Sun Retreats Cape May Wildwood — Local services in Lower Township

As I book my annual family vacation at another campground just up the street from this place I thought I should leave a review for others to understand why you may not want to stay here. ||First I’d like to mention that this location was my families "go-to" camping location for many years. I would pair up my multi week stay with my siblings, ants uncles and even friends on some years. We would rent multiple sites all with overlapping dates to really maximize our vacation. We did this over and over growing slightly each year thanks to the private lake, peaceful deluxe sites, location and other amenities we enjoyed. It's with a heavy heart that we just can't bring ourselves to continue our vacations here. ||So why would we be moving on after so much previous good history? Long story short, Todd. It's pretty amazing how much this one single man can ruin a good thing. It's not just the manager but also part owner. He's always on site and at first seams fine but he is also quite capable of vindictiveness. He has a major chip on his shoulder and is obviously not a big fan of transients (short term renters). He consistently allows friends of his which are seasonal break all manor of campground rules yet will threaten to throw transients and even other seasonal renters out for minor infractions like letting a teenager drive a golf cat (a fully insured privately owned golf cart) or driving it on the grass behind the lake etc. I have had multiple issues with this guy even if one of my guests (who I'm charged extra for) breaks some rule he doesn't like he will literally show up to my door the following day to lecture me about it, threaten to kick me out, tell me I've lost my golf card privilege etc. Even went so far as to tell me my golf cart need to be chained to a free for the rest of my 2 week trip because my nephew was caught driving in the grass the night prior. A nephew that wasn't even staying with us and simply visited for the day. The extreme lack of professionalisim from this one guy really ruins the experience yet issues I'd consider legitimate like some guests playing loud radios all thought the night go unenforced despite quiet times being listed on all the site paperwork. No amount of reasoning with this bad attitude works because he can (and will) on his decision alone throw anyone he doesn't;t like out of the campground. Important to note the bad behavior does seam to be concentrated only around this one guy. The rest of the staff seams very friendly and accommodating as long as it’s not something that Todd forces them to do or report. ||The bad attitude and obvious favoritism isn't the only problem here. For an owner that is so concerned at times to threaten people over driving on grass is disappointing to see nothing appears to be done about a growing number of cigarettes in the sand at the beach of lake Laurie. This private lake was one of our favorite things here and really enjoyed taking the kids down there to play on the trampoline or other inflatables on the water was relaxing under an umbrella in the sun. Now several areas are starting to get over run with grass and there's significant increase in trash (especially cigarette butts) one and in the sand. We also experienced a growing number of people fishing and leaving hooks from broken lines in the swimming area. This area isn't usually manned or maintained any more so people get away with anything. A real shame considering the other side of the lake is open for fishing. I just don't want to my kids getting stuck by fishing hooks or digging up cigarette buts trying to make a sand castle. Last fall the large inflatable not only would slowly deflate through the course of the day but the lower part you’re meant to climb onto was completely delated and sunk into the water. This was a bit dangerous and a kid could potentially get trapped in the plastic just hanging down into the water. It doesn’t seam to be a concern and they just reinflate the big part every day. ||We have also noticed a quick decline (especially since they lost their KOA status) in the general care at the lake. Staff is rarely available. You used to be able to rent boats or kayaks but most of the time that no longer an option. The dock is in degrading condition the sand on the beach part is becoming mostly washed away over the years leaving behind smelly mud in many areas. The activity center used to have simple but fun actives but now is closed most of the time. ||In conclusion it a real shame to see what Todd is turning this place into. After may years there we just can't come back at least not as long as he's around. It was a great place when his parents ran it and even when they were a KOA site but now there are nicer places at better prices so especially with toxic management involved I can't recommend this place any longer. Id be happy to try this place again later but not as long as he is...

