Camp Chinqueka — Local services in Washington

I have taken time to sit with our experience before writing this review, but with enrollment notifications circulating again, I felt it was necessary to share. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere before sending your child to Camp Chinqueka.

My husband and I saved a significant amount of money to give our daughter what we hoped would be a meaningful and positive summer sleepaway camp experience. Unfortunately, her time at Chinqueka was the opposite of what we were promised and expected. Not only did the conditions fail to meet the standards reflected in tuition pricing, but the emotional impact on our daughter has been long-lasting, she is now afraid to attempt overnight camp again.

The camp is visibly run down. Facilities are aged, outdated, and very little appears to have been updated or maintained. While long-standing “traditions” can be charming, they do not replace quality programming or safe, supportive environments. For the cost of enrollment, the camp’s overall offerings were surprisingly limited.

The food situation was deeply concerning. On multiple nights, meals were not adequately prepared for the number of campers. Our daughter told us that on several occasions she was left with only salad toppings because the main meal had run out. This is simply unacceptable in any youth program, especially one charging premium tuition.

Socially, the environment was cliquey and exclusionary, and her cabin counselors did little to help her feel included. Despite her asking for support, she was ignored. This lack of supervision and guidance created a harmful emotional environment for her.

As a parent, I voiced concerns multiple times during her session. I was dismissed every single time by staff and the camp director. The lack of empathy and accountability was alarming.

What is perhaps most upsetting is that my daughter told me she wrote multiple letters home explaining how unhappy she was and asking to come home, letters I never received. The camp uses a digital letter platform, so staff are fully aware of what children write. This raises deeply troubling questions about whether letters expressing distress were withheld to avoid parent intervention or early pickup. We also sent her frequent messages and received only two replies. When I asked about the lack of communication, staff repeatedly insisted she “must be having too much fun to write,” which we now know was completely untrue.

During her designated weekly call time, which was strictly monitored by staff standing over her shoulder and warning when her minutes were almost up, our daughter cried and begged to come home. It felt more like a monitored prison phone call than a supportive care environment. When I called to express concern, I was told, “She only said that because she heard your voice.” This casual dismissal of a child’s emotional distress is something I will never forget.

We are incredibly relieved that she only attended one session. The disregard for her emotional safety, well-being, basic nutrition, and ability to openly communicate with her family is something no parent should have to experience.

I cannot recommend this camp. For us, the experience was not only disappointing, it...

We as parents and my daughter had a terrible experience with this camp. We drove 2.5 hours to CT to drop off her off and were just about back home when we got a call from the nurse concerning a swollen eyelid. I explained that she had had conjunctivitis two weeks prior but had been cleared by a doctor. They said that they would not let her join the other campers (this is her first day and first time at sleepaway camp, mind you) until we provided a doctor's note, which we immediately provided even though it was Sunday. The nurse then called us back, stating that she didn't believe the doctor's note (!!) and called the doctor's office, where she spoke to a doctor that has NEVER SEEN MY DAUGHTER and called us back to say that no, they would not be allowing her to stay at camp. We had to drive all the way back to CT to pick her up that evening. My daughter had been looking forward to this experience, so I took her to the doctor again the next day to have the same doctor from before re-examine her and provide another detailed note. Meanwhile, my husband tried to contact the camp, but the director refused to speak to him. He did manage to speak to a nurse who stated that the camp doctor (who had also never seen my daughter) would not allow her back. Even with a second doctor's note. They offered us a credit for next year (like we would ever go back there again). I wrote to the director stating that I would require a full refund if they wouldn't allow her back given that there was no medical reason she couldn't attend. They then reversed course and said that I would need a note from an opthamologist for her to return. So we went to the doctor a third time, and got a note releasing her, at which point they allowed her to return to camp, so yes, we drove the 5 hr round trip back to camp to take her.

Fast forward to pick up day 10 days later. We arrive to retrieve her and she has no voice and a 102 fever. She stated that she had gone to the nurse the night before but was sent back to her cabin. Nobody contacted us that she was not feeling well. She also said that there were two other girls in her cabin that were sick. So we had to get three doctor's notes for a swollen eyelid but my daughter's high fever and congestion, in the middle of a pandemic, were allowed in the cabin with everyone else, and we were not contacted. So yes, we had to go back to a doctor with her, go through covid testing, etc…

Thankfully, she was negative, but at this point we have incurred over $1000 in doctor's visits for her plus an extra 10 hours of driving, on top of the ~$4000 that we spent to send her to camp in the first place.

This experience was terrible for both kids (we sent our son to Awosting) and for us as parents. I would give negative...

Rundown, understaffed, and poorly run camp. Kids were packed into hot and dirty cabins and felt like their basic health and hygiene needs were not taken care of. My first time campers stuck it out for their whole two-week session, but 4 out of the other 12 girls in their cabin actually left early and the camp didn't seem to care. Interestingly, 3 out of the 4 who left were returning campers, and from what we understand, the camp has recently run into many financial difficulties and has cut back drastically on the quality of activities, facilities, and staff. So even those who may have enjoyed the camp in the past can no longer overlook the drastic decline.

Activities were very basic with little to no instruction using rundown equipment / minimal materials. Cafeteria food was terrible, portion sizes were stingy, and the cafeteria often ran out of many food items. Hygiene essentials like soap and paper products were not refilled in a timely fashion. My girls' cabin went at least 3 days with no toilet paper, soap, and paper towels and so they had to walk to either the public bathroom or another cabin to use the bathroom (even late at night). Kids were required to shower in bathing suits bc the shower curtains were too flimsy and see-through to provide enough privacy and towels provided were not big enough to cover their bodies to and from the shower---so they said they never felt fully clean. There was a girl in their cabin that regularly stole things from other girls and the camp did not do much to discipline her or prevent her from continuing the behavior. There generally didn't seem to be much adult supervision and oversight. The kids seemed to mainly interact with teen counselors and it was very telling that even on pick-up and drop off days, we as parents did not get greeted or instructed on where to go by any kind of director or other adult. They allow the kids only a 5 min phone call each week, and though the kids are also allowed to write and receive both electronic and mailed letters, the camp loses track of a lot of mail and can fail to print electronic correspondences -- I know of at least 4 letters that the camp lost or did not print for my campers, who could have really benefitted from hearing from home during moments of homesickness.

Two-week sessions are priced at $4800 per camper plus a sneaky $125 per kid non-refundable "canteen fee" which is supposedly for kids to purchase merchandise, but which the camp basically pockets since they do not make parents or kids well-aware that they need to use it or lose it. It really seems that the camp is trying to squeeze every cent out of families without any regard to quality...