Comments on: Cherrystone Camping Resort – Cheriton, VA

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:48:24 +0000

I recently booked cherrystone for the week of labor day. The website looks good and I have read the reviews, but….I’m very curious about one thing. The bugs or annoying gnats at night. I recently stayed at another campground in Virginia beach, also on the bay. The campground was beautiful, neatly manicured and sites were great, however, after the sun went down you were captive in your trailer. You could’nt stay outside and enjoy the night time breeze, if any, due to the extreme amount of bugs. It was so bad that we had to close the blinds on all windows so they would’nt be attracted to the lights. I’m hoping that maybe due to the location that the bugs won’t be too bad. I did’nt see any complaints in the reviews but if someone could answer me, I would appreciate it. Thank you

By: Hattie

Hattie — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:54:52 +0000

We would not recommend Cherrystone. It would of been our first trip to Cherrystone but unfortunately we had a family emergency come up the Tuesday before we were supposed to arrive on that Friday. Unfortunately we were not able to go that weekend and I had called to see if we could possibly transfer to another weekend for our reservation because we wanted to go. When I spoke to an employee I asked if we could transfer our reservation to another weekend and she put me on hold and came back and said we could not, no apology nothing. Just that it was their policy and oh by the way we loose our full amount we paid for our site which is $120.00. Of course I did not like that answer and asked to speak to the manager. I advised her I understand there is a policy regarding canceling prior to arriving but asked to be moved to another weekend as we still wanted to come. She advised cannot and oh by the way you will only be charged for $100.00. After a long discussion which I got no where, I not only lost $100.00 I also loose all respect for this campground in the fact that I am an adement camper with my family, we have never cancelled a camping trip in our lives and when we unfortunately have a family emergency and cannot go camping and Cherrystone will not even work with us for customer service and just takes our money and expects no one to be upset about it. Well they have definately lost our business and will loose many more customers as we have friends that camp around Virginia and will defiantely pass the word. With the economy like it is …yes $100.00 is alot to most. Believe me when you think nothing will come up when you make your reservation with Cherrystone remember my situation and reconsider that unfortunately emergencies come up and think about how willing they are to work with you if this happens. Policy I understand, but to not move our reservation to another weekend and keep our business, that’s kind of hard to swallow. There are many more campgrounds on the eastern shore that will get our business and others hopefully after this message.

By: Stacie

Stacie — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:48:22 +0000

I would like to say that the only thing that was good about this campground was that the bath houses were clean. When we made reservations and when we checked in no one told us that all the fishing piers were broken and the hot water was turned on in only one bath house. We were charged for waterfront camping around the pound that is so big I could skip a rock to the other side. We had to change locations due to the wind storm five feet and the water front charge was deleted from our account, really? I am sure that this resort is a fun place in the summer but in the spring, prior to spring break you would think that this place would have been cleaned up and ready for campers. We will not be coming back to this place.

By: John G

John G — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:18:11 +0000

My family camped at Cherrystone when I was a young boy. That was over 30 years ago. We would depart Long Island, NY every summer for two or three weeks in our camper. There were 6 kids (with my oldest brother in College). What a blast! We would climb trees, fish, and crab all day long. I still remember the summer they put in an outdoor roller rink. My brothers and I would crab forever, but only my Dad, sister and I would eat them. Memories were everlasting. My older brother passed away last night after a long illness. What came to mind was all the fun we had at Cherrystone together as young kids-Eddie, Johnnie, and Danny-the three muskateers! I am going to make it a point to go back this summer with my children and any other brothers and sisters that will come. I hope that the Campground management and workers understand that they are building memories of families that will last a lifetime. Thanks for the memories!

By: Donna K

Donna K — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:25:03 +0000

Have been going there for 7 years, We love it there the staff are wonderful people,so much to do for kids and adults have entertainment etc, can’t say enough good things about this camp ground.

By: Gary Groves

Gary Groves — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:50:33 +0000

We visited this campground on July 19-22, 2009. We have been going there for 20 years. I could not communicate with the new management. Trash pickup was a disaster, seagulls everywhere tearing bags open. I had to wait 2 1/2 hours to get into the site even though it was ready for occupancy. Lots of empty spots. The boathouse was the only place where there was any joy. Mr. Ernie and his wife tried to make you feel welcome. We will not be revisiting this facility until new management takes over.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:21:37 +0000

