Welcome to the first edition of our campground review series. This is something we wanted to try doing as we travel the country and visit campgrounds. We know that there are a ton of sites where people leave campground reviews. However part of the problem we find when doing research is that most of these reviews are based on unreasonable logic or even flat out anger.
Let’s face it, happy campers are also less likely to leave a review because they are not looking to vent. Sure people have the right to be angry and/or dissatisfied when they have what they perceive as a negative experience. But when you leave a bad review for a resort or campground because they are trying to maintain a certain standard for ALL of their customers or because their FREE Wi-Fi doesn’t let you stream movies and work on your computer all day long you are being an unreasonable person.
What we will strive to accomplish with this series is to give an honest, straightforward review about the things that are important to campers and full time RV’ers. The most important things to us when looking for a place to stay are amenities, cleanliness, cost and customer experience. These are the four things that really matter to visitors so this is what we will focus on to help people make an informed decision.
So here it goes…………….
Pechanga RV Resort is located in Temecula, CA and is part of Pechanga Resort and Casino. We have stayed here many times throughout the years so it’s kind of fitting that this resort is the first review in our series. The roads in and out are easy and well maintained. They also have a parking lot across from the main resort that can be used as a temporary dry camping area.
Amenities
Campsites – All of the sites at Pechanga RV Resort are level concrete pads with full hookups for 30/50 AMP RV’s. You can get a nice back-in site or a long pull thru site and they even have buddy sites if you are camping with friends and want to share a common area. You can choose a site that is standard with grass or you can choose a site that has added value things like tables, gazebos, fireplaces and grills. All of the options are there if you want to pay for them. Note: You can only use propane fire pits at your site.
Common Areas –The common areas are well groomed and maintained and consist of a nice sized pool area with a good amount of seating and a jacuzzi. They have guest restrooms, shower facilities, a laundry room and a dog park.
The Wi-Fi at this resort is probably as good as RV resort Wi-Fi gets. It is streamable but only when the park is below capacity. Once they are full on the weekend it is still very good but you will not be able to stream video.
Like most RV resorts on tribal lands, Pechanga RV Resort is packed with things to do. You can relax at your site, sit at the pool or if you want to go to the casino, they gladly will pick you up and drop you off right at your RV doorstep. It’s almost too convenient.
Cleanliness
The resort is kept very clean and tidy. They have plenty of trash areas to accommodate a park full of people so you don’t see overflowing trash bins. The grass, shrubs and trees appeared to be cut, clipped and maintained every other week which keeps the resort looking fresh. The common area restrooms were clean and well maintained as was the laundry room. If we have one cleanliness gripe it would be the dog area. While it is clean in appearance and the dogs love it, they use artificial turf instead of grass. Because of this it tends to be stinky with years of dog matter soaked into it and you don’t have to enter the gate before you catch a whiff.
Customer Experience
The staff at Pechanga was always helpful and courteous. There always seemed to be someone riding around on a golf cart helping people and answering questions. I also think this was their way of observing the property to make sure everyone was following the rules. Some people don’t like this but the resort is for all guests and we appreciated it.
One important thing to note is that this resort is located at a casino and the crowd starts rolling in on Thursdays and usually most leave Sunday morning. Because of this the weekends are typically jam-packed and can also be loud into the night. However we never experienced loud noise during quiet hours so kudos to the staff on that.
Cost
As you would expect, all of these amenities and convenience do come at a price. Our stay for the month was just over $1500 for a deluxe back-in. The normal daily rate typically starts at about $100 and goes up from there based on your desired location, days of the week and choice of amenities. This is certainly not a budget resort if that is what you are looking for.
Conclusion
Pechanga RV Resort is a great place to stay if you are not too concerned about cost. They have everything someone could want at an RV resort. In addition to that, they have a casino that holds live concerts and has restaurants or any type of dining you could want. Or if going to the casino is not your cup of tea, there are a large variety of restaurants and stores locally.
Bonus
A bonus item at Pechanga is sitting across from the resort at the fuel station. There they have your standard gas pumps, but that is not enough for RV’ers. At this fuel station they have an RV line that pumps out high volume fast fill diesel fuel like a pump at a truck stop, so it takes just minutes to fill up a large Class A fuel tank. They also have a high pressure air hose, long handled windshield cleaners and non-potable water so RV’ers can make sure they are hitting the road safely.
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