Tahoe Valley Campground — Attraction in South Lake Tahoe

Summer 2021 People Booking BEWARE. After departing this campground I now understand the negative reviews I read before arrival. This campground is now part of the thousand trails network. So people can pay an annual fee and stay as many nights in campgrounds in their network for free (with some limitations). Clearly this place is now run by a large corporation that cares only about bookings and collecting fees than the actual experience at individual places.

I booked online for 3 nights for a "premium elite" RV spot with 50 amp power. I payed extra to reserve a specific site from the park map provided on the booking site (RVOnthego). On arrival after setting up on our site (which was not at all level) I realized there was no power. I went to the office which was "closed due to circumstances beyond our control" (which I read to mean they have tons of people complaining so just locked the door). I knocked and a gentleman came to help me. I should note while he wasn't at all able to solve the problem or admit there was a major issue he was quite polite. He told me an electrician would come by to check it out. Fast forward an hour and I learned that there was no 50 amp power in most of the sites. The campground map at the office, as well as the one used when booking online to reserve a specific site, is not at all accurate. So they let you book a site, pay extra to reserve a specific site but then the site doesn't match the description of the one you chose. The map has several different "tiers" of sites, premium, elite etc... None of that is accurate at all and seems to be just made up. We switched to a "premium elite" site on the other side of the campground where the 50 amp power was working and people were jammed in like sardines. See attached for a picture of what they describe as their "premium elite" sites. It was a joke for what they charge. I have never seen an RV park with people so on top of eachother.

This campground has MASSIVE potential. The trees are gorgeous, the location is decent (not close to the lake but ok), and there is TONS of space. If they had any idea how to run a campground (we have stayed in over 20 this summer of varying types) this place could be spectacular. At present it is the worst value of any place we have stayed. They just let people paying for thousand trails memberships jamp up the place and squat in sites for as long as possible. It doesn't matter if a campground is fancy or basic, but it should be run properly and you should get what you pay for. Just not the case here.

Tried to get a refund for the "site lock" fee I paid out of principle. Thousand trails said yes their booking site was faulty and not accurate but it wasn't their fault. Said i had to contact the campground directly but they have a broken phone line, no voicemail, and i could try sending an email. (I'm sure i know how that will turn out).

None of this really ruined our stay in the area, but i felt compelled to write this review given how much the mismanagement of this place stood out from every other campground we have stayed in over the past two months. Would never book to stay at any property managed by thousand trails again. (Side note Thousand Trails says they take bookings and collect the money but managing the actual campground isn't their responsibility or problem, ha).

Pssst. Hey owner! I see you commenting on the recent positive reviews. Have any comment for mine? I dare you. Is there anything I have said that isn’t 100%...

We had planned to stay at Tahoe village but regrettably did not make reservations far enough in advance. We are very flexible in our camping and we are easily adaptable so we figured any reservation will work. We have a self contained slide in truck camper, which does not require hook up, so a tent site works just fine for us. All tent sites were reserved so we booked an RV site with hook ups. Although we do not require hook ups the amendity was a nice change. At check in we received our spot, 184 on G loop. Our truck literally backed up to the restroom/shower building. I can hear toilets and showers as I lay in bed and write this. I step out my camper and I can literally touch the exterior bathroom wall. On top of hearing people use the toilet and showers, the dumpster, which is also located within our "campsite" is also a central attraction for our site. When we arrived at our site we noticed that our electric plug hook up was being used, upon further investigation we discovered that extension cords were being used from our hook up to supply the bathrooms with power. The power supply provided power to the lights of the bathrooms that shined in our camp all night. After a couple hours of not being able to sleep because of shining light we unplugged the power supply, which was quickly plugged back in after people complained. The same people who literally walked across our door mat on the way to the bathroom. Later I learned that there were stand by units, which are places on the property that folks can use just for sleeping, no cooking, fires, etc. Upon inquiry I was told I could not use one of these sites because I was not in a tent on the ground and that campers and tents can't share the same spaces because of California regulations regarding black water tanks, which my camper does not have. I am usually a patient man, this is my first review I have ever written. I most likely would not have written this review if the camping was affordable, however, $92.00 seems pricey even if I was far enough away I couldn't hear toilets flush. I get being busy and booked, but come on this is ridiculous. I get that we should be more deligent with our planning and the place is doing their best to accommodate folks, but all be told after 2 nights we will have spent $184.00 for the worst camping experience of my entire life. Update: the next day I went to the office to talk about our dissatisfaction with our site. I was waiting in line behind another disgruntled client. Once they were finished with their conversation I insisted that the person behind me go before, knowing my conversation would be lengthy. He stated he was there for the same reason. The woman "helping" me was very argumentative and confrontational. I asked her to speak to her manager, which she was reluctant to let me do. I was not confrontational and almost sympathetic to the business of the weekend. She told me that it is all about perspective and that someone needs to be by...

I called and made a reservation for this “campground.” You have to book online or call the thousand trails call center to book a site. I called because I wanted to make sure they could accommodate us and they said no problem. My sons and I were traveling with my parents so we had their cab over camper truck towing our travel trailer so it’s technically two and not one, but we rarely have to unhook and have no problem in large enough sites with 50amp. So when I called I explained this, they said no problem. I said I needed a site for 47 foot if we don’t unhook or two sites next to each other if they are smaller and we have to unhook but they said it’s ok and booked me one larger said or so they said. So we get here and they assign us a site that isn’t even a campsite. It’s a curb on the corner of the road which is very busy because there’s probably a thousand people here right now. So when my Kids would be outside or anything we set up outside is practically in the street. But also the site was not even close to large enough and was impossible to figure out how you are suppose to park in it. I called the office and they said they would send a ranger over. So this guy said there’s no way we can have our two units in one site and would have to get another site! This place is packed and there was an open site across the street that my trailer could fit in but was also tiny. And I mean tiny. We are squeezed between trees, can’t open the awning, no where to play and only place to put chairs is in front of trailer on the street. My site is backed up right to the bathroom wall. I went back into to the office and wasn’t happy. Asked for anything, anywhere else not on the street corner, they are so full they had nothing so we are stuck with this for three days and they are going to make me pay for a second site. This isn’t a campground it’s an rv city and it’s chaos. While we were parking there was people walking by asking if this is even a campsite...my question exactly. One of the men who came out to see what our problem was was very rude to me when it’s obvious why I would be upset and I was trying to be reasonable. One of the the ladies in the office was very nice and tried to help but just couldn’t do anything. They should not have a call center or online reservations without more strict site descriptions especially the width and length or the site and their amp capabilities. There are huge Rvs parked in here, hundreds of them and I really don’t understand why they would give me a site when I booked for 47 feet this tiny little street corner. You may as well stay in a hotel rather than bothering with this place at least then if you are going to stay in a city you would have free WiFi included because...