Ogallala / Tri Trails KOA Journey — Hotel in Ogallala

I NEVER do this, and I really hate to- but this experience was just wrong and reflects really terrible customer service.

I made a reservation here yesterday when we were a few hours away, they had lots of spots left. An hour outside of Ogallala we lost a wheel bearing on our camper and the brakes caught fire ON I-80! After it was put out and we were waiting for state patrol to help on the side of the interstate, my husband called to inform them that there was no way we could camp there since we couldn’t even move the camper off the shoulder and asked if they knew of any tow company around the area that could help us. She gave him a number for someone in Arizona (this is Nebraska) and then kept our entire payment for the stay. A stay that was booked 2 hours prior. I understand KOA has a 48 hour cancellation policy- I get it, and I understand why- but we also had to cancel tonight’s in Dubois, WY and they only charged us the $10 fee after I explained why we couldn’t be there- I didn’t even have to ask. That was kind and the right thing to do. At that point I was pretty annoyed with this KOA, so I emailed and explained that the other one just kept the $10 normal cancel fee and that I felt it was pretty inconsiderate to keep our entire payment when they weren’t booked and lost absolutely nothing from us not being able to stay due to this really horrible incident halfway across the country from our home with 2 kids and 2 dogs. Instead we had to pay over $200 for a hotel room plus this stay. She wrote back and accused my husband of “giving her a different story” (what?! I was sitting right next to him! Not sure how any story about this could be “different”- seriously nothing short of someone being hurt could have been worse) and then went on a defensive schpeel about how the other KOA’s don’t have to follow the policy and insinuated that we somehow could have followed through on our reservation since she “helped” us with a number to call (in Arizona 🙄.) Um, no. We are currently continuing on and our camper will reside with a mechanic in Nebraska for 2 weeks while we now pay twice as much for hotels during our trip. There is really no defense for this. Sure, she is “following their policy”, but sometimes policies are arbitrary and this was just a low blow, greedy, and they took advantage of us plain and simple. I’m sure the campground is nice, that’s why I chose it in the first place, but there are just times when the way you treat customers takes precedence over everything else. They lost nothing, did not provide us any sort of service, so this was just not cool. Keep that in mind if/when you are traveling through here and want to book even a minute ahead. Hopefully they learn...

My family stayed overnight at Country View on our way back from an extended trip out West (July 2017). To use KOA parlance, County View is best described as “Journey” type campground – meaning it is a no frills, basic amenities facility best utilized by those looking to stop and relax for the night before continuing on their way the next day. There is a small, well-maintained swimming pool, laundry, clean restrooms / shower house and very basic general store. The sites are fairly level gravel pull thrus that are easy to navigate. They are long enough that I could keep my tow vehicle hitched to my 33-foot travel trailer with room to spare. The full hookups are in good condition and there is cable television access via an unorthodox setup wherein you have to get a remote from the front desk (it’s unique but works fine). The wi-fi is campground typical. There’s not a whole lot of space between sites, but it’s not bad and I’ve experienced much worse. As with many of these sorts of campgrounds, there appeared to be a few “permanent” units, but they were in better than average condition. Our stay was quiet and we experienced no disruptions. The staff was very friendly and courteous. In fact, shortly after pulling into my site, my wife pointed out that one of the tires on our trailer had picked up a screw in its sidewall and was nearly flat. The owner, Todd, drove to his house and retrieved a floor jack that he let me borrow to assist in changing the tire. Overall, it easily met my expectations (which is what my rating is partly based on) and I would...

This was probably my least favorite KOA after staying at several KOAs this summer. This KOA is VERY strict on the 1pm Mountain time check-in. Their office is closed from 10am-1pm, so do not expect to be able to check in early, even though the office person is on-site and repeatedly driving past on a golf cart while multiple campers wait out in front of the office.

The owner only has one person on site for the office work, check-ins, bathroom cleaning, site maintenance, mowing, and driving campers to their sites, ect, so that's why they close mid-day. This is so different from any KOA I've ever been to. Any other KOA has at least two employees, and usually 3-5 people working. Any other KOA campground is open at least 9am-4pm and will let you check in an hour early if they have open sites. If this place is making at least $65 per camper per night, then they can afford to have more staff on-site. It seems really unfair to the employee on-site to have them do all this work completely solo.

The other reason I down rated to 3 stars was bc the campground isn't as nice as other KOAs. All the roads and sites were gravel so very dusty. The pool was already closed for the season. It's adequate for a quick overnight, but I wouldn't...