Paradise Valley Campground — Hotel in Squamish

We stayed in June and had a great time, so decided to return again in July and we had a terrible experience because 2 of the staff members are rude!

It all started off wrong when we were an hour early for check-in. Knowing that no one had booked online the night before we had asked it would be possible to check-in early. Without checking the reservation system, the host was quick to remember that she had checked someone in the night before and that it had been occupied. As we went to leave, we decided to drive around the campground to check things out. We were chased after, stopped, and told that we had to turnaround and leave until we could check-in. We said that we were just going to park and check out the river with the dogs; however we were told that we must leave immediately or risk paying extra fees. They just didn’t want us driving around to see that our site was actually available; because I did walk-in and confirmed they were just lying and being difficult to begin with!

The next day, I could see that I had lost my dog’s AirTag, so when I followed the tracking to the store, the same host met me with hostility and said in front of the whole store-front that it was found next to a big pile of dog poo. I know my dog didn’t lose the AirTag while pooping and I left thinking it was quite accusational and embarrassing to say in front of a bunch of other guests. I am a responsible dog owner and I always pick up after my dog!

The saga continued later that afternoon, as I walked back from the river to find a staff member rummaging through our site. When I caught him and asked what he was doing, he became immediately aggressive and defensive. He said that he had to flip the fire pit over because of the fire ban; which they had known about 36 hours ago; the previous day, when they wouldn’t allow us to check-in early because our site wasn’t ready for our hour early arrival. When I told him that he shouldn’t be in our site without us there, he said that he is security, so he can go anywhere he wants! Actually though, for security reasons you shouldn’t be unescorted in sites with access to car-tents. After that sort of interaction, it’s hard to go for the remainder of the afternoon without feeling anxious; wondering if he’s going through your stuff again!? Also I should mention that because of the fire ban, we had rented a fire pit and propane tank from the hosts; so there should have been no concern, nor urgency to make the fire pit inaccessible.

The harassment continued as we were leaving, when the same staff member decided to come back into our site just as we were walking back from the bathroom to leave. He began grooming the site before we could pull our car out, 4 minutes before checkout time. It was good to know leaving, that the campsite would be ready should the next guest arrive an hour early before check-in.

They also tried to say we used to a full tank of propane for 2 nights during the heatwave; which was a lie, but I managed to get $10 back from the $40 it cost for the propane fill.

We love the area, location, and the campground; however the two employees completely ruined our experience our second time there, so we will not return as long as they are working there! I would appreciate a follow-up conversation...

My rate to this place is ZERO star!

It's not surprising that most of the negative feedbacks here points to the rude management and staff. Issues with the staff and management only arise in specific situations, not during a typical day with standard camping check-ins and check-outs, that being said it happens only once! Now, I'd like to share four episodes that happened to my family on Fri Jun 7 2024 in Campside#16

First Episode: My friend booked the campground for two adults and kids for two nights. After the first night, they asked the front desk if two more adults could join, and the staff agreed for an additional $15. We spent hours shopping and driving to the site, but upon arrival, the staff reneged on their promise, blaming a trainee's mistake. Despite explaining the inconvenience and having a 5-year-old with us, they rudely insisted we stay only until 9 PM as guests and then leave; without accepting the fact that was their misinformation.

Second Episode: We decided to forget the first incident and enjoy camping until 9 PM. We started a fire using wood purchased from the campground ($13 per pack), while the kids gathered dried sticks from the forest to add to the fire. Suddenly, an angry staff, later identified as a manager just walked up to the campsite with no permission/notice, confronted us, shouting that only their wood could be used in the fire pit. We tried to explain that the kids were just playing and that we had bought wood from them. He rudely showed us the rules and asked if we could read English, which was both intrusive and felt strongly racist.

Third Episode: Around 8:30 PM, two dads decided to move a car outside the campsite and sleep in it to keep the kids together for their first camping experience. As we were having dinner, the same manager entered our site again to remind us that we couldn't stay overnight. We explained our plan and asked him to leave while we ate. At 9:15 PM, as we were in the tent playing with the kids and the dads were preparing to leave, the manager returned, shining a light into our tent and rudely asking if we were hiding. By 9:30 PM, dads had left, and we continued playing with the kids in the tent. At 10:10 PM, two police officers arrived, saying they were called by the manager, who claimed we were refusing to leave. The kids were terrified, and we were literally shaking.

Fourth Episode: At 8 AM, dads returned, we explained the situation and the manager's call to the police. We decided to have breakfast and leave this terrible place. At 9:30 AM, the manager showed up, re-iterating that we need to leave. We told him that we are packing and will be leaving by 11am, checkout time. By 11 AM, we were inside the car, packed and ready to go, when we saw two police officers again in the campsite. They explained they had received another call from the manager, claiming we were refusing to check out.

I'll leave the decision to you if you're considering to spend your money and precious time at...

Stayed here 3 nights, won't be back and recommend you book elsewhere.

I'll start with the good. Nice setting and well organized, lots of bathrooms and cleaning stations plus a shop with coffee bar and ice cream.

The bad. Staff are odd, the owner seems like an utter control freak. You know from the website no music allowed or generators. They reinforce that at check in. But there are posters everywhere reminding you. Then there are signs on the bins for garbage, literally 4 garbage signs on each bin to make sure you understand what it is, wow they must think the paying guests are dumb.

There are more signs everywhere telling you not to walk off your site into the forest grounds to protect the plants, but it was OK for them to rip up 85% of the forest for campsites! Hypocrites thinking they are eco sensitive, give me a break.

More signs (so many damn signs) say no dogs on the deck, that's where they have a dog bowl 🤷

As for the campsites, there is so much tree cover it's like 24 hour darkness, you'll be searching to find out if it's sunny or not outside in the middle of the day.

The staff are really weird here, staring at you when you drive in like your going to rob the place. But the weirdest thing, my wife got told off by the French staff member for using a flashlight as it disturbs campers, this from the guy creeping around a campsite in the dark without a torch, now that's real concerning.

It feels like they are doing you a favour to let you stay here but I'll spend my camping money elsewhere in Squamish in future.

If you do book, watch out for the creepy staff member patrolling the...