We stayed at KOA 2 years ago and we loved it! We stayed in a 2 bedroom cabin/cottage. I told people it was one of the best vacations we ever had. Not one complaint! We came back this year expecting the same great experience and were VERY disappointed! I made my reservation in late February, early March. It was about $975 for 4 nights with 6 people. 3 adults, 3 children. Great price for what I experienced last time! I paid in full within a week of making my reservation. The morning of our arrival I received a receipt with a zero balance and noticed a small error. We were charged for 2 pets instead of 1. $10 a day, $40 total. I asked the lady at the desk to change it and she did. She then asked me how many cars we have. I said 2. She then told me it would be $10 a day for an additional car. I was annoyed I didn't know that up front but said ok and took it as a wash for the pet fee. She agreed. Back at $0, right? Nope! Then she tells me I owe $48 and change for having 3 adults even though the reservation was made for 3 adults,3 children. I told her "No, that is not right. I had a $0 balance this morning on my receipt in my email." Another lady stepped in and tried to help figure out what went wrong. These 2 women were very nice and patient but couldn't figure out what happened and why it added the fee. A 3rd woman stepped in and while she was talking to the 1st lady, I was talking to the 2nd lady that stepped in to explain to her and lady number 3 AKA "Sweet pea" says "I can't hear you because she's yelling", referring to me! Who not one time raised my voice or was rude to anyone that worked there bc they were polite and it isn't their fault. However, I was annoyed and rightfully so which I told her. Sweet pea asked me when I made my reservation and told me if I made it last year the policy changed and it wouldn't show until now? I don't know about anybody else but I've never agreed to a price to stay at a hotel, motel, campground, etc, paid in full, and then when I get there they ask me for more money and I've never dealt with customer service at a place like that where an employee tries to provoke you into a fight either. Anyway, they told me they would take care of the fee and we went to our cabin. When we walked in everything looked fine at first. We went to throw something in the trash can in the kitchen and the whole top of the swivel part was covered with something gross and sticky. I'm pretty sure there's a cleaning fee applied when you make a reservation for this place. The dog was sniffing under the couch and when we looked under it was covered with dust and trash. Empty containers from snacks and drinks. Advil pill left on the porch. My children's feet were black after an hour of walking in the cabin with no shoes on. Nobody mops. I would never put a baby on the floor here. The queen size bed in the main bedroom is hard as a rock and had no fitted sheet on it. Only the protective cover. The sleeper sofa has a bar in the middle of your back. The actual sofa is disgusting but if you put a sheet on it you can sleep there. There was smashed poop stuck to the floor next to the toilet. I wiped with Lysol wipes around the floor of the toilet and it was black. After we were here for 1 day while we were cooking dinner outside and the neighbors were checking in they came to pump the septic tank in between our cabins. Two mornings after that we had no running water and had to call the office with no answer because they weren't open at 8am. Only 5 of us had showered at that point. I called the emergency line 4 times and no one picked up. No one ever called back. My brother-in-law called when they opened and they said they would be over. No time frame. An hour later I went into the office and the Man in the office told me they were taking care of cabins right now. I'm not really sure what that means. Finally someone came and pumped again about 20 minutes later so we had running water. We just wanted to use the bathroom and wash our hands. Anyway, next time I pay $180+ a night to stay somewhere, it won't be...

The Cape May KOA gets 2 stars. First when I called to book our trip I was politely greeted on the phone, spoke to the attendant and explained what we were looking to book, she asked to place me on hold then after a few minutes of holding the phone just went blank. I tried calling back but no one answered. I was having trouble booking the reservation on the website but found switching browsers solved the problem so I booked the site online. No big deal. Only unexpected thing online was that I couldn't select a site. I'm not familiar with this concept. I normally camp remotely or in state parks. I figured it was some form of first come first serve. We were camping with family that had booked their own site and others that booked a cabin. We got in "early" at 12:30pm on Friday and and the guard at the gate asked, "what are you doing here so early? Do you know what time check in is?" I didn't, just assumed since I didn't have an assigned site it probably didn't matter. It did. Had to pay $20 extra to be 1.5 hrs early and take some gruff from the staff. When my wife went into the office I asked her to see if we could get a site next to our family. They wouldn't allow it. Weird. We got our assigned site and the two next to us were empty. Our family would be checking in a few hours later so I suggested they call to see if they can get one of the sites next to us. NOPE. So they get to the KOA, register, and head to their site to find it occupied. They go back to the office and the staff kind of shrug their shoulders and say sometimes people get to the site they're assigned and don't like it so they just pick a different one... Ahhh then why can't our family just have the site next to us? Still a no. So now they get a new site clear across the campground. At this point it just seems like the place just isn't real organized. Then this monster storm runs through. The place floods but what are you going to do. We just called it a night and waited for morning. In the morning it's beautiful weather but the section of permanent campers across from us have their roadway flooded. It's like a monster mud puddle. We head to the beach and when we return home we find they've been pumping the water out of this monster mud puddle out onto the pavement which drains right into our campsite. Our fire ring and the area around our picnic table is a swamp. We asked them to reroute the water so, maybe, just maybe, it won't flood our site. NOPE. It just continues to run through our site through the next day. Kinda of irritated at this point because a good bit of the tiny campsite isn't usable. Also the bathrooms were not cleanly, the trash is over flowing, and the sites are small. But there's more. Then Sunday night we go out to dinner in Cape May and return to the KOA at 8:45p. We had to stop for gas on our way back and received a text from the inlaws that said no one's at the guard shack to let us in. We get gas and when we get to the KOA there's about 8 cars waiting to be let in. The inlaws to had to be waiting at least 15 min when we got there. They tried the call box and the guy was short with them when they asked to be let in then it cut off. Pop said he had to call another 5 times to get the guy back on the phone and sternly ask him to come open the gate. Finally a guy comes out to man the booth and let in all of the cars that had piled up during this mess.

We normally stay at The Depot or do Air BNBs in Cape May but our family suggested the KOA because there was a pool. Big mistake. 1hr into swimming in the pool and a guy comes out and says everyone has to get out because there's poop in the pool and he needs to shock it. That was it for me. We didn't use the pool again. I wouldn't go back. The Depot doesn't have activities for the kids or a pool but the KOA is so stinking crowded you won't want to do them anyhow. Go to the Depot! Unless you like listening to golf carts skidding by your campsite in the middle...