Brook n Wood Family Campground — Hotel in Town of Livingston

We camped with four other families at Brook ‘n Wood Family Campground in Elizaville, NY May 20 -26th 2021. We had a mixed experience which I will detail below.||||Pros:||||The campground is well-maintained. They have an incredible amount of grass area that was not actually part of any sites, giving you the feeling that you’re camped in a park. They have a large grass field hidden in the woods that could have accommodated a professional football game or soccer match. We’re not sure what the purpose of it was, but it was immaculate. They also had a large grassy hill that our kids had fun rolling down. ||||They have a large heated pool, and due to Covid restrictions, you had to make an appointment for a 45-minute slot for your group, which could be up to 12. We actually had 13 in our group, and Vanessa, the owner, said that was fine. We made an appointment and it was actually nice having the pool and surrounding area all to ourselves.||||The sites are adequate. Not overly large, but because we had 5 sites together, we kind of combined them all together. Nice trees surround the area. The roads are gravel and in pretty good condition. We had full-hookup sites (water, electric, sewer and cable). All utilities were in good shape, but the cable did not work. Wi-fi is provided, and it was spotty at times, but overall provided for our needs.||||Vanessa, the owner, is an absolute gem! She was very accommodating, delivering us our firewood and ice, answering our questions, bringing us brochures about places we should visit outside of the campground, and checked in with us at least daily to see how we were doing. She had some young girls working for her and they were very friendly as well. However, the same cannot be said for her husband (or at least we think he was her husband). He was an absolute GRUMP!||||Cons:||||HIM! Mr. Grumpy! One of our families own a 5th Wheel and had just traveled 4 hours to get there. When they arrived, there was no one in the site adjoining theirs, so I suggested instead of having to jockey 50 feet of rig by backing in, that they drive around the loop and just pull through the other site. Well, you would have thought that the end of the world was coming!! He drove up in his golf cart and absolutely screamed at us “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?? These are NOT pull-through sites!!” We explained that since there was no one opposite, it is a lot easier to drive straight to position your rig than try to back in. He replied: “Didn’t you read the rules? There are no pull throughs allowed”! It does state that in the packet of materials they gave us when we checked in, but who reads them before getting yourself settled first? He claimed that driving through would crush his water lines. That may be legitimate, but there was no physical barrier or indication where the lines were, so they were not very well protected to begin with. With the rig already in place, he drove off huffing “If there’s a leak, we’re sending you the bill!” Rather childish if you ask me. That’s what started our week off. We felt very uncomfortable whenever he periodically drove by.||||One of our parties had to leave a day before the rest of us. His sewer hookup was right next to the picnic tables that we were all eating at, so he decided to move his camper over one site (which was vacant) to dump. This involved pulling forward into another empty site and backing into the site next to his. He was no where near any of the precious water lines. Only about 2 minutes into the process, Mr. Grumpy comes flying over on his golf cart to yell: “What’s going on here?” Rather than getting into another argument with him, our friend opted to just use the dump station instead. The fact that Mr. Grumpy showed up so quickly gave us the uneasy feeling that we were being constantly being watched.||||The picnic tables they give you are pathetic. Not even 2 feet wide and 5 feet long, we found that they would not even accommodate a jigsaw puzzle we were working on. With a large group like ours, you barely could put two dinner plates across from each other without them touching and when you sat down, you felt like you were going to fall backwards, the bench was so close. ||||Then there was the brightest LED street light that you can imagine, it was positioned in the middle of our sites, right between two of our campers. It was bright enough to work on the jigsaw puzzle after dark. It lit up the insides of both campers like it was midday. Since we don’t have blackout curtains, it was very annoying and difficult to sleep!||||They are very restrictive about campfires. Now, we understand about the problems about bringing in bug infested wood from other areas. However, you could ONLY use THEIR wood and nothing else! That meant no lumber, scraps of wood, paper plates, cardboard, sticks, etc. We had to cut our logs down just to get our fires started. And everything had to be extinguished by 11 p.m.||||There were the usual Covid restrictions: stay 6 feet from other campers, no visitors, no camp store, no public restrooms, no planned activities, but we understand about those. At least the heated pool was open.||||So overall, we’d rate this campground a 3 out of 5. We felt we were being watched closely and were afraid of Mr. Grumpy appearing at any moment to yell at us for something. It’s a very nice, clean campground with lots of space, and a wonderful hostess, but a little too restrictive...

