BCRV — Hotel in Burnaby

My fiance and just checked out yesterday. We spent 4 nights over 5 days there. We were tenting.

Starting with the positive: the location is beautiful and very convenient. Lots of trees everywhere. Lots of showers, toilets and sinks, you never had to wait your turn (and we only experienced the bathrooms near the tenting site, not the ones by the main building). Another huge positive - the bathrooms are located right beside the tenting grounds, about a 10 second walk away. The gazebo by the tenting area is quite nice - 2 sinks and multiple picnic tables tucked under it. There are plenty of picnic tables around the tenting area as well, essentially one for every tent. The park has many additional things to offer, including pool, hot tub, fitness room just to name a few - but we didn't check out any of it so I can't comment on it.

The negative: They tell you by email when you first communicate with them that "a train runs down one side of the tenting area that might cause some noise." What they fail to tell you however is that it doesn't cause some noise, but a significant amount, at all hours of the night! I like to think of myself as a deep sleeper, but when that train rolled by, it was hard not to wake to the noise of all the train cars or the horn that they're constantly using! The train line literally passes some 10ft away from the tenting area so it's hard not to notice the noise (In the attached pictures - the train line is located right behind the trees behind the red tent). I had to take sleeping pills just to sleep through the night. In the tenting area, there is no privacy what so ever. It's just a wide open space with a bunch of tents set up. Although the bathrooms were large, I found them to be quite dark and a little dingy. In the women's bathroom, there was no temperature adjustment for the water so I had no choice but to take a hot shower on a hot day. In the men's bathroom, my fiance says the showers lack pressure so you have to nearly press up against the wall to get some water.

When you first check in, be sure you receive the "welcome package" of papers. Due to our late arrival the first night, we checked in the next morning and were given nothing. On the second morning, while buying ice, it was only then that I realized we hadn't been given these papers (someone new was checking in and I noticed they were given some papers). They include: wifi instructions, transportation guidelines, a map of the area, and they also give you a coupon to use at the Capilano bridge. Unsure why we weren't originally given these, but it was somewhat frustrating having to ask for them.

Note about the wifi: on their website, they say they have park wide free wifi. They just fail to include the fine print. You can only use 6 hours of wifi in 24 hrs. You can use 30 minutes, every 2 hours (can be done 12 times in the day), or you can use 2 hours every 8 hours (3 times in the day).

I can't say I would recommend this tenting site to anyone. Probably only as a last resort. The park is certainly catered to those with RV or trailers, the tenting area just seems like an after thought. I'd return with an RV, but never again...

Very pricey place to stay. Staff is friendly though and they have very good information on where to go, how to get there and what to see. There's also a gentleman working there that speaks Dutch. Camping spots are nicely maintained and clean. Only the hookups are weirdly placed for most sites. Especially the sewer pipe is hard to reach. Sites are all on concrete, stones or asphalt and reasonably leveled. Restrooms and showers are very clean and decent. The indoor swimming pool is nice but could use maintenance. Two out of the four showers aren't working. The ones that do work require constant hard presses on a button to keep the water flowing. People tend to leave the sliding outside doors open which causes a cold breeze inside. There are no changing rooms. None. Just a small toilet with no place to put down, hang or place your clothes. How the heck do they figure people to change their swimwear? The lounge area upstairs is huge but far from being cosy or functional. They could make much more of this room. The sundeck is okay but could use a bit more decoration to make it attractive. Plus you're not allowed to get there when being wet from swimming. Doesn't make sense. The playground is okay but could use some paint. Weird that there's concrete under the two spinning things. Hate to see a kid fall off of those things while spinning hard. The stairs to the game room and fitness room feel like you could fall through any moment. The wood is clearly starting to rot. Needs maintenance. The fitness room is quite okay for a campground. The games room only has really ancient games from the eighties. Nothing fun for the kids today plus one dollar per play isn't very kid friendly. The RV wash is convenient. They have a recycle your stuff thing in the office which is very cool. Stuff you have left after your RV trip you can leave there for others starting their RV trip to use. Awesome idea. The WiFi is weird. You get two times two hours of free WiFi per 24 hours or you can get 4 hours per 24 hours in 30 minute fragments which require at least two hour gaps between them. How complicated can you make things? Internet speeds are decent and coverage reasonable. Antennas are on the far ends so if you're in the middle like we were you're struggling with getting signal. The walk to the SkyTrain is 15 minutes and a bit steep. Doable though and a really nice way to explore Vancoucer. Just get your daypass for the public transport at the reception. 9.75$ per adult, kids under 5 are free. From July 1, 2017 onwards it will become 10$ per adult. All in all an okay campground to explore Vancouver but seen the price and seen how much more beautiful stuff Canada has to offer than Vancouver can offer I would make your stay here as short...

It was my families first time RVing, and this was our first stop. The space we were in was quite small, but there was enough room for a picnic table and a few chairs. There was a lot of privacy from the tall bushes surrounding most of the site. When it came to being outside or sleeping, the train frequently went by, and was pretty noticeable due to it being right next to the rv park. The rv park is also nearby a highway, so there was always a constant buz of cars, and you could always hear the loud semi trucks driving by. But honestly, the train and highway noise although noticeable were not too annoying and I didnt have too much of a problem spending time outside or sleeping. The best part of my stay was the club house. They have a convenience store that had a lot of food and drinks. They also had transit tickets, which was really useful for getting to and from Vancouver. The sky train was a short 15 minute walk away from the rv park, and took us the numerous places throughout vancouver. The buses also worked with the transit pass. The clubhouse also had a pool and spa, which were very relaxing and a nice feature to have. The bathroom facilities and showers at the club house are the nicest, I would recommend using those bathrooms over the other ones. There was also a sun deck and a gaming & workout room. The workout room only had 5 machines, but was perfect for a workout and had lots of space. The game room was also a nice feature. There was a playground/mini park area for the little ones as well. There is a lake near the park, around 5 minutes away. Its unfortunate that they do not allow bikes around the lake, but there is another trail right next to the rv site along the creek that eventually took us to a park and school. We could use our bikes on this one, and we even saw a beaver! The worst thing about our stay was wifi. The wifi was terrible. It took super long for things to load. If you want more than 2 hours of wifi a day, you have to pay money. I spent $5 for a full day of wifi, but could barely load anything during that time. Disappointment. Hope this in depth...