Chocorua KOA Holiday — Hotel in Tamworth

Our family just returned from a 5 night stay at Chocorua KOA. While my husband and I have camped countless times, this was the first trip we took as a family with our three kids (ages 6, 3 & 3). We were on the fence about going on this trip during the COVID pandemic as we've been extremely cautious with the kids and have primarily stayed home since March. We took a chance on this campground and we are so glad that we did! The campground is perfect for families. You can feel the warmth and hospitality of the staff as soon as you arrive. There's so much for the kids to do. The daily activities are great and Linda, the Director of the activities, goes above and beyond to welcome all the children to the activities. Again, we were not sure if we would be participating in any sort of activities with other people due to COVID but once we saw how well the staff handled this crazy situation, we were happy to allow our kids to participate. Masks were required for staff AND campers at all activities (and in all buildings) and social distancing between families was required. The staff really seemed to go above in beyond to modify their activities to fit COVID safety guidelines. Not an easy thing to do. As for the facilities, everything was very clean and there was plenty of hand sanitizer available to use, which we really appreciated. The campground itself is very nice. It's situated on a small pond. Our kids loved being able to rent paddle boats and a row boat and they had a ball fishing in the pond. There is also a small beach....not too big but plenty of room for little ones to safely swim (and families were all so cooperative in social distancing). The pool is small but nice and the staff did require you to sign up in advance to use the pool as they restricted it to 4 families at a time (due to COVID). While it was a minor inconvenience not to be able to use the pool whenever we wanted, we completely understood and appreciated the process as it helps to keep everyone safe. There are two playgrounds onsite - one for smaller children and one for all ages. Our kids enjoyed them. The nature trails on the property were pretty impressive - definitely take some time to explore them if you come here! Bottom line - this is a great place to take your family. its not a big resort and doesn't have anything crazy, flashy or over-the-top, but there's tons of good old fashioned fun to be had here. The biggest plus for us really was the staff. Everyone was so friendly and so welcoming. It seemed that every worker we encountered truly enjoyed their job, which we loved. Finally, I'll end by saying that we LOVE to travel and very, very rarely go back to the same place twice (because there are so many great places to try!) BUT we have already booked a return trip to Chocorua in a few weeks. I think that speaks for itself! Definitely consider Chocorua KOA as an option for your next...

This was our first time going to this campground and we were pleased with our stay. We rented the Oak Ridge Cabin which was a very clean, cute cabin that had more than we expected. It not only had pillows, sheets, a fridge, TV, and other things you might expect but it also had conditioner and shampoo, locally made bath soap, glasses, plates, silverware, bowls to use. Outside, right next to the cabin was a patio with a table and six chairs. There was also a gas grill for us to use that was very clean and a fire pit for the kids to roast marshmallows. The cabin had some small trees and bushes around it so you felt a little secluded even though you were on the main campground road.

There were activities for the kids like bingo night, pancake breakfast, crafts time, and other things too. We saw kids riding in a hay ride eating ice cream. There were paddle boats to rent (by the hour, which we took advantage of) along with canoes and kayaks. There is fishing there too as the campground is next to a pond. (However, I question if there is fish in the pond as we tried twice to fish there with no luck.)

Everywhere I went the staff was very friendly. We arrived late to the campground (9:30pm) and one of the staffers to happened to be at the gate greeted us a smile and made sure we got our packet. Then she had someone show us to where our cabin was. Everywhere we went some staffer was friendly and eager to help us. Even when we were being a little loud (past quiet hours tho we didn't know it) the staff was very pleasant about asking us to keep the noise down so we were considerate to other campers.

Cons: There aren't many cons but I thought I should mention them. The pancake breakfast was passable so they should up their game with better pancake mix. It cost $20 for 4 of us which is a little steep for what you got. Plus the price of kids pancakes were the same as the adults so that doesn't make sense. They should be less if they get less. Also, syrup and butter should be available so you can add extra of either if you want.

The Oak Ridge Cabin is a little close to another cabin, the Pine Ridge. Now we had friends rent that cabin which worked out SUPER well for us but if you don't know the family it might be a little weird. If the parties in both cabins are kind and considerate, it shouldn't be a problem. Also, you are close to Rte 16 so you hear traffic during the day but night it is quiet.

Lastly, it would be nice if there was a pool skimmer that was accessible for people to use to get all of the pine needles and stuff our of the pool that they have there.

Overall, we were very pleased with our stay and we would go back again!

One note: I wouldn't rent the Look to the Mountains cabin. It is RIGHT on Rte 16 about 30 feet from the road. I can't imagine that place being enjoyable to stay but I have never stayed there. I'm just warning other potential...

Terrible experience. Would never come back. Sites are tiny, staff is rude and manager wouldn't even listen is to is as guests when his staff lied to his face. Poor customer service. Linda was the only staff who actually listened to us guests. While my child was eating with us and then went just outside the patio area, another guest started was upset that her kid and my kid had an altercation the day before, and 2 grown up women (Who also ate next to us and never said a word), began staring him down, even moved positions on the bench to intimidate him more, and when he asked why they were looking at him playing his Nintendo, they ran to the manager and the manager told us he'd have to kick out next because my kid was bullying people all morning. ( he had just woke up and was with me.) The lying kitchen staff proceeded to yell at my kid WHILE WE ATE THE BREAKFAST THEY JUST MADE WITHOUT MENTIONING A WORD. Me and my other son had to leave the eating area because of the kitchen waitress being so rude and running to lie to her boss. Would recommend staying in your own back yard, it's bigger, trust me. The manager never even asked what happened to us because his staff who had a child who hit my child was upset that my child pushed her kid back. Never did the manager ask what happened or how that could be possible since we had just woken up. Suddenly after the grown women intimidated my child, the kitchen waitresses started acting like a bunch of animals yelling at my 11 year old, INSTEAD OF TALKING TO ME, THE MOTHER. Shameful that my kid's holiday was ruined after spending over $1000 to come here. On top of it, my son has invisible disabilities and those women should be ashamed of themselves. My kid is traumatized by watching them lie and threw his hoodie I bought him from here away. Hopefully the memory of these people will be gone soon. First my 11 year old was heard saying he was going to blow up mentos and coke with another group of friends he found the day earlier and they told me like he had real explosives with him. They bought them at the shop and all the other kids ran away, except my kid, who took the blame. And then was banished from being allowed to leave his site, so he cried all day over a lying employee and a lying guest ( I watched the whole thing in front of me) Worst campground we have...