RV rental holidays in US

[cormster1]

Hi, just wondering has anyone any experience of renting a campervan in the US, especially Florida or Vegas areas? We have never done this, but am tempted but a bit concerned about how you would cope with issues like air-con(which I assume you need all night in Florida) and what sort of distances you can reasonably cover in a 3hour drive- I don't want to spend all day driving. I don't have a specific route in mind yet, just trying to get a feel for the concept. There would be 2 adults and a 10 year old so space should be OK.

I have looked at lots of the rental sites but they are all different pricing structures and very confusing. I am wondering by the time you add in all the extras, including gas, is it any more economical than staying in a series of HAmpton Inn type hotels in real terms and driving a standard car.

I know the novelty factor of an RV is half the appeal, but am a little worried I would miss a pool and decent shower after a few days. I am normally a nice hotel/villa type of gal so I am out of my zone here.

would love to hear from anyone who has done the RV thing in the US and what general advice would you give- RV for dummies so to speak

Thanks

N

 

[JoeRoberts]

Have done a few trips in RV:
Advantages I found were;

Ability to cook own food - v difficult to find even semi-healthy food in USA restuarants and also quite pricy. We cooked simple quick food each day.
Able to pull at at nice spot, make cup of tea and relax with newspaper.
The campsites/state parks are great and many have pools eg KOA or Yogi Bear.
No packing up bags and checking in/out every day of hotels. Activities for kids at night at hotels are non existent while you can sit outside your RV with a campfire. Hotels are not like Irish hotels at night.


Disadvantages;
A bit slower driving - and around 10 mpg at best. But speed limits in USA are slower than over here anyway .
Limited if you want to visit city centres as parking may be difficult. But most big attractions will have a dedicated RV car park.
A bit of hooking up electrics/water/sewer at the sites but 10 mins will cover it.
Will take a few hours to get used to driving a RV.

Money wise I would say it is not that much cheaper unless you stay at state or county parks every night, ( which are fine but less facilities). But whole holiday experience I found more relaxing. Loved getting up early every morning and sitting outside with coffee and pancakes.
RV has all equip you need, we never used the showers though, always used the ones in the camp sites. Do a big shop in Walmart when you arrive for food etc.

RVs will have aircon and heating running off the electrics when you are hooked up and running off a generator when not hooked up so no worries there.
Have used Cruise America and El Monte. Prices vary greatly depending on season and size of RV. Make sure you include SLI insurance. Do a RV costing per day, including rental, mileage, gas, insurance, campsite ( allow 30 Usd/night). Then do a costing for car/hotel/gas and eating out. Set the car gas at 50% of the RV gas.

If saving money was the main reason I would be reluctant to do it as you have to get into the RV mode from the start.

Best to plan to arrive at your campsite before dark for setting up etc each night.

Did not go into Vegas but I believe it has v good RV facilities.
On a good road I was happy driving at 60mph so 3 hrs/day would give you 180 miles at that speed.

 

[Eithneangela]

Maybe not much help, but travel to the US every year, at least once, and usually drive a few thousand miles. Never hired an RV, would never hire an RV - there are loads of really decent motels across all major routes (last year we drove from Vegas to Orlando, no bother, two years before we drove from LA down to Mexico, then back up to Canada, across the southern Canadian States to Ontario and back down to Boston). Always stayed in Motels, middle class stuff (we use which is not to everybody's taste but usually get a 4* motel/hotel for a 3* price). We research the RV scenario but by the time you pay for the rental, insurance, overnight stays and the occasions where you just want to loll in a bath - it was never worth it. So, bottom line, the interstate roads are great, it's not too expensive to hire a decent car and there's usually lots of choice of decent motels. Sorry if this puts you off your dream of an RV holiday - but there are times when you'll have to park up in an RV station and then there's miles to the nearest shopping area (I mean Walmart!) - so you've forgotten the eggs/milk/tissues - and you have to drive the RV to the shops!!!

 

[cormster1]

thanks for the input, guys- food for thought there. Hadn't really thought of how you would need to stock up on all you need before parking up- I would be bound to forget the milk etc. Will have a look at those sites and see what the facilities are, time for more research I think. How did we do these things pre internet!!!