Santa Fe Palms RV Resort — Hotel in Gainesville

First the good ...

The resort is new and clean. The office staff was friendly, helpful, and responsive. The pool area, while we didn't use it, looks nice. The sites have nice concrete pads that are level.

The location isn't bad if you're in town for a UF football game or graduation. We were there for the latter. It's as convenient to campus (or more so) as any campground. And since it's new, clean, and secure it's a good choice for that purpose.

Now the bad ...

The pool is practically in the parking lot. The office closes at 5pm so make sure you call if plan on arriving after that so you can get the gate code, WiFi info, etc.. It's also closed all day on Sunday, so take that into consideration. The office will sell you ice and ice cream when they're open, but really nothing else. If you forgot something you'll be making a trip to Public or Walmart, depending on what you need.

The sites are small and close together. Some of the smallest I've seen. When I pulled by 33' 5th wheel forward enough (I was in a pull-through site) so my stairs opened to the patio I had to park my truck diagonally in front of it or I'd stick out into the somewhat narrow road. I could have pulled up further and left room at the rear of the site, but then while (un)hooking I'd have completely blocked the road. And you can't get 2 vehicles side-by-side. I wouldn't have expected this from a new place. They just tried to squeeze in as many sites as they could.

Unfortunately, you can't measure your site with Google Maps because the satellite photo doesn't yet show the campground (notice that I didn't say "resort").

There are no fire rings and if you have your own fire pit it better be propane. This may be a city/county ordinance. I know it was at Champions Run in Ocala.

And there was no picnic table on our site, though some sites had one. Not sure why this was the case and I didn't ask.

In Summary ...

I'd stay here again if I'm going to an event on campus, but I now know how to set my expectations and plan accordingly. Having more than 1 vehicle may not be possible with a back-in site and with a pull-through may require 1 in front and 1 in back, each parked sideways across the site and possibly partially on the grass. For what you get it was a bit expensive ($90/night with taxes). There are better values. Perhaps this was because it was an event weekend, but if it's not an event weekend I would say just skip this place. It's not near the highway for a quick stopover and I wouldn't want to be there for any...

This is a wonderful RV park. The staff is super friendly and accommodating. Whoever owns this place should be thankful for this team because they made everything easy for the guests. It is quaint and quiet, and the people in the park are friendly. The pool is beautiful (we didn't swim) and they have a nice waiting area at front desk with magazines and snacks for sale. Apparently, there is a dog park area, but I just walked my dog. They do provide dog pickup bags, which is super helpful. It is a few miles from UF, we don't have a dingy car yet so we took Uber and that was super easy from the location. We plan on coming back often as our daughter is at UF and we would like to explore the area more. Also, this is super important as we don't have StarLink yet (just got a new RV) but the Internet is the best internet and never dropped, which is important because we work and have Zoom/Team meetings etc. Other parks we have been too have terrible Internet. In addition, I like that the RV park is gated so less likely for people to get into the park at night. Only negative, and not a huge negative is that we have a Class A Bus and we paid for a pull thru, but while it is a pull thru you can't actually leave that way. You have to back up to get out because of both the layout and concrete posts, which in this park isn't a huge deal and we were able to back up with no problem but for the extra money to pay for a pull thru, I thought it should be an actual pull-thru that we didn't have to back up. It was lot 150 for any of you with Class A buses. I would recommend calling and making sure that the pull thru is a true pull thru. (See Picture of what we were up against to try to pull thru--this is from our dash when we were trying to leave, there is clearly no room with the concrete posts and car in front of us).

Highly recommend...

My spouse and I stayed at this RV park and it was an all-around great experience. Park: Clean, spacious, accommodating. The lots are designed for easy connections and drive-thru. They make it more 'homey' for each resident.

Cost: Appropriate cost for an RV park that offers Wi-Fi, a bathhouse, pool, games and available staff.

Friendliness: Staff have always been friendly and more than accommodating.

Amenities: Pool, pickle-ball court, patio games, bathhouse, washer/dryer and dog park.

Location is good for those who want to be outside the hustle-bustle of Gainesville, but close enough to shop, eat, or sightsee. 1 mile down the road is a turn that brings you to great restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, shops, etc. It is close enough to any/everything one may need.

I cannot recommend this location strong enough. They did a great job and the RV parks was awesome. Note: If you plan on reserving your spot at this park, please bring something for your levelers to impact instead of their pavement/driveways your RV is parked on. We noticed many lots where the levelers did not have pads to set on, so the 'feet' tore up the pavement. This shows a blatant disregard for those visitors behind you.

They are definitely dog-friendly, but be advised that some visitors will avoid leashing their dogs, despite it being listed on the rules of each visitor, and then act surprised when their dog(s) go after other dogs. Some people have zero respect for others, so please watch out for these people and do not let them ruin your good time here.

Again, great staff, great service, good prices, good location and a location my wife and I would gladly revisit...