Spacious Skies Campgrounds - Walnut Grove — Hotel in Alfred

BEWARE OF SPACIOUS LIES||In my humble opinion, Spacious Skies is the worst new Camping Franchise on the East Coast. As seasonal campers who had been at Spacious Skies Walnut Grove for several years with the previous owners, we were excited for change. We were hoping for new features at the campground and new functions. Our previous owners had gotten burnt out, they were ready for retirement and sold the campground to Spacious Skies right under our noses. We got a facebook message stating the new owners were coming in 2 days and our current owners were on their way out. |When we met Ali Rasmussen, CEO of Spacious Skies, we were assured that our little piece of heaven would have changes, but nothing drastic, Walnut Grove was her first campground purchase and she was learning a lot about running a campground from many of our seasonals.|Walnut Grove is a fairly small campground in Alfred, Maine, and as of the purchase in 2021 we had approximately 75 seasonals and about 20 some odd transient sites. We were proud of our campground! We may not all have hung around together, but we knew each other and respected each other. We all mowed and maintained our own sites, We sponsored our own events, and many of our seasonals helped with maintaining the campground without any compensation. Most seasonals had been there from over 10 years up to 30 plus years.|End of season 2021 was when the real fun began…”Agreements” (Contracts) did not come out until late August/ early September with only about a month to decide whether to stay or go. Prices increased about 30 percent. If you have been a seasonal, you know that it is extremely difficult to find another campground that late in the season to move to, and many of our seasonals were from out of state, so taking their campers, etc, home was not an option. Then after agreements were signed and an deposits were paid, an addendum to the “Agreement “ came out, certain campers were advised that they would have to move to other sites throughout the campground. Effective season 2022. So even though they had signed an “Agreement” for their site, they had to move. Some campers moved their campers the beginning of season 2022, some waited until the end of the season. Many seasonals left, somewhere between 20 and 30. |Season 2022 was chaos. Staffing was changing constantly, the security gate was frequently left open. Transients would have guests sneaking in, nobody was policing the campground, they were not keeping track of which cars should be there and which shouldn’t. Prices changed, ice , which was about 3 dollars a bag in 2021 was now almost 6 dollars!! The anxiety of WHEN “Agreements” coming out was THE conversation of the season. |Once again, contracts came out September 14 with about 2 weeks to sign and put in a deposit (Due Oct 1,2022. (Seriously??) Prices went up (as expected) but then it was disclosed that the were only going to be 36 sites designated for seasonals and which needed to apply and be approved. Many would have to move again. Decks needed to be reduced to 8 foot by 4 foot, no more screen rooms, no more sheds or clotheslines. |Needless to say, we left. We were starting to see the signs in 2021 and decided to start looking for a new campground. We found another family run campground that wanted and respected Seasonal Campers. | I cannot begin to describe the emotions. We were a family. A very loving family. There has been tears, and anger. So much sadness and anxiety. Expensive decks were being burnt, possessions thrown away, because there was not time to sell. Many seasonals were snow birds from Florida and had to get back. It has been extremely stressful. People who are aged in their eighties and nineties have had to relocate from sites they have occupied for over 20 years. Some seasonals have had to stay because they once again did not have time to find another campground within the time allowed with the late contracts to be able to find another place to move to. I find this whole situation to be terrible business practices, there was never clear communication from Corporate to the campground. For somebody who claims to be a seasoned and well traveled camper, Cleary Ali Rasmussen has no idea what she is doing. Ask any family run campground, your seasonals are your lifeline. They don’t trash campgrounds, they respect and love their homes away from homes. I intend to post this review on any site I can find to warn people of staying at Spacious Lies, I mean Skies. ||Christie...

