Albuquerque North / Bernalillo KOA Journey — Hotel in Bernalillo

HEALTH & SAFETY WARNING SERVICE DOGS ARE DENIED ACCESS HERE!! I reserved & paid in full for a 1 week tent site for my out of state trip and within five minutes of making my reservation I received a phone call from the office, asking me if I had a tent and telling me that I cannot sleep in my vehicle at this location. I do have a tent, that is why I reserved a tent site to camp in. The KOA office continued to harass me a total of three times by phone, asking me if I had a tent and telling me the same thing that I am not allowed to sleep in my vehicle once I arrive. Considering there is a large storm in the forecast, I did ask if the weather was blowing my tent down if it would be acceptable at that point to take shelter in my vehicle, they told me absolutely not that is against the rules! It was extremely assumptive and offensive behavior for them to contact me on several occasions asking if I had a tent.

I arrived after dark and a 12 hour trip and needed the restroom right away, as I was running to the restroom with my service dog a man jumped out of his truck and followed me to the restroom which frightened me but he said he was the owner and needed to tell me the code. As I was about to enter the restroom he said “that dog can’t go in there” (my service dog wears a bright colored service dog vest for awareness incase I have a seizure) So I told him he is a registered service dog and that I have seizures. The owner responded and said. “It doesn’t matter he is not allowed in the bathroom “ so I put my service dog back in the car and quickly used the restroom. I called the office right away in the morning to explain the necessity of my service dog and they told me they would let everyone know that he is a service animal, and would be accompanying me 100% of the time. So after I arrived and stayed for one night, the office called me just a couple hours after our discussion about my service dog that morning and they were telling me that jealous guests started to call the office stating that it is “not fair” for me to have my service dog accompany me to the restroom while other guests animals are not allowed to. Due to this, the KOA Office stated to me in another phone call that my registered service dog was no longer allowed to accompany me because other guests were getting jealous and that the owner would not allow permissions for my service animal. They told me “ if that is unacceptable then you can leave the campground” My service dog has saved my life in the past, and it is necessary that he is with me 100% of the time. Due to my life-threatening medical condition and the fact that I was being restricted from public areas due to having a service dog and a non visible disability, I was forced to leave the KOA so that I could continue to have my service dog accompany me in the event that I suffer a medical episode. This location is avoiding New Mexico State Law SB320, and the Federal Laws that myself and my service dog are protected under. I have stayed at other KOA campgrounds, and have never encountered this problem before! This is a safety and health risk! For the owner to follow guest requests of what they think is fair or not, is absolutely absurd! The owner should follow the regulations and laws of this state and country that he runs his...

Bernalillo KOA website advertises that there is a train within walking distance that will take you to Albuquerque or Santa Fe. This is their ad, QUOTE

"Just half a mile down our street is the local train station. This two story train will take you downtown Albuquerque where you can visit the "old town" area, museums, zoo, botanical garden, aquarium and much more! This train will also take you to Santa Fe where you can visit the historic churches and other amazing things that Santa Fe has to offer."

What this Bernalillo KOA is NOT telling you is that this is not a leisurely "day" train that you can hop off and on as a nice train experience. This is a work commuter train or a train for people who can't afford a car to get from point A to point B. It's METRO about like the "L" commuter trains in Chicago. The walk from the KOA to the train is about a mile plus the added distance of a long bridge in a sketchy area where we thought we might even get robbed by some of the unsavory people loitering on the long walk between the KOA and the train bench. I say bench because there is NO train station to speak of. You put your fare money into a pay by the ride parking meter type box. There is no security or manned area. We did not even feel safe leaving our car there to get on the train. We followed the train tracks into Albuquerque and Santa Fe and it is a LONG way and there are NO STOPS that are handy to see things. You have to then call a cab after you get off of the train to get to where you want to go.

The KOA also advertises the Kaktus Brewery. This was in the unsavory area between the KOA and the train. We looked into what area it said there was a real brewery and it was dirt, old Christmas lights hanging up and junk cars and trailers so we didn't even enter the property. The pictures on the front page of Kaktus Brewery make it look like a Napa winery and it's a dump.

The nice things that I can say is that the camping sites at the KOA have Astro turf which is nice and a picnic table. And the bathrooms were spacious and very clean.

Not so nice things to say is that the RV spaces are too small, turn around areas to exit and get through the park are too tight. We have a 39' gooseneck and it was touch and we had to watch to not scrape a pole or tree to get out. And their store absolutely had no RV parts or supplies. But they had barrettes, combs, brushes. Very sparce.

We thought that there would be some nice SW Mexican restaurants within driving distance. Not a one. All that was in Bernalillo was fast food chain restaurants. One old grocery store in town that was over priced. We had to drive 25 minutes away to find the Wal-Mart which was hard to find. Took us 45 minutes to drive to Santa Fe and about 25 to get to old Albuquerque which we really enjoyed.

The Sandia Tram is about 35 minutes away by freeway and then going up the mountain road.

We will not be staying here ever again. Totally mis-advertised as to where they are located and...

Stayed Oct. 17 - Nov. 1, 2017. Unsanitary and unhealthy dusty dirt dog run. Sites are narrow. Badly designed overall: the RV dump is right next to the playground. Craig, the owner, his daughter Rachel, and his work campers are very rude at times. During my 15 nights at this KOA, my wife and I expierienced and witnessed several instances when Craig, his daughter, and the work campers were simply rude to customers. I had an encounter with an intoxicated work camper (Dennis) and his wife (Debra) they harassed me for using a common area water spigot that was next to my site. They were rude and unprofessional, they could've handled the situation better. I did use the spigot in the common area next to my site, but the way they reacted was as if I had committed the crime of the century. I am a respectful adult and all they had to do was respectfully and tactfully tell me I could not use the spigot and it would've been all good. The customer service and communication with customers needs a lot of work. I would not recommend this KOA. An extended stay of 3 or more nights and you may likely experience the true colors of the rude people who work there. Led by the owner Craig, he is rude, arrogant, and he will yell at customers. The work campers appear fearful and intimidated by the bully attitudes of Craig and his daughter Rachel; therefore, it appears some of the work campers seem to follow the unprofessional and rude examples of the owner. Work campers break the rules and then try to enforce the rules upon everyone else. Dont even attempt to report that work campers are breaking the rules with open fires burning (specifically on a very windy night), producing a serious fire threat to other RV campers. The rules say open fires are not allowed, there are no fire rings, and the RV camper spaces are very close together, very narrow, and very dangerous when work campers burn fires. Stay clear of this place, move on to another campground to avoid rude and arrogant customer service. They will evict you for reporting poor customer service, rude behavior, and rule violations by Craig's work campers. Double standards are reality, and Craig is the main perpetrator. I was evicted by Craig in a very bold, very rude, very arrogant and in a very loud manner in the presence of other campers. Very unprofessional and very unfair! At least they refunded my unused monthly fee money correctly....