Gulf Shores / Pensacola West KOA Holiday — Hotel in Elberta

Several months ago I began my search for the perfect vacation spot for my family of 5 plus in laws, aunts, parents, and cousins...making our group a total of 12. I happen upon this KOA after reviewing and researching the official KOA website. We have stayed at several KOA's in the past and have been very pleased with each stay. I did read the reviews on here and was a bit hesitant at booking a stay at this KOA. So, I wrote down questions and got names of people I was speaking to each time I called. ||||To begin with, when I called to make a reservation of several cabins to accommodate our stay I was told that they had a bigger cabin (DK10) that would actually fit 8 people in our party. At the time, I spoke with a lady who said she was new and didn't know how to reserve this particular cabin because it doesn't show available on their reservation KOA site. So, after a loose ended phone call of the associate not knowing how to book my stay. I told her that I would call back the next day. ||So, I called back as promised and spoke to another young lady who seemed to be annoyed at the questions I was asking due to the 'cabin' not showing up on the website. I wanted to be sure we were all in agreement of what to expect. Another point to add is they expected FULL payment up front when I made the reservation. Seemed a bit odd...but I gave payment info. ||A few months pass and we are a week out from our departure to Alabama for vacation...I call this KOA just to verify all is good with our reservation, etc. I asked a couple of questions like if there were grills available at this particular cabin, would I need sheets, etc. ||||Saturday, July 21st....My family and I head out at 4pm to make the travel from Tennessee to Alabama. We were scheduled to check in on Sunday July 22nd, 2018.|| ||At approximately 9:00pm....I get a call from this KOA saying they are going to have to cancel our reservation...a pipe just busted and there is mold and sagging floors all around the cabin. At first I am in SHOCK and 1,000 things are running through my head as to what in the world are we going to do!?!? ||As she began explaining to me the situation...things didn't line up to what she was saying at the beginning of the phone call. Mold doesn't appear immediately and floors don't sag immediately upon contact of water. During a previous phone call, I remember not being able to check in on the 21st because another family had it scheduled to be rented up until the 22nd. Things she was saying just didn't add up. I completely understand that 'things happen' but something just did not seem right. And they call hours before we are to check in?? ||I began to try and problem solve....ok, so if we can't all stay in the DK10 then lets split up into other smaller cabins and possibly rent an rv to house a couple of us. So, she confirms that there are two cabins available and she can call to see if we can get a rented RV set up in a site as well, so we are all comfortable. Before she gets off the phone to call the RV company I specifically ask her to make sure she has the two cabins reserved for us. She agrees and says yes, we have those secured for you. ||At this point I am thinking..ok..It's not too terrible. We at least are able to stay at the same place and it will be ok. ||25minutes later she calls back and tells me she won't know about an RV until the morning...I say, well thats ok because at least we have the two cabins. ||This is where my vacation went from bad to worse....She says, "Im sorry but we only have one cabin available and won't be able to accommodate you, I am cancelling your reservation, you should receive a refund." Then CLICK!! She hangs up the phone!!!!! ||Imagine the frustration, worry, and anguish I feel. At this point we are almost to our destination with no where to go!!! ||I tried calling this KOA several more times that night and no one would answer the phone. At one point and time I asked to speak to some type of manager/owner and was told she is retired and doesn't want to handle and business!!!! WOW WOW WOW And after reading more into these reviews.....that is VERY obvious! ||Sunday evening after being stranded and no where to go I found a place to check into for the week to try and enjoy the rest of our vacation...granted I had to fork out over 4x's what we had planned on spending. NIGHTMARE! I did call back and simply asked to leave my name and number to discuss a recent situation with a manager or owner...I never received a call. ||||So, I am warning you....Not so sure if this is the KOA for you! Stay...

