Sun Outdoors Saco Old Orchard Beach — Hotel in Saco

We went camping at the KOA Holiday Saco ME from August 5th to the 10th. It was hot and humid for most of the week. Check in was noon, which is early for most campgrounds and we got there about 1pm. Check in was fairly easy, and they have someone escort you to your site, which I thought was great. There is a gate with a code you have to enter to get in, another feature I like. Our site was 177, in the brand new part of the campground. We had a cement slab, and one little tree. The sun was hot setting up, and we didn’t get relief until it went behind some trees about 3ish. But this area is new, so it’s to be expected. The new restrooms are single user, some of them had showers. These are huge, no curtain is needed and it is great not having to share a common bathroom with a bunch of others. I can shower in my trailer but it’s nice to take a long hot shower after the beach, and I never ran out of hot water. The bathroom was very clean, yes there was a dead bug on the wall, but it was probably killed by the person before me... the day we were leaving one bathroom ran out of paper towels but I imagine that they would have been filled very shortly, or a quick walk to the front desk and it would have been taken care of.

The pool and spa were cleaner than my own pool. And this is even after a bunch of people and kids used it all day! I do have to say, they could use a larger pool or maybe put in another one. This one does tend to get overcrowded but it was still great. The spa worked great on one side, the jets didn’t work on the other, but that may have been intentional. The water temperature in the spa was perfect and it was so deep and clean. The only thing I can say negative is that it’s the campers that should keep their kids from running and jumping in and around the pool, the KOA doesn’t monitor the pool area to stop this behavior. They also don’t seem to have rules about bringing floats into the pool and there was a family that had two huge floats in an already full pool making it difficult to swim. But most of the issues were due to families not monitoring their own kids...

The people who work here are very pleasant and it had to be hard running around a campground delivering ice and firewood in 90 degree humid weather, not to mention picking up trash left by campers leaving, and mowing the grass, checking on everything, and overall keeping things in check. One other thing to mention, a bag of ice is $2 and at Walmart it’s $1.67, but Walmart is approximately 12 miles away so they are not overpriced in my opinion. Unless you can find ice cheaper and much closer, I feel they are very competitive.

There is a trolley that stops out front and for $1 a person you can ride to a few attractions and the beach.

This is a great campground and for the money, we would definitely...

Worst experience ever. Do NOT stay here. Amenities seem great and all but service and management are awful and for only having 48 hours of a vacation...it was the WORST possible choice. We arrived on Saturday afternoon to check into a luxury cabin (LL81) - Keep in mind LL17 and LL18 have EXACT same reviews that we tragically did not read first. Beautiful cabin no doubt and everything the pictures said it to be. HOWEVER, the minute we walked in our eyes started to burn...lacquer or freshly stained wood chemical smell was incredibly evident and nauseating. I am pregnant and we had our 1 year old with us. We knew it was new so we opened the windows figuring we would just vent it (only to learn later that they installed an air purifier and every guest prior to us has complained as well - we should have read the reviews better!!!!) Due to the chilly weather we had to shut windows for the baby but as a result our throats started to hurt. Immediately the next morning we requested a change - management tried to fight us saying it wasn't dangerous. ANYTIME YOUR EYES AND THROAT BURN ITS NOT SAFE! They finally agreed to change our cabin (after denying us money our back $250 a night!!!!) but told us to check out by 11 so they could make the switch and they would put a "hot rush" on getting the next one ready by 1pm the latest. We packed up everything (not easy with an infant) - as the other review stated - ALL of our bedding and clothing and the play pen smelled Awful! - and we hung out in Portland for the morning and early afternoon BECAUSE they said we couldn't use the pool or hang out on the property b/c we had technically "checked out"! Absurd!!!! We got back at 2pm with a very tired infant and the unit was not ready. Finally I asked for our money back again and they said they couldn't give it to us but once we checked into the cabin - we could take them up on their 1 hour guarantee policy stating if we didn't like it we would get a refund. This seems crazy for the HELL we had already been put through. You would think the second night would be discounted and a "hot rush" for an infant and a pregnant woman would actually mean getting into a new place asap. Customer service is awful!!! Long and short of it...we had 2 nights to spend...and after getting transferred to LL14 (better cabin) we had a medical emergency with our infant (no 24 hour pharmacies ANYWHERE near Saco - FYI) and had to pack up leaving at 12:30am to drive back home 2 hours....worst vacation ever. Your money can be better spent elsewhere and it's too bad because with an ounce of compassion and smart customer service...it would be an overcrowded but pleasurable experience for a quick in and out stay. BTW...smoking is allowed EVERYWHERE on this property - just another note...

We originally booked here back in 2020 when it was KOA but had to cancel due to the ridiculous COVID. We were finally able to rebook but we were required to pay the entire stay in advance, considering we got a cabin it was a strain on the budget but did it anyway because my daughter wanted to come here. It was still KOA when we rebooked. It didn't change over until 2022. I think at the end of June beginning of July I had emailed the campground because I had a few additional questions but no one ever replied and I ended up having to call. Check in process was easy and staff was friendly. The cabin was somewhat nice and clean. The ceiling fan in the bedroom wobbled excessively when it was on and was so loud that you could hear it in the bathroom with the door closed. The exhaust fan in the bathroom was also extremely loud and dirty and probably needs to be replaced. The shower curtain was cloth and all moldy at the bottom. There was no plastic liner and water flooded the floor on one occasion. There is a charcoal grill and firepit, although the wood was a little expensive. I was somewhat disappointed overall though. The pool was small and we did not see any balls for the basketball or volleyball courts and we didn't bring any. I was excited for the snack bar but was disappointed in the end. The first night we went there and gave the entire order and when we were done they went down the list and told us everything they didn't have. The options they didn't have were not crossed off the menu. They didn't have root beer or vanilla ice cream. The burgers were extremely dry and the grilled chicken breast was dry with absolutely no flavor. The pizza was good. We wanted 2 slices of blueberry pie and they only had 1 left and never replaced it during the rest of the stay. The pie was nothing spectacular and in my opinion the wrong crust was used. They finally got root beer and vanilla ice cream for the floats but the girl has no idea how to make them and blamed it on the fact that she was the only one working. It was only supposed to be 1 scoop of ice cream and she loaded it up with 3 scoops and you couldn't even pour in the rootbeer. They gave a straw and no spoon. This campground is located on the main street and you could here the traffic throughout the day into the night. There was also light pollution at night so you not see the stars that clearly if you're into star gazing. Overall I...