Like most people, I read reviews of places before deciding to stay there or not. It was no different with Brook N Wood. The reviews I found were largely mixed and much of what I’d read seemed like it could have been person specific so I decided to give this place the benefit of the doubt and book a camp space. First, I’d like to say that the grounds are beautiful and the campground is huge giving lots of space to roam and explore. While old and in need of updating and maintenance, overall the buildings, grounds my amenities were clean and in working order. I booked my campsite online and was given the option of choosing a space. I selected a space on an end close to the bathrooms and showers because I have young children. After booking I received a confirmation email but noticed it didn’t have my space number listed. A week before my trip, I tried calling to confirm I was in fact on the end space, I called several times and left a message but never was able to speak to anyone so I sent an email. The day before my trip I received a response stating I’d been moved one space over because they don’t actually rent the end space. Not a big deal but it seems like it would have just been easier to make that space unavailable online. When I arrived the next day and went to check in, there was an RV parked right in front of the office and a sign saying we should park there to check in. We parked behind the RV and I went in with two of my children to register. My children are 5 and 7 and had just been in a car for 5 hours so they were excited to move around and explore the camp store. When we walked in, another couple was just finishing up so I waited in line as the kids looked around. Once it was my turn, the woman behind the counter pulled out my paperwork and I noticed a different site number than the one confirmed not 24 hours prior. When I asked why we’d been moved again she immediately became aggressive and stated very forcefully “We reserve the right to move anyone to accommodate our needs!” (This policy is stated no where on the website or in the confirmation email I received.) I explained that just the day before a member of the staff had confirmed I’d be in space 2 so it would seem like a reasonable thing to let me know if plans had changed. I also shared my reasons for requesting that space. Her response was “Well it’s not that far away from the one you wanted.” This was not at all the point and not in any way reassuring. She asked me to wait until the other person at the desk was free to help us. During this time she became very hostile to me and the children at one point telling them to get out of the store- they had done nothing wrong. She then told me to go move my car because I was blocking someone even though we were parked where the sign indicated we should be. Once the other employee was free again, the situation was explained and I learned they’d moved me to accommodate another group who had booked over the phone and the person taking the reservation had not paid attention to the fact that the space was already reserved. Once at our campsite, the woman from the office (Vanessa) drove over in a golf cart to scold us for having two tents and not telling her. I stated I wasn’t aware she needed that information. She was again rude and hostile and stated they have a one tent policy- again, this is no where on their website or in the confirmation email. She didn’t make us take one down, she just complained and made a scene. One our third day (of five) Vanessa drove over again to tell us our picnic table was in the wrong place and needed to be moved. She stated the tables had been placed where they were to allow for the grass to be mowed but couldn’t be used in that spot because of utility lines under the ground. We had no idea this was the policy because AGAIN, it was not communicated in any way. Moving the table wasn’t a big deal but she waited three days to say anything then acted as if we should have known that. The major problem with this place is communication and attitude...

We WERE seasonal campers at Brook n Wood for 2 full seasons and 5 weeks at the end of 2015 season. THIS WILL BE EXTREMELY LENGTHY, FOR THAT I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE, BUT PLEASE READ IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING THIS CAMPGROUND, ESPECIALLY FOR SEASONAL CAMPING. The only reason we stayed for two years was because the first season owners said major improvements in out buildings, New laundromat, etc NOTHING was done. The 2017 season we were on 3 waiting list at other area campgrounds trying to get Out.

To start with, BnW offers some of the largest sites in the area. They offer water, sewer, electric (30 amp on most site, some up top with 50 amp @ .29 cents per kilowatt in 2017) and cable. The wifi is awful, but we find that in most campgrounds. The grounds are well kept, owner spends most of his day mowing, with only two (2) additional part-time workers, that also help with the landscaping. A wonderful young man helps part-time in the office, and has been ATTEMPTING to improve the amenities offered for kids and adults. UNFORTUNATELY, most weekends there are not enough campers or kids to do much of anything and there isn’t anything to do it with.

ALL OF THE BUILDINGS, MINI GOLF AND POOL ARE EXTREMELY OLD AND VERY POORLY MAINTAINED. Huge hole with moldy insulation falling out over the washer in laundry room (very old trailer) and has been this way for three (3) seasons that I know of. The office reeks of MOLD, as the roof leaks profusely. Rec Room has HUGE hole on the outside walls, offer a few VERY old pinball games one old pool table. This rec hall kitchen had to be CLOSED because of disrepair. Pool need paint and tile. The rotted wood shade deck is full of splinters with NUMEROUS nails popping out. DRIVEWAY WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS FOR WALKING AND DRIVING YOUR VEHICLE/RV INTO AND AROUND THE PARK. HUGE POT HOLES, RUTS AND LARGE ROCKS WHERE EVERYWHERE. I personally fell on the large rocks in driveway. I was very fortunate to have sustained only two (2) broken ribs, bumps and bruises, concussion, and SERIOUSLY injuries to my back, which will require surgery. NOT ONCE DID AN OWNER ASK HOW I WAS AND THEY WERE WELL AWARE WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY. But remarkably this year they put some type of driveway mix. WAY TO LITTLE WAY TO LATE.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE WAS WHEN THE OWNERS, ON THEIR OWN ACCORD, DEDUCTED OUR MARRIED DAUGHTER’S FINAL ELECTRIC BALANCE FROM OUR ELECTRIC DEPOSIT REFUND. We could not believe they ILLEGALLY collecting $43, of which our daughter had the check ready to mail, but we advised her not to mail it until WE received OUR deposit refund. This illegal check wasn’t received until December 17, 2017, and definitely won’t be cashed. 😊

The owners have run this place into the ground. THIS IS APPARENT WHEN MOST LOCAL CAMPGROUNDS ARE AT, OR VERY CLOSE TO CAPACITY FOR THE 2018 SEASON. Brook n Wood has over 70+ SEASONAL campsites. The day we pulled out, 10/7/2017, there were under 30 SEASONAL campers staying for the 2018 Season and have only gotten a couple new ones this year. There were over 50 seasonal campers when we first arrived in late 2015, approximately 43 at the end of the 2016, and under 30 at the end of 2017. THIS SHOULD TELL ALL OF YOU LOOKING FOR A SEASONAL CAMPGROUND EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW.

The place is a ghost town with absolutely NOTHING to do. It might be nice to have a very quite campground if ur life is hectic, but if there are so few seasonal campers and so little maintenance HOW WILL THEY BE ABLE TO KEEP THE PLACE OPEN?

If you are looking for an extremely BORING, RUNDOWN SEASONAL camping experience, that the RATES INCREASED over $500 since 2015. A $300 INCREASE ALONE and CUT THE SEASON APPROXIMATELY TWO WEEKS IN APRIL AND TWO WEEKS IN OCTOBER for the 2018.

If this is the experience you are looking for, then THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU....THE REST OF US RAN OUT OF THERE.

We are looking forward to being seasonal campers this year at WAUBEEKA FAMILY CAMPGROUND IN COPAKE, NY. (PS electric .20 cents a...