Bradenton - Hunsader Farms KOA Holiday

Stayed here in Dec of 2021 for Christmas week. Catching up on reviews.

Site type: Pull-through, FHU, 50 AMP.

THE GOOD
Location: About 5 miles to gas, restaurants, and groceries.
Staff: Really nice folks and helpful when needed.
Office/Store: All that you will need for camping and the farm's produce store as well. Also lots of nicknacks for gifts.
Sites: Fairly large gravel sites with palm trees. The premium sites have really big paver patios with grills and a paver fire pit, if you are looking for that type of stay.
Maintenance: Really clean and well-maintained.
Pets: Great dog pen, which is probably the largest dog park at an RV park I have seen yet.
Facilities: Laundry was clean and worked as expected.

WORTH NOTING (not good or bad thing)
Wifi and Cell: It was a while ago so I cannot recall all that well..

I have travelled for years and never stayed at a park like this. This campground is inside a working farm and is surrounded by crops and various animals. I enjoyed walking around the grounds in the morning watching the fog drifting up from the grass while the sun rose. It was so peaceful.

We had a deluxe site with a patio, picnic table, propane fire pit, and grill. The propane fire pit was really cool and the landscaping was also quite attractive. The farm itself has a ton of animals like zebras, alpacas, goats etc and gets busy on the weekends with customers going through the petting zoo and enjoying the activities.

One of our favorite touches was the fully stocked produce stand with fresh fruits and vegetables. They had everything onsite! It was so convenient.

The staff was extremely friendly and attentive. The bath houses seemed brand new and had individual room where people could shower and use the toilet. The laundry was in the same building. I didn't use it so I can't say how it was but it looked nice.

The internet was phenomenal. Solid speeds the entire 2 weeks we were here. We used it for streaming and work zoom calls and never had an issue. Speeds were over 50 mbps d/l and solid upload speeds.

Stores were about 15 minutes away with tons of shopping as you drive near Sarasota.

As others have mentioned, the drive in was a bit bumpy so go slow but hey it's a farm what do you expect? No issues navigating even for big rigs. The sites were very large and easy to get in and out of.

Lots of positives here. Best bath house ever with individual private rooms with toilet shower and sink. Great wifi and internet - able to stream movies no problem. Working farm with fresh produce available. Roads are not paved but covered in crushed shells and well maintained. Large sites. Family friendly. Out in country so quiet but close to all needed stores, restaurants etc. Large off leash dog park. Only negatives - slight noise from a nearby drag strip but that was negligible, slight and I mean slight occasional odor that is typical of a farm, no pool, and they allow aggressive breed dogs. We were charged multiple times by a Doberman, 2 German Shepards and 2 what looked like pit bulls. Had they not been chained up and being held back by their owners…..

We really enjoyed our time here and didn't want to leave. The staff was very helpful, adding a day to our stay without issues (due to a planning error on our end.) The farm stand on sites was great and we could do most of our 'shopping' there with local meats, diary, veggies, fruits and fish. The 'eat shack' on the farm was nice for a quick lunch break. Waking up to view zebras everyday was awesome. Bathrooms were new, clean and private. Cell service and wifi were great and I was able to work without issue. There was a huge dog run area and we enjoyed riding our bikes around looking at the animals and covered wagons.

The downside: It was a bit more pricey then we like to pay but feel it was worth it. The grounds were a bit dusty. The squirrels were numerous and chewed my LP hose hook up. There were also skunks in the area (near the trash mostly), so watch out. But overall it was great!

Close to Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton, Sarasota and Myakka River State Park

We really enjoyed our stay at Hunsader Farms. There's plenty to see and do there, from the petting zoo to the playground to the stores. The WiFi coverage for the campground area was very fast (70+ Mbps). The bathhouses were new and clean. The produce market had fresh vegetables grown on the farm at much lower prices than you'd find at a grocery store. The general store was stocked with essentials and gifts. A huge dog park that must have been over an acre. We'll definitely return in the future.

Suggestions:
1. We had arrived around 6 PM, and the office was closed. Try to arrive before then so you can meet someone to get checked in.
2. Buy a quart of ice cream from the store instead of a cone or a cup!

This campground is at a working farm, which is cool. There are u-pick farms, I-pick flowers, petting zoo (poor animals are in not the most sanitary conditions, unfortunately), train ride (this was broken), buggy ride, farm market, ice cream shop and small eat shack. Campground is fairly empty most of the time we were there and it is lacking. Weeds all over gravel pads, ant piles everywhere, bathrooms were not clean (again campground was empty so no reason for dirty bathrooms). KOA campground host was very friendly. Kids playground and game area was cute with small lake and free Kayaks. They had pavilions with benches and barbecues. Dog park was huge, which our dogs loved!!! There’s no pool. We stayed at site 72 and it was long enough for our big rig plus truck. Water pressure was good and no issues with power or sewer. Verizon cell quality was intermittent but we were able to stream TVs. As it is a farm, it is in the country with shopping and things about 30-40 mins away.