Camp Venice RV Resort

Spent the month of march. Office people (Holly) were fine. Sites back to the middle and to the river looked good,
if you get one of the front row sites get ready for some dust & dirt. They water the roads down some to try to keep the dust down (helps for a hour or so). In the midwest we oil & chip roads, its cheep and it works.
After about 5 trips in & out of the park (the road to Snook Haven) your sick of that too. I know its old Florida but
we`re not a 3rd world country. We have lived in Mexico and the roads are better.
Loved Venice, but the cost is way more than we have ever payed, for what you get.

I understand that Hurricane Ian did quite a number on this area, but to say we had a good stay would be a lie. I couldn't wait until our two months were up. We stayed here last year for a few weeks and booked Jan/Feb this year because we have friends with a home 8 miles away. The campground was terribly dusty and dirty - only one day of rain while we were there. We were lucky that we had a 2nd-from-the- end site and shade from a huge tree, but there is nowhere to get in a good walk, and there is nowhere to bike unless you take your cycles off site. Wifi was fair, especially in the morning, but not once everyone started logging on. If you stay for a month you pay (rather high) electric rates. There was no grass on the sites. A few long-timers put down their own grass seed and watered it daily. Other than that, it was dust or mud. Sites are narrow - your "front yard" is on top of your neighbor's utilities, including septic. The laundry is expensive at $5 per load, but the machines are all new. There is a pool, but it is old and stained.

To say that I am disappointed is a gross understatement. This park is beautiful, however not managed well in my opinion. When I tried to book my stay I was greeted by an answering machine that stated they were full with limited spaces . I was able to get in for a three night stay ( that turned into two) upon our arrival our greeting by the park manager was less than cordial.we were given a sheet of paper and told to go find our spot. Our reserved spot had a camper already parked in it! So I called the office, several times before someone finally answered and she snapped at me! The customer, like it was my fault, she said she would send one of “ the guys” to figure it out. We were put in a different location, there were open spaces everywhere, no big deal.When I used the laundry facility it was as dirty with someone’s underwear on the counter! 🤮 Next day the power goes out. No one sent us a text message or communicated to us that there were problems, they finally got it back on around 7 p.m. The following day the power went out again, and the water stopped working! We were on an outing and found out from another camper that the power was out and I called the office to see what was going on and was told that they were again working on it. So I had $200 dollars worth of food in a camper not refrigerated in 90 degree weather for hours and hours no one communicating that there were any issues. We would have gladly come back and packed coolers. So when I called the office and said that I felt like it would be fair to give me a partial refund I was told by the “park manager” that if I left within 30 minutes she would give me a full refund for the last two days. Or I could just stay and deal with it. Well we were on our way back from our outing and not going to be back within 30 minutes, and I wasn’t asking for a full refund but it was irritating that we have wasted all of this food because we would have taken care of it had someone communicated to us. The park manager is rude, and lacks the people skills needed to be in her position. I asked for the owner’s information so that I could email him directly and she said absolutely not, and that is a huge red flag for any business.The power and water did come back on but with a boil advisory that they didn’t even notify anyone of they just posted a sign on the office door. Imagine how many campers may get sick from that? Needless to say we left the park, and she did issue a refund to my card. So on top of having to quickly pack up camp, we have to find an open camp spot or hotel in Florida on a Saturday night.

We booked a month at Camp Venice for this year after a not so pleasant month at a different park last year. And we were so very glad we did.

Camp Venice is situated along the Myakka River, far enough from the main thoroughfare that its very quiet at night. But its close enough to Venice, Englewood & North Port that the amenities are nearby. Most sites have full hookups, shade trees and ample room. The pool area is clean and well-equipped.

We will absolutely be staying here again.

We stayed for about a month visiting family in the area. Overall a nice park, but could definitely use improvements considering the cost.

Positives- Sites relatively big and spacious. Would recommend the sites backing up to the inlet, near the boat ramp or backing up to the preserve. The pull through sites towards the front of the park do not have a lot of shade or privacy.
A scenic and quiet park. There is even a little trail you can walk along the Myakka River.
The park is gated and you need a code to get in- so felt safe.
Park maintenance was on par- after storm they were around the next morning picking up limbs and branches that had fallen. Weekly lawn maintenance.

Negatives- Dusty! Some long termers know this and hose down the gravel in front of their rigs. Road coming in & out = miserable. Go slow! And stay towards the center of road is possible to avoid tree scraping, etc.
Horrible cell phone service for Verizon.

We would return again. Better bang for your buck if you go weekly/monthly.

I have to agree that there is MUCH room for improvement at this camp. First of all, your GPS/Garmin navigation will try to take you to the end of the road. DO NOT DO THIS. There is a sign for the camp down this road, but it does not tell you which of the three or four options you are supposed to take. It appears that you should go straight, as this is the largest road. DO NOT DO THIS. When you see that second sign, take a hard right. If you miss it, and go straight, be prepared for your Class A motorhome to get stuck under a tree and scrape up the top of your rig and rip your awning. Trust me on that one. Next, when you do manage to unhook your toad, and turn your rig around in the parking lot of the restaurant at the end of the street, and arrive at the gates; no one is there. Door locked, no one around. I sat there at the gate for a good while before one of the campers offered to help me get in the gate and find my spot. Multiple calls to the office went straight to voicemail and were never returned. Now let's talk about the dust. (I know some people have been here during rain and mentioned the pot holes and mud....) yes, all true, but if it hasn't rained in a while, they do not water or oil the dirt roads. There is dust blowing EVERYWHERE. Everyone's rigs are covered in dust. Everyone's tents are covered in dust. The picnic tables, the food, the bikes..... EVERYTHING. Don't even think about sitting outside..... you will be caked in dust within minutes. There are also the dangerously low tree limbs as others have mentioned..... Also, the park map is not accurate..... it needs to be re-drawn with all the streets in the correct locations. Also, there are street names on the map, but none on the actual streets.... no way to tell what street you are on. Also, no indication of which way you must enter your street to have your rig face the right direction. (Normally most places draw a line from the gate to the spot so you can see how to approach). I did it wrong and had to circle around the unnamed streets till I was facing the right way. All this could have been avoided with better management.... or ANY management... still have yet to see any staff at all. Will update after I've been here a few days.

First time at Venice Retreat in Venice Florida, which was only three hours away. Entrance was a breeze. As soon as we arrived at our site, which was a nice size, we noticed our picnic table was broken and within the hour we had another one. The staff were very friendly, especially Tamara, and the amenities were great. We enjoyed Snook Haven and the bands, took a bike ride on the local trail, and rented canoes on Sunday down the Myakka River and saw their huge gator on the river bank.

Two things to make it better is get better Wi-Fi service and it would have been nice if they had fire rings on the sites. But we did inquire about the fire ring ahead of time so we brought our own fire pit and enjoyed a fire every night which was wonderful in the cool crisp night air.

Highly recommend everyone try this place out.

The story around camp is the campground is closing in March 2020. Too bad. This is the best place we have camped so far. Spacious sites. Lots of friendly snowbirds. We were backed up to the river. Covered in trees, pretty level. Full hookups. No cable, wifi is essentially unusable- so bring your own connection. There is a cool place-Snook Haven right next door. Good bar food and beer and has Bluegrass music. A local hotspot. The access road is a long dirt road with lots of potholes, wash boarding and low clearance. Worst road I ever took my trailer down. We really liked the campground. I hope someone else takes it over, would be a loss to the camping community.