Sarasota, Sun n Fun Resort

[virgil47]

This is the biggest cg I've seen in my short time of traveling. They claim there are 1600 spaces here. There is cable TV and WiFi, 10 boche ball "courts", about 15 shuffleboard "alleys" and half a dozen horse shoe pits. The daily price is about $34 a night. There are lot of folks here who obviously stay for the winter but many who are passing through. Nice place.

[Bill Frisbee]

There is a brief discussion of this resort on the North American MOC/Southest Region board. Seems to be a sense that it is a very nice place but very expensive.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Here's a link to the above mentioned thread...
http://montanaadministrator.forumco....C_ID~12755.asp

BTW-That $34 per night is for 6 nights or less in a Deluxe site in Oct/Nov it goes up to $40 in Dec, $56 in Jan and $64 in Feb/Mar.
But their "SPECIAL RV" rate if you stay for the entire above 6 months or 182 nights it's only $6499.00 or $35.70 per night. Stay for 6 months and the rate jumps a buck seventy a night????

A bit pricy for my taste. And very pricy considering the number of RV parks in the same general area for much less.
SunNFun RV Regular Rates page

[Montana Sky]

Using the numbers Glenn posted of $6499 for a 6 month stay. Wow for that kind of money I am thinking my next business venture should be somewhere tropical. This way I can build a campground with 1500+ sites and charge $6500 x 1500 = $9,750,000. for 6 months work. =)

[Parrothead]

Dave, just let us know where you are and we will be sure to STAY AWAY. I can't believe the monthly rate! I thought we were high in California (some parts) but I think Florida has us beat. In Northern California we did pay $1,000 per month for July and August but it dropped to $600 for the other months. That was plus electric.
Happy trails.........................

[Sweetfire]

This thread has gotten me interested enough to call Sun-N-Fun and my folks to see what was up.

First the park models; Pop told me that the park model rates vary as to, size of lot, size of trailer, location in the park (lake front lots are higher), etc. but a 9 month average for him is $18.52 a night based on 9 months with 30 days each as an average. That does NOT include elec., sewer, phone, or cable for him (he pays for those directly to the venders).

The RV rates are alot more complicated. They vary between Standard, Delux, Premium, and Pull Thru sites. Gravel, grass, or concrete pads. Time of year, Jan/Feb is there peak season and so on. They do have special rates and packages some of which I think require pre-payment. It takes a while to figure out what is best for your needs/tastes/income.

I think it was best summed up this way; "Sun-N-Fun is not just a camp site but a resort". They have amenities and activities not found in other parks such as, post office, Bar-n-Grill, security, etc. The people who stay there have a tendency to return year after year so a sense of community is developed along with friendships and aquaintanceships. For my parents, in their late 70's, driving a Class A from upstate New York to Florida was begining to be an ordeal not an adventure. Now they just load up their van and off they go.

What am I trying to say? Well, different strokes for different folks and you get what you pay for. I like my Montana and am looking forward to traveling, seeing new places and meeting new people. I hope to do it for many years. But people that spend more than me to enjoy a different type of RVing are not stupid for spending more or better than me (all though some undoubtedly are, I'm far from perfect) and people that spend less for the same reasons are no better or worse they are just doing it their own way and isn't that what it's suppose to be about?

Man, talk about soap boxes, phew, I've got to take a nap now. Honey, where are my meds?