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Where has courtesy gone?
On four occassions we have stayed at the French Quarter RV Resort in New Orleans. On every occassion, I have sworn to try to find somewhere else. Last week, we stayed there for meetings in New Orleans downtown. The help in reservations and then in the actual registration process was non-existent. They are lazy and do not care whether anyone stays there or not. We rented a privately owned space for $110 per noght for the week and they could have cared less.
When we arrived, they would not show us where the slot was… they stated that we could drive around until we saw the sign….this was the same as last time…We had an even numbered slot and did not know that the right side of the park was the even side and the West side was the odd… we had to get out of our coach and look for the sign ourselves…
They are rude and do not deserve our business…yet I realize they are the only RV park in the whole area….really too bad…. .
I’ll quit my rant…Pres
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31 Replies
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I had my eye on going there simply because of its location. I’m glad you shared your rant with us so we can go prepared for what to expect and hopefully not be disappointed.
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Good post Pres, I was just told a similar nightmare just a week ago. Last time we were in NO, a week before Katrina, we stayed at the KOA west and it wasn’t much either..
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The last time we were there was about 2 years ago. I can not say that they were rude or anything and finding our spot was easy. We were parked at the opposite end from the office. But times change and so do people and I suspect, they have new staff.
On the other hand, for the rest of us, it is good to be forewarned because it makes it so much easier to handle and deal with their BS.
Unfortunately, it is coming from the people WHO KNOW they have a captive audience. You really do not have much choice when visiting NOLA.
For what it is worth, we do always get out of the bus in every park and walk to the lot we have been assigned to. We do not care if it means parking the coach at the registration office. Eyeballing the site helps greatly with parking the coach.
Thanks for posting.
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Ronald,
I do the same parking at the office and walking to the site assigned. Over the years we have left a few parks most often over tree issues.
Its beyond me why I should ever have to worry about hanging branches. Bottom line lazy owners who care about shade and park appearance forgetting about the bottom line.
Our son attended Uof Missouri at Columbia, MO. The only RV park close to campus was Cottonwood RV Park about 5-6 miles north of town. There were only a few sites where we could get our bus in missing trees that have gone out of control. When you voiced your opinion at the office the response was “you need to talk with the owner” Where is he ? “Not here.” I just gave up with the hassle and would park at a large shopping center near town. Couple of times we had other 45 footers next to us in the morning. Comparing stories it was ….I can’t get into Cottonwood as the owner won’t trim the trees.
Bottom line we just avoided Cottonwood and don’t even consider staying there.
Checked RV camp ground reviews this morning. Two out of the 3 recent reviews mention tree issues.
AL
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I’ve got my eye on Fountainbleu State Park across the lake from NO if I am in the area in the future. Anyone got any experience of staying there? Have previously seen the bad press about the RV park as described on this thread.
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So far this RV park seems to have gotten good reports as an alternative to other NO locations.
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Al,
Have you put Cottonwood on the map with the NO GO instructions?
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We took our first trip in the Marathon to NOLA after Christmas. We stayed at the KOA. The people were nice, and the owner was there. Big rig access was possible, but a little nerve racking. The power line that feeds the office is pretty low and required a careful trajectory. The large sites are on the main campground road and are back in sites. We were the only Prevost there, and one of the few diesel pushers. The price was reasonable, I think about $70 per night average for a week during New Year’s and Sugar Bowl weekend.
I checked out the French Quarter RV Park, and I was not impressed. If you want to walk from your coach to the French Quarter, it is the only choice.
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I have had no experience with French Quarter RV Resort, but I wonder if the experience described here has anything to do with the fact the rent was for a privatly owned spot, and not a spot rented directly by the park?
Or does the park actually manage rent for the private spots as well?
Was the reservation done through the owners of the spot or the park?
Wonder if a reservation was made through the park on a spot that they made money off of, would end up with a different experience?
Not saying it’s right, just putting it out there as a possible reason.
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We have stayed at this state campground a couple of times. Not a resort by any means but an alternative for the NOLA area. It has been a couple of years since we used it, so not sure what it is like right now. Easy to get to downtown using the West Bank Expressway. If anyone has been there lately please chime in with your observations.
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We have been to NOLA often. Until the downtown RV park was built we always stayed at the KOA west. We stayed twice at the New Orleans RV resort, but for our planned trip in March we are going back to the KOA west.
