BV Overlook Camp & Lodging — Hotel in Buena Vista

To whom this concerns: I have been doing reviews for many years and am a former television news reporter, where we had to report about the good, the bad, and sometimes, the ugly. I have always tried to be fair in my photojournalist reports and have much brass plaques to support my reporting given to me by my peers. I am writing this as a review, but more importantly, to protect an injustice being held against the owners of the KOA in Buena Vista, Colorado, Mr. and Mrs. M. (no need to write their last names here). First of all, I have known these fine people for the past 12 years when they first acquired this KOA, which, before they owned it, had been in a state of disarray. Not only did Mr. and Mrs. M. improve the quality of this campground, but they made each and every camper who visited the KOA campground, so to speak, a member of the “family”. They are both very warm and caring people who want and strive for every camper to have one of the very best camping experiences they can have. In any kind of business there are ways and rules for everyone to follow. One of the reasons the KOA Kampground business has been so successful throughout the years is because of the caring owners and the rules which everyone must abide by so everyone who is camping can all enjoy their camping experiences. Mr and Mrs M. have achieved this and have gone further! There are very few people or campground hosts who are as gracious, and understanding as these two fine people. Some erroneous reviews were written here, from this past August, claim the opposite of what I just wrote. These reviews were written as a type of “gang” like reviews to discredit Mr. and Mrs. M., and their fine staff, which is wrong and just plain, lies. These people believed that they could just “roll” into this campground, drink alcohol, decide the rules, and basically bully everyone around them because they were having a “family reunion” and now they were the ones in charge, and forget every other camper visiting this fine KOA. These people were very arrogant, obnoxious, and had no rights to act the trashy and disrespectful ways they did towards Mr. and Mrs. M. and their staff. When they were asked, very politely, to relax and abide by the set rules, these people became belligerent, argument eve, and completely disrespectful. The owners had no choice than to request them to leave since these “family-reunion” people were destroying the harmony and relaxation which other campers came here to enjoy. To discredit, and disrespect Mr. and Mrs. M. even more they had the gull to go on line, egg their friends to do so as well, and print bad reviews towards and about these fine people, and their staff, which was totally uncalled for and totally out of line since it was them, and NOT Mr. and Mrs. M. who were at fault. I’m sorry for these reviews and I besiege the people who are considering visiting this fine KOA campground to rightfully understand this, ignore these vengeful reviews, and come to this KOA and meet Mr. and Mrs. M. and experience a really fun, and beautiful camping experience. I have been coming back to this KOA for many, many years now and one of the main reasons is because of my admiration and respect for these fine people. This KOA is the best one I have ever stayed at and I know that when you camp here, you too will agree and understand that there are some people in this world who will try to knock down others, and discredit the good people and places as these “family-reunion” people have tried to do. As I have said before, Mr. and Mrs. M. are one of the most fantastic people I have ever met and I really wish I lived closer to them for they are such wonderful and caring people. Visit this KOA and I do know you will agree, and have a wonderful...

My husband and I stayed at BV Overlook in site B33 (back in, electric only) for five nights to celebrate our anniversary in mid October 2022. The weather and full moon were perfect for enjoying the amazing views and cozy fires each night. Recommended activities: Rent from BV e-bikes (great service and so fun!), Cottonwood Hot Springs after sunset for a $20 adults-only soak, watch the sunset at the top of Cottonwood Pass, practice some shooting at the Chaffee County Shooting Range, and treat yourself to a spa treatment at Mount Princeton Hot Springs to receive all the amenities of a resort guest.

We camped at this campground with our whole family two years ago when it was a KOA, and though it was a bit rundown, the location was excellent. We like that it is more tucked into the rocks, trees & hills, rather than along the side of the road like a parking lot. New ownership has transformed this incredible property.They built two new bathhouses with a total of 8 complete bath/shower rooms, one at the top of the hill past the office and one way around the other side, making it much nicer for those sites to have easy access to these private complete bathrooms. The main bathhouses by the office have been beautifully renovated; in the women's half there were three toilet stalls, three shower stalls, four sinks with spacious counters and outlets, and a baby changing table.

The area around the main office is beautiful and inviting. New outdoor furniture, tables & chairs, shade sails, flowers, Edison lights, large propane fire pit, corn hole, dog wash station, fish cleaning station, and WIFI. Inside you will find a complementary tea/coffee station, a laundry tub to wash dishes, a microwave, washers and dryers, and even an ironing station for weirdos who need that kind of thing. In the recreation room are more couches with a tv area, tables & chairs, a pool table, air hockey, books, games & puzzles, an out-going mailbox, and a cozy fireplace. The office has all the typical things to purchase and they have a little coffee shop to purchase your more specialized brew in the mornings.

Hiking and mountain biking trails leave directly from the campground property. In addition to the tent, RV sites & cabins, the new owners have added a cool yurt and several tiny houses with full amenities. This might help us to get our whole extended family to BV next summer, because each family can choose how "rough" (or not rough at all) they want to stay.

The playground looks terrific and they advertise some sort of splash pad, but we were there after the summer season closed. The campground is now open all year, which is wonderful for those who want to enjoy the hot springs and skiing in the winter months. The dog park is fully fenced, plus there are little hooks near all the bathrooms and office to secure your pet while you go inside. Many little doggy poop bag stands are scattered throughout the campground. All in all, we were rather impressed with how much these new owners have accomplished in less...

Pretty nice place but I have a 2022 update. How my 5 star rating went down to a 1 star with a review.

BEWARE IF YOU BOOK ONLINE!

So we booked online about 3 days in advance. There were spots still available. I upgraded to the spots with a scenic view. I selected that we had a small trailer and put in a length. I even stated that in the comments.

We get there before dark but after hours by maybe an hour. They had our scenic spot picked out for our tent camping... but it was up a very steep hill and was a very little spot. This was the most elevated spot that they had.

I tried to back our small trailer up to our spot and I was not able to do it. We ended up talking to our neighbors and parked on the incline but close to their site. They understood. We then had to hike everything uphill to setup. It got done.

Next morning we went to the front desk to change our site and explained the problem. The younger clerk had an attitude about changing our spot AND told us that they just assign spots that are reserved online. I said that was fine but we had a trailer and there is no way that a trailer can make it up that incline especiallybacking up. She said that they don't "have enough time to look at all the requirements when people book online, they just have to assign spots as quickly as they can"! I was like then why do you ask the questions about vehicles and trailers if you can't take one minute to read it?

The first spot we wanted she said was taken, already booked. Then she wanted to give us another random spot and I said that we'll go look for spots that we like then come back with a list. She ended up giving us a spot that we liked. I then asked if it was a scenic spot and she said no. I told her that I wanted the extra money back that I paid for the scenic spot and she said that she would.

The point is, the questions and answers are for a good reason and if she is just going to assign random spots then that is poor customer service. She was argumentative with us instead of trying to solve the problem and make things better for our stay. We had to take down everything and move everything across the campground which took a few hours out of our day. She could have acted like she cared and try to make things right.

The bathroom and showers were a nice amenity but needed to be cleaned better.

This was my 2nd time staying here and I believe that it was sold and transferred ownership between my two stays. It was a KOA before and now I don't think it is.

I'm not sure if we will be staying here again just because of the poor customer service and pathetic care we received. It was a nice view of the Continental Divide mountains but the extra $10 for the scenic view was definitely not worth it, especially with our situation of...