Harpers Ferry / Civil War Battlefields KOA Holiday — Hotel in Harpers Ferry

Where do I start. We've stayed at this campground at least 5 times in the past seven years all were amazing with the EXCEPTION of our most recent visit. Not sure if it's a change of ownership or management but it has definitely gone DOWNHILL and appears to be short staffed.

We rented Cabin 129 (located in "the ditch") for our stay from Aug 3-8th. Our first night the fire alarm continuously went off. We went to the camp store first thing in am to have it fixed, took about three trips there to finally get the "battery changed". Thought we were in the clear, nope it helped for a few hours but then started back up again through out the SECOND NIGHT. Again back to the camp store, finally the fire alarm was replaced, but not without leaving us a step stool in case it started acting up again, SO WE COULD JUST "knock it off" since the ceilings are about 8' high. We were also told if it started back up just to remove the battery , my response was yea right and with my luck an actual fire will start. Either way that issue was FINALLY addressed and we were provided a 30% discount off our stay, which we felt "acceptable" at the time!

Night three was "uneventful" and we were finally able to get sleep ON OUR OWN FULL SIZE MATTRESS that we brought with us since there's in these cabins are less then mediocre for someone with prior back surgeries.

Here's where it gets even better. Night Four: about 10pm a torrential downpour occured completely FLOODING out our Cabin. Leaving our family in a flooded cabin with electrical things that we had brought plugged in posing a HUGE ELECTRICAL safety hazard. I called the emergency # and spoke with Jess whom advised that they would be MOVING us to Cabin 130 about 50'ft behind us. Here's where it gets interesting for these cabins you need to BRING YOUR OWN LINENS and we had our own mattress. So we were expected that during a TORRENTIAL downpour at 11pm (after quiet time) to be able to move our things, linens and mattress over to the other cabin! Absolutely NOT!! We requested to be able to go up and stay in a cabin that was already prepared with mattress and linens just for the NIGHT till we could figure out things in the AM and we're told NO with attitude from Jess because they were all rented out! We've been there now a few days and noted there were some that were clearly open!! If they were booked for the following day, management along with housekeeping could have addressed that since check in is NOT till 3pm. Since they were unable to accommodate, we eventually told Jess and Sandy for our families safety, we would be just leaving for the night to a HOTEL and we're met with attitude and a smart remark of "enjoy your hotel stay". FYI: Holiday Inn Express/Charlestown is extremely accommodating and Pet Friendly.

We arrived back the following morning to assess and noted through the night the flooding continually got worse. After showing this to the GM Katie, we were met with the options of moving only to Cabin 130 and having the last two nights comped or just a refund for the last two nights of our trip. We opted to LEAVE the campground for this trip with the two night refund, no mention of any reimbursement for Hotel stay $130 in total

Since arriving home and thinking more about how our vacation was basically RUINED and EXTREMELY UNSAFE at night times due to there facilities. We have since requested from them and KOA Corporate a FULL refund for our stay and a comped 5 Day vacation. Corporate has said that THIS KOA is Independently owned and we need to deal with them. At this time, (48 hours later) I'm still waiting on a response from THE CAMPGROUND THEMSELVES!

In addition to all of this, the bathhouse closest to this cabin was continuously Dirty and LEFT without Toiletpaper in either stall overnight. The arcade games most are broken or a RIP OFF.

Pros: Ladies at the Coffee Shop are extremely helpful. Susan at the Campstore is very nice. Pancake breakfast is worth the Money, Pool Area and golf cart trail that leads you to River...

Harpers Ferry Koa overall is a great family camp ground!!! I have had so many great memories from each visit. There are some areas that could use some upgrades, but the pros of this campground definitely outweigh the cons.

Pros! There are a lot of amenities! Some are included or at an additional cost. On one of our weekend stays they had a mini carnival theme. Other activities such as slime making, sand art and more. The staff was amazing with our kids.

Jumping pillow Putt-Putt Playground Swimming Pool Indoor/Outdoor Basketball courts Pedal Karts $ Arcade $ Pool/ Air Hockey $ Movie Theater Community Fire pit Laundry Facility $ Large outdoor sink area

There is a store that has a lot of neat stuff in there. Expensive, but convenient. There is also a Walmart not far from the camp ground. Right before coming in to the campground there is a house that has firewood for sale which was less expensive than in the store. Have cash with you as it’s just an honors system.

