Gulf Shores / Pensacola West KOA Holiday Reviews

We are repeat "glampers" and I'd like to offer an objective review for everyone! First, the positives: We stayed in the Starfish for 2 nights and the Sand Dollar for 1 night. While the description of the Sand Dollar on line is incorrect (there are no bunk beds), we loved our stay. We preferred the Starfish space because it DID have bunk beds. Both the Starfish and Sand Dollar have mini-fridge, Keurig, and microwave with a full bathroom. There is a grill and a firepit. I am LOVING the update to TWO split level mini ac units. Our last visit (years ago) only had one AC and it malfunctioned most of the time. It was SO nice this time to not be hot! Hint: crank them up and LEAVE THEM ON so it's nice and cool when you return from a day on the beach. This KOA is located directly on the bay with a lovely fishing pier and an incredible view. We saw dolphins daily. The pier faces East, so the view of the sunrise each day was breathtaking. There is a swimming and a fishing area, but I DO NOT recommend the swimming area. People fish on both sides of the pier, and we all know what chumming the water does in an ocean. We saw no sharks, but took no chances either. There are also random hooks and things that careless fishing left behind. We all caught fish off the pier using shrimp for bait. Were they huge? No, but we made memories and had a blast. The camp store is well stocked and reasonably priced. I do recommend shopping for necessities at local grocery store or big box store. They are a few miles away. The camp store is good for a quick trip, though. Staff is very friendly and helpful. The kids LOVED the pool. It was simply too hot during our visit to consider the use of the hot tub, but it looked nice. There is a large colony of feral kitties under the separate outdoors bathroom/shower area near the pier. There are kittens and adults. They are very frightened and stay away, but they were sweet to see. We love cats, though. They did find our fish bait on the patio and finished the shrimp off for us. Now for the negatives: The office staff keep very limited hours, and it is difficult to reach them by phone. They never responded to emails sent in the weeks leading up to our arrival. That was VERY frustrating. Both the Star fish and Sand Dollar cabins had "iffy" smoke detectors. The Sand Dollar's was hanging out of the ceiling, and the Star Fish was missing entirely though the wires were there. There are fire extinguishers in the kitchen. Thank goodness, we didn't need them! We were given the wrong key to the Star Fish and couldn't get in our room. We got back to the office just as they were closing for the day to swap keys. Then the door knob nearly fell off as we were checking out, and we couldn't lock the door. They did send maintenance right away, so that's good news! Conclusion: I have to say that once again, we loved our stay at this KOA. Overall, you cannot go wrong with this choice. With the exception of a few quirky "negatives," it's a great place. Dated, quaint, off the beaten track, and peaceful. Exactly what we needed. It's about a 15 minute drive to Johnson Beach and about a 40 minute drive to Pensacola Beach. We visited both every day.

We had a easy time pulling in and setting up, the while camp ground is comfy and we'll maintained. And the manager was so helpful knowing what to do locally!