DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 We spent a week recently at Hearthside Grove in Petoskey, MI. Petoskey is a beautiful town in the northwest part of the Lower Peninsula. Hearthside Grove is a Class A motorcoach resort that offers ownership for those that wish to purchase a site, and also rents sites. Owners can make various upgrades to their sites, including bungalows, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, water features, etc. Renters can rent a plain site from the resort's unsold inventory, or can rent an owned, upgraded site through the resort. We opted to rent an upgraded site. Our site, while it had a bungalow, did not come with the use of the bungalow. Some do, and you pay more for that. But we had full use of the outdoor kitchen with grill, stove, griddle, fridge and bar area, a fireplace with built in fountains, a separate firepit, and various seating. Both fire features were natural gas, and wood fires are actually not allowed at the resort. Here is our site, which was a "pull in" site. Here's a couple of pics from the website that show the bungalow better. And the kitchen. We really liked this campsite! You could argue it wasn't really "camping", but we've done a lot of camping in our 50 years, and this was a very enjoyable way to spend a week. The resort overall is very nice too. It has a very nice clubhouse, and a lot of amenities are included in the rates, such as laundry, coffee and sodas. Here's the inside of the clubhouse. Theater inside the clubhouse. Bar inside the clubhouse where you can help yourself to beverages. They often had food sitting out on the bar too....such as this large box of donuts. Notice my coffee mug....gotta represent. The pool... One thing about this resort....while they allow gas class A motorhomes like ours, we were in a definite minority. I think I counted 3 other gassers, and the rest of the motorhomes in the resort were diesels. And not just any diesels. Sure, there were an assortment of Tiffins, Newmars and other mass market diesel motorhomes. But the majority of people who spend time here are in high-end motorcoaches such as Newell, Foretravel, Featherlite, Marathon, etc. I've never seen so many $2-3 Million RV's in one place in my life. And the custom coach builders know they have a captive market there, as they take turns throwing parties and demonstrating their coaches. In the week we were there, we were treated to 3 catered events....a breakfast put on by Foretravel, a dinner put on by Marathon Coach, and a happy hour put on by Featherlite. The breakfast had 3 chefs cooking up custom omelets....because who wants to wait in line for 1 chef? LOL. Check out this Featherlite. The best part was the bar that popped out of a basement compartment. See those plastic tubes there behind the glass door? That's where you put the booze bottles. And here is the dispenser! I need to get me one of those. Now if only I could afford a $2.5MM coach.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 740 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 27 minutes ago, DaveInTN said: Now if only I could afford a $2.5MM coach.... Leave out the bar option and it should fit your budget. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WannaBeImagineer 98 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Looks like a nice relaxing vacation! Did you have a reason for heading up to that area? See the sights, work, better weather, just curious? WBI Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 2 hours ago, WannaBeImagineer said: Looks like a nice relaxing vacation! Did you have a reason for heading up to that area? See the sights, work, better weather, just curious? WBI See the sights and escape the heat. Also exploring areas to spend our summers someday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 Very nice!! I don''t guess they'd allow my little rig...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 That would be a neat business though..... High end little camper resorts that cater to little trailers, with pole canopies over the site and individual "bathrooms" at each site. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, mouseketab.....Carol said: That would be a neat business though..... High end little camper resorts that cater to little trailers, with pole canopies over the site and individual "bathrooms" at each site. There's your retirement project. mouseketab.....Carol 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 Wow. Looks pretty swanky. I’m guessing it’s slightly more than the Fort 😂 Was there a lot of kids there is this more of an adults only type of place? Any idea what was in the bungalow ? brian saw something about fishing in Michigan (I don’t know what part) but the water was super clear, so Michigan might be on the horizon for us for a trip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 10 minutes ago, Beckers said: Wow. Looks pretty swanky. I’m guessing it’s slightly more than the Fort 😂 Was there a lot of kids there is this more of an adults only type of place? Any idea what was in the bungalow ? brian saw something about fishing in Michigan (I don’t know what part) but the water was super clear, so Michigan might be on the horizon for us for a trip. The thing is....we paid about 35% less than we've paid for a Premium site at the Fort. Here's some pics of the inside of the bungalow from the website. Some of the bungalows in the newer phase of the resort are unbelievable....LOTS bigger and more luxurious. Check this pic out... Anyways....the fishing up there is supposedly pretty awesome. There sure are a lot of people doing it. And the boats....it's amazing how many boats are in that area, especially considering the short season. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 Wow. Who needs your camper when you have that bungalow !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 2 minutes ago, Beckers said: Wow. Who needs your camper when you have that bungalow !! If you have a $2.5MM motorhome, what's a $700,000 bungalow? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 152 Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 Everybody get a good look at those pics... This is what the new DVC Fort Wilderness Campsites will look like! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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