Thoughts on Harvest Hosts

[Scooterfan]

Thank You Judy, you've reminded me to turn off auto-renewal. We decided last year to not renew and forgot about auto-renewal.

Hmmm...same here. If and when you figure out how to turn off "auto renewal" please let me know. Apparently I am too inept to figure it out Thank you. Blessings

 

[DKRITTER]

Hmmm...same here. If and when you figure out how to turn off "auto renewal" please let me know. Apparently I am too inept to figure it out Thank you. Blessings

Just figured it out and they make it a huge PIA. The guilt and fear tactics are ridiculous.

Login go to Membership
Manage Membership
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click cancel membership.
In reality you are not canceling current membership you're only turning off auto-renewal.
You have to go through a bunch of BS tactics to keep you but persevere and at the end click cancel membership and it will turn off auto-renewal.

Harvest Host if you are listening I am very, very disappointed in your tactics and fear mongering for someone wishing not to renew. Your process is appalling.

 

[ARD]

I've been having wonderful experiences with HH. I've been to some fun museums, farms, wineries and distilleries. Met up with @NWIP last year at Greycliff Mill in Montana. Awesome. Although it's dirt parking, it was a good stop. I probably only go to 3-4 a year, but I really like the option. I also stayed at a Pecan Farm in Arkansas. It was fabulous parked by the pecan trees with gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. If it is a firm no to grass and dirt parking, you still have options on pavement.

You do have to check the weather to confirm the place is truly big rig friendly. The reviews are very helpful in discerning if a place will work for you. Yes, some of them are out of the way a little, but I like having experiences that I otherwise would not have had.

 

[LMHS]

I wonder, do the places that list with Harvest Host do so exclusively? Or are they listed in other places (like the review sites, hipcamp, etc). I don't do HH (and I won't as it does not suit my needs). But I've noticed that sometimes people mention staying at museums and I have seen museums that allow parking overnight listed in other places (like freecampsites.net).

 

[osuallen]

We have had good luck with HH. I am not fond of grass parking, but have found lots on some sort of paving or gravel. We start with a general path from A to B with general overnight zones. Then start looking to see if there are any HHs that interest us not too far off our path. If we do - great. If not, oh well.

 

[Wemustrv]

I do all the trip planning, reservations, etc for our trips. Jerry does the driving, and all the hard work of maintaining our Dutch Star. I know there has been a bit of discussion on this subject, but hoping for more. We have paid for this for a couple of years, but have not used it once. I have been making reservations for a long trip, and have thought it would be fun to try one. However, nothing has seemed a good fit in the late spring, early summer for a big, heavy coach. I have no interest in grass or dirt parking at that time of year. Has anyone had really fun, interesting stays at a Harvest Host??? If not we will not keep wasting money. Many Thanks, Judy D

We Have been Harvest Host member for over 5 years and we absolutely love it. We travel in a 40" diesel pusher with a F150 SuperCrew in tow. We have never had to unhook our toad.

We have used all aspects, Vineyards, breweries, museums, Living History developments, golf courses, bars and Boondockers Welcome. We have only been to one host that we need not care for. As mentioned some of the vineyards can be a bit off the path but we figure we are on an adventure any right? We have also used Walmart on a few occasions.

 

[weathermantim]

I do all the trip planning, reservations, etc for our trips. Jerry does the driving, and all the hard work of maintaining our Dutch Star. I know there has been a bit of discussion on this subject, but hoping for more. We have paid for this for a couple of years, but have not used it once. I have been making reservations for a long trip, and have thought it would be fun to try one. However, nothing has seemed a good fit in the late spring, early summer for a big, heavy coach. I have no interest in grass or dirt parking at that time of year. Has anyone had really fun, interesting stays at a Harvest Host??? If not we will not keep wasting money. Many Thanks, Judy D

We have had absolutely wonderful stays at HH. I utilized it several times last year on the out and back trip from E. Long Island NY to Alberta canada. Part of the fun was the planning out the trip. It takes time and work with the planning, but the results were great. We enjoyed the farms the most, where parking was wide open and mostly flat. The biggest issue for me, was to get to the host before the "closing time"...or required tine to get there by. Again, this is where the planning comes in.

 

[fluffywhitedogs]

I got a full membership last year (HarvestHost, HH golf, and Boondockers Welcome) but will probably only renew the HH portion. I’ve had some amazing HH stays! But none of the Golf club options have been appealing to me and I’m an extreme introvert so socializing with strangers (as seems to be the not-unreasonable expectation at BW) would be really difficult for me.

 

[bpaikman]

I had a membership for a year and was never able to use it. HH locations tended to not be where we wanted to go - I tried, i really did, but even when I found one, I found a lovely, cheaper, state park very close by.
The main objection I have to HH is most of the ones I looked at …ban generators, especially after certain hours. Not good in hot weather
(At first, I’d become interested in HH due to mentions by the “today is someday” couple on Youtube. But they’re fulltimers.).

 

[GlampDaddy]

I'm opting to not renew my HH membership. We have been members since 2019 and have had a number of quality stays and good times. So, here's why I am quitting:

• It has become more difficult to find usable locations. While there are more locations than ever before, I have to open each one and read it see if it can accommodate a 45' motorhome (which most don't) and what type parking surface it has. Sometimes it rains and mud sucks.
• The online reservation system is a problem. For most locations, we can no longer just call and make a reservation. We now make a request and the response is not automatic, yes or no. We have to wait until someone approves our request, which has taken up to a week recently. By that time, my plans are already made somewhere else.
• I had a case recently where the host approved our stay about a month in advance, so it became part of our trip. We had already started the trip when I got a message saying that they had decided to no longer accommodate a 45' coach and that now their maximum is 40'. Well damn Sam, just make a new plan!
• And, I finally figured out that paying for two flights of skimpy wine samples and buying a bottle or two, plus dinner, was a lot more money that just paying for a site at an average campground - one that has full hookups versus boondocking.

So, I don't have a problem with Harvest Hosts, generally I like them. But, they just don't work for us and the way we travel anymore.