We are repeat "glampers" and I'd like to offer an objective review for everyone!||First, the positives:|We stayed in the Starfish for 2 nights and the Sand Dollar for 1 night. While the description of the Sand Dollar on line is incorrect (there are no bunk beds), we loved our stay. We preferred the Starfish space because it DID have bunk beds. Both the Starfish and Sand Dollar have mini-fridge, Keurig, and microwave with a full bathroom. There is a grill and a firepit. I am LOVING the update to TWO split level mini ac units. Our last visit (years ago) only had one AC and it malfunctioned most of the time. It was SO nice this time to not be hot! Hint: crank them up and LEAVE THEM ON so it's nice and cool when you return from a day on the beach.||This KOA is located directly on the bay with a lovely fishing pier and an incredible view. We saw dolphins daily. The pier faces East, so the view of the sunrise each day was breathtaking. There is a swimming and a fishing area, but I DO NOT recommend the swimming area. People fish on both sides of the pier, and we all know what chumming the water does in an ocean. We saw no sharks, but took no chances either. There are also random hooks and things that careless fishing left behind. We all caught fish off the pier using shrimp for bait. Were they huge? No, but we made memories and had a blast.||The camp store is well stocked and reasonably priced. I do recommend shopping for necessities at local grocery store or big box store. They are a few miles away. The camp store is good for a quick trip, though. Staff is very friendly and helpful.||The kids LOVED the pool. It was simply too hot during our visit to consider the use of the hot tub, but it looked nice. ||There is a large colony of feral kitties under the separate outdoors bathroom/shower area near the pier. There are kittens and adults. They are very frightened and stay away, but they were sweet to see. We love cats, though. They did find our fish bait on the patio and finished the shrimp off for us.||Now for the negatives:|The office staff keep very limited hours, and it is difficult to reach them by phone. They never responded to emails sent in the weeks leading up to our arrival. That was VERY frustrating.||Both the Star fish and Sand Dollar cabins had "iffy" smoke detectors. The Sand Dollar's was hanging out of the ceiling, and the Star Fish was missing entirely though the wires were there. There are fire extinguishers in the kitchen. Thank goodness, we didn't need them! ||We were given the wrong key to the Star Fish and couldn't get in our room. We got back to the office just as they were closing for the day to swap keys. Then the door knob nearly fell off as we were checking out, and we couldn't lock the door. They did send maintenance right away, so that's good news! ||Conclusion:|I have to say that once again, we loved our stay at this KOA. Overall, you cannot go wrong with this choice. With the exception of a few quirky "negatives," it's a great place. Dated, quaint, off the beaten track, and peaceful. Exactly what we needed. It's about a 15 minute drive to Johnson Beach and about a 40 minute drive to Pensacola Beach. We visited...

We stayed there during memorial day weekend. Our tent was moved. Things were just thrown in it by the staff. And when we asked what happened Tina the assistant manager was so rude. I couldn't even explain what our paperwork showed. She said the manager would be there in the morning. The next morning my husband and I went to the office to meet with Lynnette ( Which every time I spoke to her was very sweet and professional) well she wasn't in but Tina was. She started with your tent was in the wrong spot we called you left a message and moved it. ( We were in Pensacola on the beach and then enjoyed the broadwalk got back to the tents at about 10 pm) We had our paper work showing where we were supposed to set up. Sites 2&3 which are NOT marked at all. We set up our tents between fire pit 2 and 3. Which was circled on the map they gave us. She didn't care to see it. She was very rude and abrasive with the way she spoke. She didn't want to answer any questions, ( Which was how do you determine which site is which when they are not marked ) or explain any of the map they had given us. And after the way she (Tina ) spoke to us, my husband turned his head and didn't care to entertain her aggressive rude behaviour any longer ( especially since she talked over us and refused to answer the 1st question) she became irrational. Threatened to kick us out without a refund. ( because he didn't care to be treated so disrespectful any longer. ( Which we were already paying $48.00 a night with a 3 night minimum for a tent site by the water with no electricity so almost $500.00 For 3 tent sites). One of our tents were moved, things were thrown in it, talk to in one of the most unprofessional ways we had ever been spoken to by Tina the assistant manager, threatened, which she also lied to the manager Lynette and said my husband came in the office cursing with other customers in the office. Which was a blatant lie. The bugs were awful (Gnats and mosquitoes, it didn't matter how much deet or clip ons or citronella products we used the area was just infested.) No type of pest control. Was told to use a fan but with no electricity and no generators allowed that was impossible. The showers, the ones that worked had very little warm water then it was cold!!! After the way we were treated, talked to, threatened and the conditions of KOA camp grounds ( Which is was our 1st experience with KOA) WE WILL NEVER REVISIT ONE AGAIN! Over priced, poor conditions and treated horribly. Let's not forget Tina also charged my husband credit card without his authorisation for 2 sites when the other couples were willing to pay cash for their sites (That was only there for 2 nights and had to pay for 3). This was the worst 1st Anniversary, camping experience anyone should have to endure! Never offered an exploration, apology or a refund....