Green Pines RV Park

This review covers two three-night visits in February-March 2022. Green Pines changed ownership in the past year, and the new owners have been working very hard to renovate and refurbish this small, but very charming RV park. They have some issues to iron out, but they seem to be hard workers who want to create a successful venture.

The Pros

- Extremely clean and well kept. Mature pines and plantings, grass islands between paved RV spaces(except for the overflow area, which is raked fine gravel).

- Quiet residential neighborhood with little traffic on the roads surrounding the park.

- Newly renovated laundry/restroom/community building. Two washers and dryers; cost is$2 per load. Coin machine was kept stocked with quarters. Bathroom/shower spaces are lovely. This space was under construction during our stays, but should be finished soon.

- Once the renovations are complete, this will be a peaceful place to stay. Nights are very quiet, but days can get noisy when work is taking place, which is daily at present.

- Security cameras throughout the park. This contributes to an already safe, family vibe and prevents mischief.

- Excellent Wifi. As remote professionals, we depend on solid, reliable internet to work from the road 2-3 days per week. Download speeds were a bit slow, but we were able to conduct simultaneous videoconferences throughout the day without any issues.

The Cons

- Disorganization. When we arrived for our first stay, we were asked what space number we had been given at the time of reservation. I had not received a number, but did know that we were going to be placed in the overflow parking area. It was obvious that this area was full, and we ended up in a completely different space(which was great for us, because it included a sewer hook-up for no additional charge). When we arrived for our second stay a week later(which we had confirmed by phone two days prior), we had to wait almost an hour while an RV was moved in order to create a(really narrow) space for us in the overflow area. We were asked to provide copies of our reservations, and were told that there had been an error with our reservation dates.

- Communication/professionalism. The owners are very pleasant to deal with, friendly, and helpful… unless there’s a problem. Unfortunately, their disorganization creates a lot of issues and they do not respond as gracefully as they should. After our first stay, we received a voice mail saying that we had damaged the asphalt and were going to be charged$100 for cleaning. I called back, got voicemail, and said we did not consent to this charge, wanting to have a conversation before they took any action.

We later realized that they had already charged our card.

After a lengthy and contentious conversation in which we were told they “had us on video,” the owners realized that they had made a mistake and it was actually our neighbors who had damaged the pavement. They apologized and refunded the charge and two nights of our six night reservation, so we felt comfortable returning for our second stay the following week.

However, when we arrived, we experienced similar treatment(due to their error with reservation dates). After waiting an hour to check in, we squeezed our rig into our spot and spent the night listening to our neighbor’s TV. We were unable to extend our awning, and fortunately our slide-out is quite narrow, or we would have encroached on the other neighbor’s space.

Our suspicion that they had overbooked their dates was confirmed when yet another rig pulled in the next day. Instead of communicating with us about the mix-up, we had to unhitch and move our truck “right away” so that they could shoehorn yet another rig into a space meant for one RV. We wouldn’t have minded this so much—mistakes happen—if they had apologized and given us a heads up the day before instead of interrupting our work day and asking that we act immediately. But the owner’s response to our protest was an off-putting“it’s my way or the highway” retort.

The Upshot

At the end of the day, all the problems with this park could be prevented with better organization and communication. At the time of booking, customers should receive a confirmation that includes AT A MINIMUM the dates you’ve reserved(we received electronic invoices that said“Paid” but didn’t show our booking dates!) as well as the amount paid. If they assign spaces, then a space number should be provided! And if they haven’t already done so, the host should collect identifying info at check-in: RV make/model/tags, and tow vehicle info if applicable.

If a system like that were in place, we would have been able to address the booking error proactively, and the owners would have been able to determine who the culprit was BEFORE accusing us and charging our card.

We will not be returning to this park, in spite of its curb appeal and proximity to Death Valley. As customers, we expect to be treated with courtesy without the burden of proving our innocence when a problem arises.

NOTE: This review was downgraded from two stars to one star.  Upon check out, we called the owners to let them know we had only received two of the three refunds they promised us. They informed us that "they couldn't get the third credit to go through and had already deleted our credit card number (before we had even checked out). So instead of contacting US to let us know and ask for our card info again, they were "only able to offer us a credit against a future stay."

Again, TERRIBLE communication and a limited understanding of how to resolve conflicts and keep the clientele satisfied.