KOA - Reviews and experiences

Halfway through the second night, when I woke to the faint whump of a jet and realised I didn't care, that was the moment I knew this place worked for us. I almost skipped it because a buddy warned me it sits by the airport and the Wi‑Fi might be flaky, but staff sorted a faster login and the kids crashed after dinner. I first spotted the KOA on a highway sign and ended up recommending it to my sister. Small hiccups, sure, but check‑in was quick, sites were level, mornings were calm and I was pleasantly relieved.

were the sites clean, staff helpful, showers decent? Turns out those worries evaporated fast. Sites were tidy, restrooms great, staff actually helpful. We used KOA every night on the RV trip; I'm pretty happy.

I wouldn’t stay here again. I went the weekend of Aug 22–24 and the place started off rough and never really recovered. First impression — site looked fine at a glance but there was dog mess left on the spot we were given, which we ended up scooping ourselves. The bigger issue was the electrical: one loop had low/no voltage for two days, so our fridge ran on propane and there was no AC during heat of about 32°C (90°F). That’s not fun. On top of that, neighbours on a seasonal site were loud, drinking and smoking most of the time and it kept going past midnight; after we complained the noise and even threats got worse, despite the manager saying it was handled. He also blamed the power company even though other loops were fine, which felt like passing the buck. I tried calling and emailing afterward about a refund for the paid electricity but got no real response; I’ve called corporate twice too. If you want quieter and less drama, a provincial or county park is probably a better, cheaper bet. There were some quieter areas when we drove around, so it’s not hopeless, but not for me.

simple meals, showers, coffee, the usual camping routine. Those doubts stayed in the back of my head, and sadly, they turned out to be justified.
A lift station failed and, long story short, human wastewater ended up all over two of our grills and pooled across our site. I watched the whole thing happen. Staff were working on the lift station and used our spigot to rinse things (with their bare hands, as far as I could tell). There was a sort of mist as they pressure-washed; there was no warning, no tape, no quarantine area, no gloves, nothing. I asked the manager directly if he would have told us if we hadn’t been there. He smirked and didn’t answer. That reaction — the shrug and silence — was worse than the spill itself.
I pushed for action. I begged them to clean or at least cordon off the area. Nothing meaningful was done. At one point the manager relayed that his boss’s instruction was to “turn the grills up and cook it off.” That made me sick — literally — and was the moment our trip stopped being a vacation. Several people in our group were overcharged and left without a clear resolution. On top of that, when we got home we discovered our KOA accounts had been tampered with (made inactive), which we assume was to stop us from posting reviews. That was fixed later and an employee was "reprimanded" but honestly, reprimand felt inadequate given the risk.
I did contact KOA corporate and the local health department. Corporate initially defended the manager, which was frustrating. It took escalating to the company president before we got a genuine apology. I’m grateful for that apology and for two front-desk staff who handled things with real kindness while the rest of management floundered — they went out of their way to try to help. That made a difference, and I’m thankful for those people.
Bottom line: my pre-booking doubts were validated. The site’s basic safety response was poor, and I won’t return unless there are serious leadership and procedure changes. At the same time, the kindness from a couple of front-line staff and the president’s eventual outreach are reasons I’ll at least monitor how this is handled going forward.