There is no doubt the resort in the French Quarter is nice and it certainly is convenient to the French Quarter. It is an easy walk or cheap cab ride to the middle of the quarter.
But we just got worn out from the noise. I-10 is elecated in the area of the resort and it seemed like all night long we heard sirens either on I-10 or from the nearby police station. While the KOA west is not totally silent, unless you are backed up to the west side perimeter fence it is much quieter. Also the KOA west has some positive advantages. If we are going downtown we take the river road and then drive up St. Charles. We never tire of seeing the beautiful homes. If we don’t want to drive they offer a shuttle van.
But if our visit involves touring plantations then starting out from the KOA west is clearly more convenient.
It is an old RV park, but has always had all that we need, including 50 amp service. The owner(s) have always been on site. It is not as pretty as the French Quarter RV park, but when visiting NO we rarely are going to be found sitting outside the coach enjoying the ambience. We are usually out and about enjoying all that NO offers.
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The “service” at French Quarter RV Resort did change when it changed ownership some time back… when it first openned your RV had to be newer than 10 years old and NO trailers at all… RV’s only.
They had trouble keeping it full… and when it sold they made changes to “come one come all” and now anyone can stay there if you have wheels.
It always appears to be well maintained and clean.
We stay there at least twice a year and have never had a problem and we do like the location and the security provided. I have never had to deal with anyone in the office, Larry does that… we usually have our space number and just park and hook up before we check in.
I think it’s a shame when we are not treated respectfully, it would make me not want to go back…. unfortunately it’s the best place if you are going to the French Quarter.
As far as the noise level goes we do try to stay near the entrance and with the TV on we can’t hear any noise thank goodness.
Diane
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We have stayed at FQ multiple times with 0 problems other than some clueless(seemingly 15yr old) employees. Will be staying again just prior to “snot ball” fest. Will report at that time.
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Thanks for the input… to the various comments… we have stayed at the Fountainbleu State Park.. it is not convenient to NO but is an o k place…North side of Ponchatrain Lake … very rustic… really wet if it has rained at all… the site selection must be in the area where the larger RV’s are parked or the coaches simply will not fit….. do not accept any spaces that simply look like you will fit in one of the curving drive throughs because you won’t be able to get into the slot and reach the utilities…weird set ups…
On the issue of reserving the privately owned site at French Quarter RV versus the service received… the staff reserves the site and charges $15 extra per night over the resort’s rate….if they rent it, they should service the client.. agreed?
My issue is when I consider what this place could be versus the service one gets at Bella Terra, etc., there is no comparison….and Bella Terra is truly a five star deal… their staff is great…
The noise at French Quarter RV is truly very bad at night… every seven minutes… a sireen is heard from the police / fire dept / ambulance services along the main I-10 corridor… can’t be helped… the worst wards are directly East and North/South of the RV park and 95% of all calls go to or through that area and return ot the emergency rooms on the West side of downtown…according to the police…
I did go around to the site they had originally selected for us and it was under the sign in the middle of the park….there were over 20 empty spaces and they said they could not change our reservation to another slot…so, I opted for the private slot at the other end… They didn’t even try to comply with our requests and 10 of the 20 slots remained empty for the time period of the week…
So, this is a “for what it is worth” complaint….
On another point…they had kept our credit card information on file…numbers and every thing forthe last several months… I asked them to remove my records… they have the address, credit card numbers and matching phone numbers. When I asked, I explained that if they get breached, the information is rather complete… Their response was that they have never been breached and they were not worried about it…
Great..right?
Pres
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Mentioned in Jon’s post earlier. He gave a link to the park’s website.
I stayed there June 2014 – new park built in an industrial area ruined by Katrina. Gravel roads but long level sites, several pull-thrus. Restaurant on site with full bar. Small pool. Marina and some waterfront sites that cost extra. Standard pull-thrus about $60, I think a remember a FMCA/GoodSam/AAA discount from that.
They were still working on the park, grading additional sites, when we were there. They DO have room for trailers but the pull-thrus are up to 80ft long long we did not have to disconnect.
They have shuttle service to downtown for $5 per person or so. Let’s ypou miss parking hassels. We took a taxi for the four of us – $25 including tip.
I would/will go back in the future.
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