Best Campgrounds near Aquinnah, MA

I was not going to write a review because I truly believe in giving places a fair chance. But after speaking with the district manager I feel I need to give a warning to anyone planning their vacation here. Today is Thursday, we were at cranberry acres from last Thursday until Monday. Our stay was awesome. We did it all the campground offered and had a blast. We stayed with our friends who rented the cabin next to us. Today we discovered that the brand new paper towels I bought from Shawn’s last week and kept(open) under the sink in our cabin were completely infested with what our exterminator says are weevils. The bugs poured out of the bag in a hallway downstairs, are all over the floor, in the guest room and in the bathroom. So now on top of this vacation we are now having to have an exterminator come treat our house for these bugs. We are avid“glampers” with our friends. This is something we do all summer all over New England for years now and this is the very first time we’ve ever experienced something like this. The manager at the campground was wonderful and apologized profusely and called the district manager to call me. This is where things went off the rails. He stated“how do we know they didn’t come from Shaws?”.“Well the unit has been rented and we have had no complaints“. which seeing that this is now three days later I’m sure there isn’t yet.“well thank you for letting us know, we will keep an eye out.”. In all fairness the resort was great, lots to do and we filled every day. The infestation from this vacation does not feel worth the experience. If you stay please keep everything sealed and wash every thing that you bring thoroughly when you get home so you do not wind up in the situation we are in.

I booked Deluxe Cabin 1 at the Boston KOA based on my past experiences in VA and NC. BOSTON was the WORST KOA I've stayed at. The cabin SMELLED of mildew and cigarettes(pic of ashes in the tub), and there was NO HOT WATER, which is against MA law. It was FILTHY, the pots needed to be replaced, and you have to request blankets. I informed the after hours staff about the water, blankets, and smell. The next morning, I went to the office at 9 am and talked to LORI. She was COMBATIVE and confrontational which is weird because she just started her day. As a person of color, I had to walk away because I was frightened. When I returned, BOB Brammer(He wanted to write his name down, so I got it right(his words)) lacked empathy and had a facial expression of annoyance. He was also CONFRONTATIONAL as I explained there was no hot water and the cabin smelled. I informed the national KOA feedback team(Kaitlyn& Tiana) and they said it's handled internally, whatever that means. If you read the reviews about bad customer service, believe it. You can see CUSTOMER SERVICE IS BADDDD! The KOA will probably respond to this review, but NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. I'll be reaching out to TOBY O'ROURKE and OSCAR TANG so they are aware the BOSTON KOA is tarnishing the KOA brand.

General: HUGE state park with over 700 sites. It does not fully open for the season until May 1 and when we were there in mid-April, only two sections, Fish Camp and Mills Camp were open. The Ranger station is staffed 24 hours a day, with a ranger on site until 11 pm. You need to show your pass to get inside the gate leading to the campsites. There are no hookups in any site (as far as I could tell). Sites are designated for tents, small trailers, large trailers, and RVs. As with other RI state parks, non-residents pay double the price of residents which kind of ticks me off (I don't mind a nominal upcharge but double is excessive IMO).

Site Quality: The site numbers throughout the park are painted on rocks but the sites themselves are not very clearly defined. There is no designated camping pad. Our site (114) had a water view but was not level. It was large enough for us to park horizontally and make it work for one night. Some sites had excessive roots and also were not level. Some picnic tables have been replaced with new ones, but others badly need it.

Bath/Shower house: The one in Fish Camp was adequate and clean. There is hot water, but you need to run it for a while before you get any. There was no garbage receptacle, and the toilet paper is so thin, that you can see through it. Showers are $.75 to get it started for the first three minutes. After that, the amount per minute increases to $1, $1.25, $1.50, and so forth. Machines take up to 22 quarters. There is a change machine at the Ranger Station. I did not use the shower so I cannot comment on how well they work. 

Activities/Amenities: There is a camp store that offers wood, ice, coffee, basic groceries, propane, and canoe rentals. It was open with limited hours during our stay. Fishing, boating, swimming - all in season. Even though the park was only about 10% occupied, there was a strong Ranger presence. He circled our small loop three times just before check-out time and wanted to make sure we were leaving not a minute past the designated time. 

This was just an overnight stay for us in a convenient location but there is no way I would stay at the height of the season!