Tad Vaughn
For The Tides RV Resort: This is a really great resort. Fees are high but you get what you pay for. Huge spaces, best clubhouse we’ve seen, and two great pools. All the gripes from earlier posts from others seem to be resolved as far as our experience. Sounds to me like it was start up issues for a new resort.
Posted Jan 07, 2022 by Tad Vaughn from Cape Coral FL. This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.
Keith
For The Tides RV Resort: The only reason I give this place two stars instead of one is because they did go over the top on the amenities. The club house and pools are like something you would find at a Marriott hotel. That being said, after 5 yrs of being a full time RVer, I have never left a park earlier than planned until staying at The Tides. That includes staying at parks where my site would completely flood after a hard rain or power outages were almost a daily occurrence. This park is owned and operated by Zeman Homes, a large corporation based in Chicago. And as you would expect of a large corporation, their only concern seems to be making a profit. Without a doubt, this was the worst management I have ever experienced at a campground. So bad in fact that for the first time I submitted complaints to the BBB and the Florida Dept of Commerce which neither Zeman homes nor The Tides ever responded to as far as I’m aware. They will lie right to your face without blinking an eye and then turn around and call you a liar to try and cover their ass. Beware of false advertising, bait and switch tactics, and inconsistent treatment of guests. This is supposed to be an adult resort however guests are treated like children. I personally witnessed a woman being threatened to have the police called on her for being in a hot tub at 7:30 in the morning when it was not supposed to be open until 8 am. I also witnessed police being called on guests for trespassing because they were watching an NFL game at the clubhouse which was part of a playoff party the resort was hosting. The game went into overtime past the hours of the clubhouse and the police were called. Just too many thing to list, but the more you would talk to guests the more you would find out how they were told one thing and you were told another or they were being charged one thing and you were being charged differently.
Secondly, this is the first time this company has built a campground, other properties they purchased already built, and it shows. The sites are large and brick paved but check on the hook-ups for your site. Many of the hook-ups were installed on the wrong side of the site and may require you to park in an unusual manner or have to run extensions for your hook-ups. Which you should never add an extension to a power cord. Also, you may want to wear some body armor. The park is situated with some bad neighborhoods surrounding it. Stray bullets seem to find their way into the park on a regular basis and guests have had car windows shot out and bullets going into their RV. Loud parties can be heard into the early morning hours. It was so bad at one point that police were posted in the park for the stray gunfire.
Bottom line, for the price you pay it is not worth the treatment you get. For over a month I asked for a new sewage hose stand that ground maintenance had chopped up with their weed eater. They never replaced it.
Management Response: At The Tides RV Resort we strive for 100% guest satisfaction, however we realize there are times when we may fall short in meeting our guests expectations. Our staff is fully committed to excellence and providing all of our Tides guests with a memorable experience during their stay. We are thrilled to hear that Keith was pleased with our clubhouse and pools and that they are on par with what a guest would find at a Marriott Hotel.
The Tides RV Resort opened January 1st, 2020 and our first guests arrived that same day. We have now been open for the past 18 months and have been fortunate to host hundreds of RV'ers during that time. As with any business during the first year of operation there may be wrinkles that need to be ironed out and at Tides we certainly had our fair share of opportunities to improve upon and work through. I would like to address each of the concerns expressed in Keith's review as follows:
It is true The Tides RV Resort is owned and operated by Zeman Homes & Resort which is based in Chicago, IL. Zeman Homes & Resorts is a medium sized family owned and operated company. The Tides RV Resort is Zeman's first development property and as such we are very proud of it. Much time, effort and care went into making this resort a desirable one, including RV'er focus groups in the early stages of planning. Our mission statements and focus have always been resident / guest centric and will continue to be as they are the lifeblood of our organization.
The Tides RV Resort is a Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce member within Manatee County, we have followed up with both organizations along with State level offices and found that no complaints have been received regarding The Tides RV Resort or Zeman Homes & Resort. If a complaint had been made both organizations are in contact with businesses timely to reach an amicable solution for both parties involved.
The Tides RV Resort uses a third party vendor Envera for security camera monitoring, visitor entry monitoring and lastly restricted access to amenities. Envera's scope of work included voice down measures to close up amenities after hours of use have passed, this aspect of our contracted services proved to be problematic and was addressed. This is no longer a practice in place. The purpose of these services is to provide our guests with comfortable surroundings and not meant to be over stringent or controlling.
The Tides RV Resort offers pull in, pull through and back in sites throughout the resort, these options have allowed guests to use their site the way they prefer to. Additional electrical pedestals have been added to roughly 12 sites in our first phase to allow for buddy sites or dual option sites either pull in / back in. This phase has also been fully landscaped to blend in with the rest of the resort.
Our location in Palmetto, FL is ideal, we are nestled in an area off the beaten path but yet fully accessible to all major areas around us such as Bradenton, Sarasota, Tampa and St. Petersburg. Palmetto is a rural area with a lot to offer and like most towns there may be some areas that are not as well kept. We are happy to be part of the local community and have developed great relationships with all of our Tides neighbors.
Unfortunately, The Tides RV Resort faced challenges with recreational shooting in the area however after diligently working with Manatee County Sheriff, County and State Commissioners, legal counsel and all Tides neighbors we have been able to work through any safety concerns experienced. The Tides RV Resort openly communicated with all guests multiple times, crafted announcements to all incoming quests and addressed concerns as they arose.
We recognize that guests have many resort options available to them and we hope that we are one of the options that you may be considering. We invite you to check out our website and Facebook pages to see what other guests' experiences have been so that you can make an informed decision
Posted Apr 24, 2021 by Keith from . This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.
