Joel,
I agree with you, that the KOA in Salt Lake City is a great park if you want to see the Temple Square area. The last time I was in Salt Lake City, it was the only reasonable place to stay, so I spent several days there. However it is the exception. Most KOA parks with that good of a location, and no competition in the immediate area will be twice as high in price. Part of the high cost in KOA parks is from the high franchise fees that they have to pay to the national headquarters, mostly for advertising, but some of it covers the reservation system cost.
Gerald
Gerald--
I don't disagree with your statement, I was simply pointing out that people shouldn't condemn a "brand" on the basis of average prices. Each location has its own pluses and minuses. We recently stayed at a >$60 KOA near West Chester PA; try finding any CG in the Philly/Wilmington area and you'll understand why it was expensive.
As much as I dislike high prices, I'm a committed capitalist; if you have a commodity for sale you should be able to charge whatever the market values the commodity at. If you price it too high, it won't sell; if it sells then the price must have been a fair one. If a KOA or any other CG has no competition in an area it can charge whatever it wants and the buyer can decide whether or not to buy. We paid $35 for a KOA in Laramie a couple of months ago. The place was barely worth $20 from an ambiance standpoint, but there wasn't any other place to stay and we don't like Walmarting if we can avoid it.
Joel
