Murphy / Peace Valley KOA Holiday — Hotel in Cherokee County Community

My husband booked a spot to camp in his motocross van with a friend who would be in a tent a couple weekends ago for two spots for one night. The friend ended up not being able to go so my husband called the campground and they told him they wouldn't refund him but they said they would be able to move his reservation to this weekend but for one spot for two nights due to the price difference. He agreed...but they ended up charging him another deposit. He showed up yesterday and they had the reservation back to being two spots for one night in an RV spot. Which, my husband and his friend said they could make work. But he wanted his extra deposit back she said that would be fine...but instead she actually charged him yet another deposit. (Three deposits at this point). Then, after charging my husband again, the office lady told my husband he was not allowed to stay in his van because this was a 'family campground' and he would scare the families. Mind you people build out vans to camp in...and my husband in no way looks like a dangerous person. She finally agreed to let him stay but moved him to a spot in the tent section which was apparently closed, so it wouldn't be so public. Fast forward, my husband and his friend went to get dinner and came back and were met at the front gate by the same lady who tore into them again now telling them that they were taking up two spots because he had placed something on a picnic table that he thought was on his spot. She also told him again that he couldn't stay in his van even in the "unopened" tent spot she gave him. This was at 10pm at night when no one would see him anyway. My husband told her to make it easy on her he would just leave and she could refund him. Which has not happened yet. We always stay at KOAs but have never been treated like this.

**Update my husband actually offered to put a tent up "in their one and only tent site" and when he hadn't gotten it up before going out to dinner she called him a liar when he got back. But, you have to love the sarcasm laced response ... Judging by other reviews this is not the first time people have been...

The campsite was nice and the lady checking us in was very nice. Location was wonderful! Our cabin, #4 was lacking!! Although our friends were to join us over the weekend, one would have had to sleep in a loft I couldn’t sit on the floor upright in and the other on the hard jackknife sofa. They didn’t come. They had one small space heater for the entire cabin. The other 3 units had heat built in. It was about 33 degrees the third night there. They knew the temperature and that there was only the one. (Hubby didn’t want to bother them late for another one) The sheets left in our room didn’t fit our bed and popped off to leave us on the ill fitting plastic sheet. We changed to the ones in the loft that did fit the next night. The second night there, a tropical storm came through. If the windows had been locked, the bottom left window wouldn’t have literally blown off the tack and on me while sleeping. My husband simply put it and the blinds back up and we went back to sleep as best as we were able. Beautiful surroundings, just horrible cabin. The dirty flooring, the leak by the air conditioner, super small shower etc... It really needs an update. While my husband didn’t want to make a fuss while there, I called to let them know once home today. Hopefully to save someone else going through what we went through. We’ve stayed at MANY KOA’s across the country. Nothing remotely was like this. I didn’t want to write this, but after calling and talking to the manager, I felt I needed to post this based on the lackadaisical response.

note the owner's sarcastic response..... over a year later....

AGAIN.... every other KOA campground where we have stayed all across the country have been consistent...

Nearly perfect last minute getaway! We had such a nice time at Peace Valley KOA. First time experience and we’re definitely coming back. We were traveling with an elderly retired service dog and my new young trainee service dog (not ready for full public access), and it was difficult to find somewhere to stay, last minute, that would be ok. I’ve never paid attention to this before, because my old dog has had full public access for 10 years! This is a temporary issue for us, but even when my young dog is finished training, we’ll be looking for KOAs versus hotels from now on. Peace Valley in particular was so chill and beautiful. We stayed in a deluxe cabin, literally steps from river access. It was clean (I’m a clean freak, so I really mean clean!), and really well stocked. We only ate out once - it was so nice to fix meals and eat on the screened porch. There was lots for us to do right there - with dogs (river exploring, HUGE clean dog park, riverside walking trail) - and without (outdoor pool, arcade/poolroom). The area has a lot of NC mts type experiences, though we didn’t go anywhere. Our cabin was certainly “rustic” - like it’s still “camping” so the internet access is spotty, and the air conditioning is not super great when it’s 90F - but we just picked up a box fan when we went grocery shopping- and I was mostly outside anyway. :) Thank you again, and we’ll...