It has potential to be great. It’s mostly an RV park but we tent camp w/ an enclosed work trailer for our gear & kitchen set up. CONS: customer service. I specifically asked about firewood when I booked. They didn’t say there was a burn ban. When we arrived & found out, the clerk said she didn’t know that when we booked & it must be new. Turns out they’d already been under a burn ban for 10 days - how could she not know? The clerk (who had only been there a few weeks and works during the week) didn’t know anything about the sites & our site was too small for our equipment even though she asked us what size our equipment was and how much space we needed. They did allow us to choose another site that did work. The clerk also needs training on how to use their computer system. She struggled to help anyone. She couldn’t take our additional cash payment, give us receipts, or even check us in. It was frustrating. It was Labor Day weekend. They advertise a heated pool but the water was barely above 60 degrees. On the last day of our 7 night stay, we noticed them filling the pool with a hose with slightly warmer water. Very disappointed not to be able to use the pool as much as we wanted to. Several other guests also said they expected a heated pool and were disappointed. Having a hose snaking across the pool deck was also an unnecessary hazard. showers: very clean but on the ladies side, you either get ice cold temps and good water pressure or slightly warm water and very low pressure. Makes me wonder if they’re using the same water heater for the shower to also try to add some warmer water to the pool. mens room. Husband said it was great - when he could use it. It was Closed at 9:30 am for at least an hour for cleaning which meant the men in our party couldn’t do what they needed to do unless they left the campground and went somewhere else. very noisy at night on the weekend but I expected that on a holiday weekend. majority of picnic tables on sites have wet rot and very rickety - dangerous to the point we wouldn’t let our 3-year-old grandchild sit at the table. My husband asked them for a two by four so we could repair it ourselves. The manager seemed put out to have her lunch interrupted but they eventually brought it by. We were surprised they let us fix the table instead of handling it themselves. we arrived a day early and called to ask if they had a place we could park our enclosed trailer for a fee until the next day when we were going to set up. The manager was rude and seriously lacks diplomacy and good customer communication skills. dog park: really nice size and the grounds are well mowed, but the gate is poorly made, and you have to lift it up off the ground and muscle the gate to latch/unlatch. Really stressful trying to open and close the door while controlling my dog. internet is spotty, even near the camp office. the camp office and store closes really early

PROS:

nice playground and rec hall. Grands loved the jumping pillow. Nice recreation area w/ everything centrally located in a giant area in middle of campground, adjacent to the pool, bathhouse, & rec hall. Lots of yard games - horseshoes, badminton, giant connect four game, a mining area for kids with water for sluicing to find treasures in sand, NOTE: the bags of sand were very very expensive. Order some from Walmart & bring them with you. The pool is big, has a diving board, plenty of chairs, & lots of pool toys. within 35 minutes to Portland and 20 minutes to Kennebunk. The town itself is adorable. Walmart /other stores 7 miles away. the office & camp store closes at 4 pm but they allow people to take ice & wood & put the money in a box. buildings are very clean. The bathrooms are nice and bright. Rec hall has lots to do in it for people of all ages. nice to have a dog run nice, clean laundry room! You must download app to use the machines. See note about internet above. Price was much cheaper than other campgrounds nearby.

Would we return: only if it has new management and...

BEWARE OF SPACIOUS LIES In my humble opinion, Spacious Skies is the worst new Camping Franchise on the East Coast. As seasonal campers who had been at Spacious Skies Walnut Grove for several years with the previous owners, we were excited for change. We were hoping for new features at the campground and new functions. Our previous owners had gotten burnt out, they were ready for retirement and sold the campground to Spacious Skies right under our noses. When we met Ali Rasmussen, CEO of Spacious Skies, we were assured that our little piece of heaven would have changes, but nothing drastic, Walnut Grove was her first campground purchase and she was learning a lot about running a campground from many of our seasonals. Walnut Grove is a fairly small campground in Alfred, Maine, and as of the purchase in 2021 we had approximately 75 seasonals and about 20 some odd transient sites. We were proud of our campground! We may not all have hung around together, but we knew each other and respected each other. We all mowed and maintained our own sites, We sponsored our own events, and many of our seasonals helped with maintaining the campground without any compensation. Most seasonals had been there from over 10 years up to 30 plus years.End of season 2021 was when the real fun began…”Agreements” (Contracts) did not come out until late August/ early September with only about a month to decide whether to stay or go. Prices increased about 30 percent. If you have been a seasonal, you know that it is extremely difficult to find another campground that late in the season to move to, and many of our seasonals were from out of state, so taking their campers, etc, home was not an option. Then after agreements were signed and an deposits were paid, an addendum to the “Agreement “ came out, certain campers were advised that they would have to move to other sites throughout the campground. Effective season 2022. So even though they had signed an “Agreement” for their site, they had to move. Some campers moved their campers the beginning of season 2022, some waited until the end of the season. Many seasonals left, somewhere between 20 and 30. Season 2022 was chaos. Staffing was changing constantly, the security gate was frequently left open. Transients would have guests sneaking in, nobody was policing the campground, they were not keeping track of which cars should be there and which shouldn’t. Prices changed, ice , which was about 3 dollars a bag in 2021 was now almost 6 dollars!! The anxiety of WHEN “Agreements” coming out was THE conversation of the season. Once again, contracts came out September 14 with about 2 weeks to sign and put in a deposit (Due Oct 1,2022. Prices went up (as expected) but then it was disclosed that the were only going to be 36 sites designated for seasonals and which needed to apply and be approved. Many would have to move again. Decks needed to be reduced to 8 foot by 4 foot, no more screen rooms, no more sheds or clotheslines. Needless to say, we left. We were starting to see the signs in 2021 and decided to start looking for a...