I stayed in cabin KLO1 2 times. My group had 5 out of 6 of the luxury cabins and KLO1 was the best one. It seemed as you went down the line of them they were older and in need of maintenance. Still overall nice cabins. The kitchen was fully stocked with everything. We were definitely “glamping”.

The cabins without all the amenities were used without the kids. If you want to be further away from all the amenities and something more private I enjoyed the rustic cabins nestled on a hill. If you have someone with mobility issues this area might not be the greatest. There are steps, but even with that it might be a challenge. I stayed in 3 different rustic cabins and each had things that should be replaced. One window unit was in really bad shape. The filter was filthy. The gap under the door was not comforting thinking of rodents coming under. Some had some cardboard to cover the gap. One cabin had stink bugs all over the place and dead ones on the curtains. So please keep in mind these are very rustic. I didn’t mind it so much because we were camping. We knew ahead of time it was a rustic cabin. They do have electricity and a window unit.

So this leads me to the bathrooms. The first few times I was only aware of one bath house area. And they were okay. They didn’t get cleaned as much as I thought they should and I would grade them D to a C depending on the day. Now there is another set of bathrooms and this area I would give an A. They are very clean and once we found those I was very happy. I think they might be closed in the off-season or I just missed them.

The pancake house we loved! Do not go off of the hours on their site. We also never once saw the grill area open in the arcade. We were staying off season though.

When we did get to experience the pancake house it was VERY well priced and a great breakfast. The staff was absolutely amazing!!!! One lady just adored our kids and the first day we got there she said come see me tomorrow morning. We found out later her name was Tammy. My mother who passed over 10 years ago unexpectedly from a car accident was named Tammy. It warmed our hearts and made our trip. She was so sweet and kind and reminded us of our dear Loved one. Some people in this world are just the kindest souls you will ever meet. Most of the staff was. There were only a few not so pleasant.

Early check in is advertised, but not really honored. But they did let us use some of the amenities and we were grateful about that.

So on to the cons. I kind of mentioned them within the review. But overall this is a nice campground for families. Nearby is Harpers Ferry National Park. I also purchased our own tubes online and you can drop them in near some of the paid tubing programs and do it yourself. You can pay to park at a few of the places for $10. There is also an adventure park near for zip lining and more.

This truly has been a great campground for my family. Thanks Harpers Ferry KoA for a great time and so...

This review is only based on the bunkhouse. I've stayed at other koas and the newer cabins are very nice and I expect the ones in harpers ferry are just as nice. I digress, the good. The staff are awesome and the facilities attached to the main building are great. The events for Halloween are awesome as well. The other campers for Halloween weekend go all out and make it an amazing experience.

The bad the facilities down the hill were filthy I arrived on Wednesday and the same piece of toilet paper was on the floor behind a toilet until Friday in the men's room and ok the ladies room two of the stalls didn't have toilet paper until someone went up to the office and requested it . The bunkhouse was absolutely terrible this is nitpicky but it doesn't have a electrical connection or adequate lighting outside along with the parking lot exactly being in a place that makes it easy to unload provisions for 20 people. The inside of the house was dilapidated there were obvious water stays on the ceiling and what appeared to be mold. In some spots you could see the soil through cracks in the floor . The kitchen space is roach infested and some of the cabinets are falling off the hinges. The roach infestation isn't exactly noticeable at check in but at night the roaches absolutely take over the kitchen area and swarm under and around the fridge. It was a horrible experience to come in from a fire to grab a bottle of wine from the fridge only to discover roaches are fighting their way into the fridge and covering the walls and counters surrounding it. The microwave also wasn't functional because the power strip it was plugged into tripped when the microwave was turned on.

The beds are another sore spot we had 10 adults and 6 children , the beds were perfect for the kids but not at all for many of the adults most of the men simply didn't have space because the twin beds were so narrow and the frames were cumbersome. Some of us placed the mattresses on the floor to get more space. We all struggled with comfort unless we stacked 2 mattresses together. However because of the roach infestation we were also leery of being on the floor and getting carried away by the critters. Overall the cabin is run down and not exactly worth the price. It might be okay for a guys trip where everyone is getting smashed but not for a family. In my professional opinion as a real estate professional a few simple updates to the facility would increase it's value drastically. If you're considering the bunkhouse don't, get one of the updated cabins. Even if you're a large family just split up into multiple don't subject yourself to...