We had a great time and we have some good things to say, but we have some disappointments too so keep reading.
We stayed from July 3-10, 2009. This is an excellent weekend to go because the fireworks are good and this year they had fireworks on the 4th and 5th. This was our 4th visit. The amenities are good. Bath houses, general store, pavilions, cafe, arcade and fresh seafood/vegetable market. The pools are great and the new splash park was a hit. Live bands and bingo and other planned activates like movies, arts and crafts and whole park events like costume contests, sight decoration contests and parades. A bait and tackle shop, boat-bike-paddleboat-golf cart rental. Fun to crab a fish and they have everything you need to get started with helpful staff that knows the rules and regulations and the right way to catch you a crab or fish.
We really like Cherrystone because of the people we see every year, and this is what Cherrystone really has going for them as long as they can keep the park nice and keep the families coming each year. Every year gets better because as you meet other families you can’t wait to get back to see old friends and make new. Cherrystone is for families and hard working families at that. A lot of the campers are middle to upper class small business owners and good for networking too. We’ve made both friends and business partners. Cherrystone has everything we need and want for the kind of vacation our family enjoys, but it’s unfortunate that this year Cherrystone didn’t meet our expectations.
There’s something going on with the management, or assistant management. The park was in disrepair and things that were broken never got fixed. It seemed as though the only way anything was going to be fixed was for a customer to find a manager and let them know, and you had to do a little work and asking around to find a manager. One day while I was at the pool I had a lady ask me if I was part of the staff because I was picking up trash. I said no and looked around to maybe help her find someone and no one was around. This was common at the pool area. I’m not sure what she wanted.
The grass around the common areas and at the campsites you could tell were not trimmed regularly. This shouldn’t be a problem considering you must check-out by 11:00am and you can’t check-in until 2:00pm. This (4) hours can be utilized effectively with good management in place. The day before we left we did see a sight or two being trimmed
The bath houses could have been better. Toilet seats were not fastened properly and the showers stalls could have been cleaner. This shouldn’t be a problem considering each bath house is closed for 1-1/2 hours each day. And when the bath houses are closed they’re closed with the entrance roped off, allowing staff to concentrate on their tasks uninterrupted. Each bath house is closed at different times so there’s always a bath house open. I’m assuming this is to accommodate the campers, but it accommodates the park staff more because it makes it possible for (1) organized and managed cleaning crew to go from one bath house to the next……again, making it possible for the crew to concentrate on their tasks uninterrupted. Furthermore, getting a cleaning/maintenance crew together to get the job done shouldn’t be a problem since the bath houses are cleaned/closed during normal business/peak hours of the day i.e., 10:00 to 11:30, 11:30 to 1:00 and so on. Having the bath houses closed during these times of the day accommodates the owners so they can put the staff to work during normal business hours or straight time if you will. This does not accommodate the guests and you’re walking to the next bath house just to pee because as I said when the bath houses are closed you can’t get in. There are porta-potties, but try getting into a port-a-pottie with a 4year old when it’s 90deg outside you can guess how clean the port-a-potties are… If you really want to accommodate the guests, close the bath houses and do a maintenance/clean to all the bath houses from 10:00pm to 4:00am every day. This would give a (4) person crew (7) 6hr days and then have mid-level management do a once over cleaning with the bath houses open just before dinner. This would allow management to inspect, check up on their cleaning crew and leave the cleaning crew special instructions for that night. You could probably contract out the cleaning if you wanted to keep them off the payroll. I’m sure there would be problems with trying to work a night shift, but I’m a manager myself in a service providing company and any problems associated with this method I would overcome and make it work for the convenience of my guests, and with the present state of the economy good help is not hard to find. Now would be the time to hire dedicated help and new management at whatever levels are needed. And, having working employees at this time of night might not be a bad idea anyhow.
Grass was growing in the concrete seams of the pool area and the fence around the pool area had trash and debris here and there. The pump house by the splash park was painted half way and the splash park drainage was making a heavily traveled path a mud path. The putt-putt golf course needs some attention, but it was free to play this year so should I complain? Maybe not. The putt-putt golf course staff shed was usually occupied by (2) people. Not sure why. (1) Could have been doing some maintenance, but like I said….something is wrong with the management.
We plan on going for Halloween. This is an awesome time and the kids really clean up on candy. We really want to go because like I said…..what keeps us going back is the people. For the money you pay it would be nice to have some good management that takes pride in being a manager and customer service. The families are so nice that it would be worth it to have a good manager on site that everyone knows. I didn’t see Hop (the manager) once while I was there and when I asked Miss Louise at the bait and tackle where he was she said he was around, but he had been across the bay on business the day before.
I’ll give Cherrystone another chance this Halloween, but if I don’t see an improvement I’ll be looking for a new spot and if it’s nice….I’ll ask my friends to come along.

By: Desiree

Desiree — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:51:22 +0000

I have been going there since I was 4 with my dad. I am now 12 and we go there every year for 2 or more weeks and we never wanna leave but we have to because my dad works so we leave. But when I’m there it feels like I’m in heaven. A couple of years ago we had a trailer and there was a really bad storm and we couldn’t go outside so we stayed in side and played some card games and while we were playing are trailer started to shake back and forth and we were so scared. But it was so fun there. We will be going back this Friday (July 3rd) and coming back july 19th.

By: michael

michael — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:56:37 +0000

I have gone here for the last 3 years and going again on June 13th 2009. We go their for a week and leave our house in Chase, MD. It’s a 4 1/2 hour drive and includes stopping for lunch. We rent a condo and you have to leave a $300 deposit but it is great. I cannot complain. It is the best! I am 14 and I have been looking forward to the next year since we left it and I cannot say how estatic I am to be going again in 41 days!

By: Joe McCullough

Joe McCullough — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:45:50 +0000

Our family has been going to Cherrystone for the past four years. We are eager to go again this year. Any issues we had and they were all minor, were resolved quickly, efficently and cheerfully by the staff on site. Apart from the attendant wandering from the mini golf we never had a problem.