Once upon a time Carlsbad RV was likely a real jewel of an RV park. Walking around, it is easy to imagine that 20-30 years ago it was in its prime. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to Carlsbad RV. While it is a decent park, it clearly needs some TLC and a re-investment to make it worth the asking price.
Nights: 14
RV Park Cost: $560.00 ($ 40 /night)
Discounts Used: Weekly Discount
Address: 4301 National Parks Hwy, Carlsbad, NM 88220
GPS: 32.368607, -104.235987
Website: www.carlsbadrvpark.com
Pros
- Robust Amenities
- Friendly Staff
- Full hookups, including cable
- Nice camp store
- Good location
- Next to an RV repair shop
Cons
- Run down, dirty bathrooms and facilities
- Terrible Wifi
- Above average price
The parking spots themselves are nice enough, very level and many have some shade.
Carlsbad RV is a perfectly decent RV park, but at the price they are charging, I’d expect more money to go back into keeping the park. There are lots of indicators that at one time, it was well cared for and a lot of love went into it. The game room is a good example. It’s a large space containing an air hockey table, a number of older video games, pool tables, and a skeeball game. The walls are done with hand painted murals and it has a space theme. Unfortunately, it’s dusty, many of the machines don’t work, and it feels neglected.
Most of the park’s facilities follow this pattern, they look like they were very nice once, but they have not been maintained well over the years. The bathrooms are in especially bad shape with TP holders that are falling apart, peeling paint everywhere, and a general sense of rust and decay. While not filthy, the showers were not what I’d call clean. The curtains were half falling off and looked like they were rarely if ever washed. Despite using gigantic TP rolls, at least two stalls had run out.
From the men’s room. A lot of areas look like this, not filthy, but not well maintained either.
On the plus side, they do have a full raft of amenities. There is the game room, playground equipment, a small indoor pool, an outdoor turtle enclosure, a camp store, dog runs, and full hook-ups including cable. They have Wifi but we were warned on arrival that it doesn’t work well and that proved true, it was worse than the usual low standards of RV park Wifi.
The staff was friendly enough and the parking spots of average size and easy to access. The grounds are decent, though prettier in front of the office than in the back where you park. All in all, it’s not a bad park, but considering the price they charge, I feel short changed. When shelling out more than $30 a night I expect the owners to re-invest in the park and keep it in good shape. The website promises “sparkling clean” restrooms; by my standards, that is a promise not even close kept.
While it is not a bad place to stay, I’d recommend looking for a better deal in the area.
Yes, they do have a turtle run, and yes, it contains at least one turtle.
