. Clean, friendly, helpfull, had a great TV room, an out door fireplace for all the travelers to gather in the evening. They really work to make your stay a pleasurable one.
July 12th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
You had the same experience that long ago? Amazing. Well, thanks for posting, I’m happy to pass along your opinion of that dump too. When you pull up to that KOA, they have this big “2005 KOA President’s Circle Award” hanging in front of the office. We thought “wow, how bad can it be?” But after staying there, it seems that the corporate office criteria for that President’s award is only about how much money the park makes, nothing more.
Hey I’ve never heard of the J&H Park, or at least I missed them on the directories. Drats!
November 20th, 2008 at 5:26 am