Throughout this review, I may be referring to
Normandy Farms quite a few times. I currently do not have a review of Normandy, as there are several out there. And, to me, we are spoiled due to their excellent facility and camping experiences we have there.
Over the winter, we have been so excited that 2 new campgrounds were opening up in the area. Because of the brutal winter, both campgrounds had to delay their openings. But, finally, they opened, and we got to book 4 nights at
Ashaway RV Resort off Interstate 95, Exit 1, in Ashaway RI. We were excited because this is in a part of the state that we hardly explore. We had lots of things to do around there including Westerly Beaches, Mystic attractions, The Casinos, and more. There is a potential for lots to do!
The campground was easy to get to, easily to navigate by the largest rigs. The campground entrance road was a bit bumpy. Upon checking in with the friendly staff, the owner took a second between phone calls to greet us. He remembered us from the camping show, and said that he will try and stop by during our stay.
Upon driving to our site, I noticed that there was still a quite a bit of construction going on. I also noticed a lack of large trees except around the perimeter of the campground. I knew that my
Popup Gizmos would come in handy.
Our site was on a hill, which I don't mind. Our pad was made of dirt, which was a bit loose. The pad itself was about 12 feet wide, and about 40 feet long from the road to the end, where it dropped down severely. I wish it was topped with peastone, like the sites in Normandy. The dirt pad did help in leveling, but was not level itself. I did need to use 2 2x10s on the roadside to level. This created a nice drop for my septic. The grass on our site were weeds at best, and was a bit overgrown. Our poor 4lb chihuahua had to hop over the grass and her leash kept getting caught up in it.
The overall site itself was small, with no trees or bushes separating sites. My Jeep and 22 feet of trailer fit fine, but when I get my Pickup and 25 foot trailer, it would be a tight fit. People with large trailers will have a hard time finding a spot for their tow vehicle. Even better, people with a Motohome and A Toad will have a hard time parking their Toad. And, the larger families with 2 vehicles will have a hard time or find it impossible to park both vehicles.
The utilities seem excellent. Water is well water, and we had no issues. Pressure seemed adequate, but then again, the campground was fairly empty. The power pedestal had 20/30/50 amp service at every site. Every site also had a sewer connection with a 4" screw in connection. Cable was provided by Cox Communications, and was there basic service with analog and digital QAM channels. On a side note, I wonder if we brought our cable "modem" to the campground, would it work?? The free Wifi worked well while we were there, but I could see issues in the future with it, as I will get to this later.
The pool setup was nice, but still being worked on. The pool is L shaped, with a walk in (or wheel in with a wheel chair) end, that then has a walkway separation to the deeper end. The spashpad area was not completed yet while we were there, and the adult whirlpool was also not working. Also, the bathrooms at the pool were not in service yet, as the recreation hall was still being finished.
Now, some concerns and poorly designed parts of the campground....
This being a brand new campground, and calling themselves a resort, I would have thought that they would visit other places and learn a few things.
1) Small Sites - I think they tried cramming too many sites. Sites should have been designed to fit a 40 foot motorhome and a toad. OR A 40 foot trailer and pickup. Also, designed to park 2 vehicles for larger families.
2) Misplacement of Sewer Connections - Walking around the campground, I noticed quite a few sewer connections that will not work well. Some are near the front of the site. Also, on the hill, some were placed uphill, and a lower camper will never drain uphill. Those will probably need to be cut down, and some sort of a trench built to them so that a camper can properly drain. They could have learned from Normandy and placed 2 connections at every site, one in the middle, and one towards the rear. That way, you can connect to the one closest to you, and the larger units with 2 connections can use both.
3) Lack of Bathhouses - At the time of our visit, there was one small bathhouse open at the office, and one other small one being built inside the recreation hall. I asked if any more were planned, and they stated that they were 100% full hookups, so there is no need. They could not be any more wrong. A couple in their large luxurious RV may solely use their unit's bathroom, but many people with small units and large families usually use the bathhouse, since 4-8+ people trying to use one shower with 6 gallons of hot water is nearly impossible. Our shower is used mostly for dirty laundry.
The one bathroom that was open had just one urinal and one toilet in the men's room. (I did not venture into the lady's room). Now, because of the size of my bathroom, I usually go #2 at the bathhouse. I had to wait in line, and a line was waiting for me when I was done. I do not like to feel rushed when using the bathroom, but others are waiting. There were also 2 showers in there, and they were decently sized. But, I could see the hanger coming off the wall. It was not mounted for heavy duty continuous use.
One design flaw in that bathroom and the bathroom they were building next to the pool was no floor drains. I can see people using the bathroom dripping wet from the pool or walking in the rain and all the water has nowhere to go. After getting out of the pool, I went up to talk to the contractors, and they agreed with me, that there should be floor drains.
4) Wifi Hotspots - This being a new campground, I would have expected them to have a wired backbone for their internet. I would even pay if the internet was up to par. But what I saw was rather hacked at best. They used internet repeaters on top of PVC poles. The repeaters looked to be more residential in nature. These PVC poles were tie wrapped to pedestals around the campground. There was a CAT5 wire running down the PVC and into the pedestal where it was connected to a PoE Injector (Power over Ethernet), which was just wrapped up inside the pedestal and connected to one of the 20amp outlets. I have never seen anything so hacked at a brand new facility. With Cox being the provider, I would have thought they would have used them to install Wifi around the campground. I can see 2 things. 1) Any repeater can be easily unplugged and cause outages. 2) When it is busy, it will be impossible to get any service, just like at Normandy Farms.
In my opinion, I think they should have built and completed half the campground first. They tried to do too much at once. I also think they should have made the sites bigger and more accommodating. Making fewer, but bigger sites, would have meant less pedestals, making the initial investment less.
Would I go there again? Sure! I love being close to great RI beaches, and other attractions. Would I recommend it to others? Yes, but not as a primary destination, but to park their rigs while they explore the area. During our time there, I saw so much work taking place, that it was a different campground than from when we arrived.
I will definitely post a followup on this review the next time we go here. Now, for some pictures.
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| This is our view up the hill. If you look above Jay's car, you can see the white pole of a Wifi Repeater. We moved our stuff off the grass in anticipation of them coming by to cut it. Jay was also parked on the grass, but moved to the vacant site next door. You can also see the sudden drop on the sides and back of the pads on the hill. |
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| We were close to the pool. As you can see, our small rig fits there. There is not much room behind me before I start invading the site behind me. |
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| Another view of how close the sites are together. |
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| Coolest thing was this bird nest by the high voltage power lines running down the middle of the place. |
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| Barrel train. They did have some activities schedules. |
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| The pool is a nice design. Not all that big. I could see it busy when the campground is full. The dirt area is where the plumbing for the splashpad is. |
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| Poor Jordan in the grass. |
Hazy day at the beach.
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| Julie at the carousel at Watch Hill. |
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| Group Selfie |
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| Better day at the beach!!! |
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| Waterslide fun in Misquamecut. |
