Jellystone Park™ Chincoteague Island — Hotel in Chincoteague

Let me start by saying that we have a travel trailer and have been campers for 5 years with 3 young children. We didn’t want to tow our trailer 800 miles for a few days of vacation so we rented one of their pet friendly RVs. This review is on the RV and the campground to help people better decide if this campground is right for them.

The Positives: 1.) Despite travel trailers being sort of fragile, the RV we stayed in (RV13) was well maintained. All of the components worked. We used the stove, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, water was hot, no holes in walls, nothing broken except the screen in the bathroom ceiling vent which was taped. 2.) The wood deck and robust table and chairs were great to have right outside the RV! I would bring extra camping chairs for around fire pit as the chairs are pretty heavy to move. 3.) The campground has typical KOA amenities. Nothing extravagant, but nice for kids. The pool was nice (a little cloudy) but has two ladders for entry/exit (no stairs). So be mindful of bringing little kids or older adults who need stairs. 4.) The location is great! Maui Jacks, food/ice cream, party stores, souvenirs are all within walking distance! You can even bike to Assateague! 5.) We had my daughter break her arm the first time we tried coming here a few weeks ago and the people I spoke with at the Sunoutdoors reservation desk were amazing and able to rebook us! I definitely have more respect for the Jellystone operation after that experience!

The not so Positives: 1.) The RV we rented was not very clean. You couldn’t tell it was a pet RV (didn’t smell). It also didn’t have crumbs or food spots or anything like that. But the windowsills and screens were full of dead bugs. The corners and crevices and under the table bench seats were definitely not vacuumed or washed. On top of this, my brother said it’s ant season. So I’m not placing blame, but there were sugar ants all over the camper, which was obviously known since there were also ant bait traps all over the camper. I found them in my sheets multiple times. So staying in the camper was hard for us. Conversely, my sister stayed in RV10 a few weeks ago and didn’t have any ants. 2.) The mosquitoes are unreal! We have been to many places with mosquitoes but these are out ALL DAY LONG! In the sun or shade. I know I read that the city sprays sometimes twice a day but while we were there, I didn’t see anyone at campground spraying. Maybe I missed them. I am not placing blame as maybe there is nothing more they can do, but know for the 200-300$/night we were paying during the holiday weekend, it made the campground unusable for us which was sad because we picked this campground for the amenities and proximity to fun things! So we basically left for the day and only returned to sleep. Lillies (burritos) by the water park had almost no mosquitoes for reference. 3.) The TV setup is interesting. My sister wasn’t able to get but a few stations in her RV. She also had a hard time getting someone to come out and hook it up properly. My TV had many stations the first 3 days but lost almost all of them on the last day. All stations were a little fuzzy.

Other: 1.) It looked like the coffee pot was 12 cups, so bring the correct size filters. 2.) They provided a small bottle of dish soap, two small bars of hand soap, ample toilet paper, and 1 roll of paper towels. I found bringing hand soap and extra paper towels was helpful. 3.) There is no outdoor trash can so we brought our pop-up trash which ended up being kind of necessary as I didn’t want trash in the camper with the ants. And trash bags left outside seems to be pecked by the turkey vultures. 4.) There is no DVD player like many campers have. Luckily we brought our portable one just in case with HDMI cable.

We didn’t use the bath houses or any of the campground amenities because of the previously-stated mosquito issue so can’t speak to those. Without the ants, I would have given 4 stars. With more mosquito control, it...

