My ranking system: Five stars is a non-starter, because I do not award any business this ranking. There are always improvements to be made. A four star ranking is "Excellent", and a three star ranking is "Satisfactory". The others are "Marginal" and "Unsatisfactory". This park receives a Satisfactory grade because it is an average park, with plusses and minuses found in most average parks. Some features are above average, and other features below average.
In looking at the facilities, I rate this park as Excellent. It has a swimming pool and hot tub, a playground for children, floor shuffleboard, horseshoe pits and lanes, and corn-hole game set-ups. The park offers use of BBQ grills, having several to choose from, located under a covered picnic area to shade users from an unrelenting sun or torrential downpour. There are three small lakes or ponds that people can fish from without requiring a fishing license, on a catch and release basis. The RV park has a laundry room, handicapped accessorized bathrooms in three areas of the park, two of them being brand new to the facility since Hurricane Harvey, some years ago. There is a small card playing room in the building that houses the laundry machines. A lending library of the park contains books, movies, and jigsaw puzzles, of which there are a good number of books and puzzles to be borrowed.The clubhouse is quite nice and big, capable of supporting large crowd bingo games and dances. There are four 8-foot billiard tables in their own dedicated room inside the clubhouse.
On the downside, but on an improvement schedule, are the roads in and about the park. About a third of the park's roads are in terrible shape. The entry area of the park has had a rock chip covering to smoothen the drive through the park's entry and to the general office and clubhouse. Plans for future area road improvements have been discussed. So, while a downside, at this point in time, I expect this evaluation to improve as the roads are improved in the future.
One things the new owners really liked when they bought this park is the community-mindedness of the Winter Texan population, many of whom have returned to this park for upwards to 10-15 years. It is this family attitude that has run the vast number of activities weekly during the Winter Texan Season, to include numerous card games, dice games, board games, bingo, line and trail dancing, beanbag baseball and karaoke. Winter Texan volunteers take care of potluck meals and breakfast. There used to be about 20-25 ladies who maintained a sewing club and used to make honor quilts for veterans and other deserving individuals and organizations, but the vast majority of these ladies have indicated a desire to move on to other RV parks in upcoming seasons.
A new activity the managing staff hopes to grow is the renting of the central clubhouse for outside events requiring a sizable area for entertainment. The clubhouse can probably house close to 200 individuals for these events, which are hoped to come from the communities of Rockport and surrounding areas. It is the hope of the general management at the park to have people look at the RV park as a wedding venue location, given the size of the clubhouse. Rooms upstairs, previously used by the sewing club, have been transformed into dressing rooms for these future events. The clubhouse is closed to Winter Texans during these events.
As with all changes in management, things change to suit the goals of the new leadership. This sort of thing typically upsets people who had been conducting activities at the park for numerous years. That's the case at this park, as well. The new owners seem driven to adjust the focus of this park from one of Winter Texan retirement community to one that also attracts the attention of working families that are looking for a beautiful park to visit. The expected result of this adjustment is to broaden the clientele for the make up of the community population. Done smoothly, with a broad respect for the current community, these changes would bring minimal alteration to the lives of the long term Winter Texan families that call this park home. Done more aloofly, as appears to be the case, and the existing community may feel "under assault" by the new management, yielding the field to anger and discontent on both sides of the line. That seems to be the case as the new owners more fully assume command and control of this RV park.
An initial town hall meeting was called by the new leadership and I thought the thing was conducted in a highly professional manner. Questions and concerns were voiced by the existing community and answered respectfully by the staff. Rumors were set to bed and the game plan for the park was briefed in a way most could appreciate. Promises were made, and so far, several have yielded fruit. A general timeline is probably in place to address promises of future action. That said, the office management has failed to take advantage of this forum type to inform residents and to quash rumors, thus allowing a rumor mill to fester unnecessarily.
Downside changes made have changed the way the Winter Texan community views the park. The park indicated it will no longer provide a mail service to the Winter Texan community that typically spends from 4-6 months at a time at the park, unless they are owners of permanently affixed park model mobile homes within the park. From the point of view of long term transient residents, who need this service to receive their medicines and bills from home, this decision will likely cause those Winter Texans to seek out other venues at which to spend their winters in the Coastal Bend area of Texas. While most changes can generally be adapted to with minimal fuss, the age category of Winter Texans is such that most of them receive their medicines through the mail while residing at this RV park. If the general office staff is unwilling to assume responsibility for the mail service of their transient long term residents, a solution would be to have the US Postal Service install an NBU bank of mailboxes that can be serviced by the letter carrier that brings the mail to the RV park. In this way, mail service will be available to these Winter Texans and the office will be also be out of the mail business. Other RV parks provide mail service to their clients in this manner, so it should be a consideration for the new owners of the RV park.
All in all, this is a beautiful RV park with lots of potential for growth in character. The management needs to remember they are in the hospitality business and are to manage an environment conducive to the interest of the demographics that either have used the park loyally for years in the past, as well as those who might be convinced to spend their hard earned money at the park in the future. Respect begets respect, from both sides of the coin. One must trust the new ownership wants nothing but the best for their new acquisition. That said, the new owners should remember and respect that which made the park attractive to them in the first place. The previous local management team restored a completely destroyed RV park, thanks to Hurricane Harvey, into one that was vibrant and made returning exciting. Those Winter Texans who impressed the new owners during their visit have become some of those greatly disillusioned by the perceived lack of respect from an aloof new management team, and have left the community for greener pastures. The new owner was really impressed by the quilting club during his inspection of the park, so I wonder how disappointed he would be if he were to learn of the departure of most club members due to the perceived disrespect they received from the current office management.
I have noticed animosity between previous posters and the ownership of the park, and this review is not intended to throw gasoline on either side of the arguments made by the two parties. Mine is a review of the RV park so others interested in staying here might have some ideal of what this park offers, and what things are changing at the park. As I've stated, there are many improvements being made to the park, but some have come at the cost of a tight-knit community. A future community will likely grow from the ashes of the old community, and I'm sure the ownership and those who continue to reside and visit this RV park fervently hope this will be the case. There are few RV parks in the Rockport area that offer the area afforded to visitors at this RV park. The area is green with life, and experiences to be made.
In conclusion, the question is whether or not I would advise new RV travelers to accept this park or avoid it like the plague. To be honest with my evaluation of this park, I think it is one where people can become a part of a community, even to such extent that they return year after year. There are good amenities at this park for visitors to take advantage of, in addition to the local area and its beaches and fishing opportunities. The management is adequate to their task, but could become more community conscious in their demeanor and actions. Some aspects of this park fall easily into the Excellent rating, while other aspects of the park are merely Satisfactory. Overall, this is a Satisfactorily evaluated RV resort park. People need to remember that average is just that - a bit of good, a bit of bad, as found in all similar parks. And with all reviews, take each with a grain of salt. Each review is a vision of the park from a unique viewpoint, whether from a visitor or from the ownership. Each coin has two sides. If you are interested in visiting this park, short or long term, call them and ask questions. Make sure this park suits your needs and wants. If not, go elsewhere to a location that satisfies your needs. If so, then come to the park and inculcate yourself into the local community and don't sweat the adequacies or inadequacies of a managing hospitality crew. Their job is to welcome you to the park and keep things up and running. They work for the corporation, but also for you the visitor. Do not expect them to be your friends. That's not in their job description. Just come and enjoy yourself. Texas has a lot to offer, and this RV resort park is one of them.