We did not like our stay at Jellystone in Chincoteague at all and will not be back. Some things were small enough to overlook, but there were some big problems. We rented one of the Boo Boo bunkhouses. Unit J03. Smell - The last people here clearly smoked inside. Opening the windows helps, but the smell lasted the entire time we were there. The sofa is so absolutely disgusting and torn up in the three J units it’s insulting - years overdue for replacement. I walked to the other unoccupied cabins and since there are no blinds so I could see they’re all in the same disgusting condition. Ours had the "best" seat cushions of all three bunkhouses. Clearly no blinds or curtains on the front door so anyone can walk up and look in. The blinds in the kitchen are somehow tied within the mechanism of the blinds so you can’t open or close them. Table was not cleaned after the last rental. We brought Lysol wipes and cleaned it ourselves. Floor is warped so you can’t actually use the dustpan and there is no doormat outside, so dirt tracks in (mud is inevitable at this location). We bought a mat at the Family Dollar across the street. The “bunk” above the largest bed has no ladder so you have to step on the clean bed to jump into it. The other bunks had a ladder, but the one in the main bedroom is a glorified shelf. No end table or shelf in the bedroom to put your things. There are drawers underneath the beds. No place to hang jackets. There is not one coat hook or rack. The light in the bathroom has dirt and bugs in it. There is dirt and dust caked in its vents. The light fixture on the wall has a bulb burned out. Both AC units apparently have to be set to the same setting or they display an error - not the worst, but at least inform us at check in (the maintenance person who showed up was nice). The hot water heater has a main power switch hidden behind the coffee machine on the counter - again please inform us at check in. The kitchen faucet is loose and does not stay where you put it. It’s almost impossible to do the dishes because the water falls in between the two parts of the sink. The dish drain was not on the counter, but under the sink sitting in a water stain or mold (we did not use it). The oven is filthy and created smoke when we turned it on. Not all windows have screens so opening them lets bugs in. The smoke detector was beeping the entire time. It did not go off when the oven created the smoke and clearly hasn’t been checked in some time. We did not use the stove or oven since it wasn’t clean anyway. I plan on contacting the local fire department about this. We checked out a day early. The manager at the front desk was not receptive to the complaints. She offered to send housekeeping over, but we were already packed and leaving. They said they were planning on getting new sofas. I asked for a refund for the final day, but the manager denied it. I said I’ll call corporate with my complaints and she replied, “You’re not the first and won’t be the last.” I told her I was disappointed with that reply and she should have said she’d solve these problems so future visitors don’t have the same experience. I asked for her name three times, but she just kept saying “Have a nice day, sir” over and over instead. This was around 12 noon on April 18, 2025. There was a nice girl named Sharon who initially greeted me at the front desk and immediately picked up a pen and paper to record my complaints before escalating to the manager.

In addition to the complaints above, my kids have been coughing since our stay here.

Edit: Two weeks later, all four of my children have finally stopped coughing after going to the pediatrician and being prescribed inhalers, antibiotics, and/or oral steroids. We had to monitor their oxygen levels and were considering going to the ER for two of them. Whatever was in bunk house J03 made my children significantly sick. I still haven’t heard back from the voicemail and email I sent...

This is by far one of our favorite camping locations and our 3rd year here in a row. We rarely stay at one place more than once because we like discovering new places. There are definitely alot of highlights here at the KOA, but there were a few big misses this year. Mosquito 🦟 control!!! We've always wondered what all the 🦟 hype was about because we never had an issue with this in the past. Our previous 2 yrs the KOA fogged 2X day throughout the campground, but NOT this year. With the time of year there was rain 2/4 days + unlevel lots (potholes/standing water) = 🦟 breeding pools everywhere. Apparently an airshow the weekend before arrival grounded the island 🦟 control plane too. I'm no stranger to bugs as a WV girl and really dislike people that complain about bugs on camping trips because you can't have one without the other and I've camped my whole life and never experienced anything quite like this 🦟 assault. If I didn't know it could be controlled I'd probably not think much of it, but unfortunately I know otherwise. Crab 🦀 festival - several rows of sites were taped off an entire week prior to this event causing the campground to fill to near capacity unnecessarily. I love activities especially one such as this with vendors and 🦀. However, vendors weren't set up until the day of and despite this being a KOA guest event admittance wasn't granted without a fee of $30 (I get this to cover the cost of rabs-they aren't cheap). We cook our own crabs and didn't have a need to pay for the food. After asking about admittance to vendors without food we were told it was the same with/without crabs. I'm not paying $30 to shop for something I might not even buy. I hope if vendors paid to set up here they were aware access was denied to campers without a $30 admission. Simple solution: wristband for 🦀 eaters and that will differentiate who's eating and who isn't. Give the rest of your guests an incentive to stay too. Site location- Most camprounds allow you to choose your site. All sites are NOT created equal. This allows your guests yet another amenity for a positive experience. Most campers realize that you need to plan ahead to maximize your experience. COVID-19 prevented access to the waterpark and for any families that stay at a KOA this is a BIG part of why they'd come to stay. I certainly agree with the decision for safety, but site rates seemed to have increased and without all the amenities the rates should have been taken into consideration.

With all of this said... I'll be back, but cons outweighed the pros this trip. This is a newer KOA and understandably there will be growing pains for the business. Hopefully these will become learning experiences for them, just not at my expense for a bit. I usually don't write reviews, but I do rely on them to book stays and just want folks to be fully aware of what to expect as I like to be.

The staff are AMAZING and do their best to accommodate. I can't say enough good things about this and couldn't not end this review on a positive note. Customer service is #1 in my book and at the top of our list of reasons to stay...