Explain Motor Homes to me, please...

Jay Honeck said:
Chinese buffets are THE WORST. I have yet to use the restroom in one where my feet did not literally stick to the floors.

That said, I love them, too.

BTW: I'm going to be 56 next week, and have never missed a day of work due to illness. Ever.
:)
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The Golden Dragon Chinese Buffet bathrooms are one of the cleanest in town. They were shut down 2 or 3 times because of lack of cleaning and the next closure will be permenant. The chinese are not going to lose a money maker. :no:


Originally Posted by Jay Honeck
I can't imagine ever retiring. Retirement is for old people, and old people are almost dead. ;)
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I'll tell this to my 83 year old mother that has been retired for 20 years now. Still very active, drives everywhere and plays cello for the church and a couple other places, and probably at my funeral as well....:D
 
N801BH said:
:hairraise:...:eek:....:yikes:...

That is a story we need to hear one day....:yes:.....;)
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We laugh about it now, but it was extremely un-fun at the time. I learned that you simply can't pull 120 hours of work out of a small business's week -- about what Mary and I work -- and try to fill that by expanding hours on a small handful of employees.

Our key lady at the time, the person I left in charge of the whole enchilada, worked over 80 hours while we were gone, thanks to other employees sticking it to HER. One of our other gals really screwed her, quite inadvertently, when she got arrested and thrown in the clink for several days. (She was the single most unlikely girl to ever get arrested. Very bookish and shy. It was a bizarre story.)

Anyway, our key gal held it all together with some superhuman effort, and then quit by text (a first for us) -- thankfully, AFTER we got home from OSH '10. Her terse message: "I quit. Mail my check.". We never saw her again. lol

One by one, they all followed suit, starting with the arrested lady, and trickling down to the housekeepers, who felt uber-abused by the harried key gal. Within a week after OSH, we had no staff except for the two foreign kids we bring over every summer.

They probably would have quit, too, but it's a long swim back to Mongolia. (Yes, they were really from Mongolia!)

Since OSH is the busiest week of the year on this island, every one of them was able to find new jobs within a day or two of quitting. Thus is life in a tourist town. (Three months later, they were all unemployed. Life in the off season here can be brutal.)

In the long run, it's much better to pay the innsitters their crazy fees. They take our hours, the staff barely knows we are gone, and the innsitters go home when we return. Easy peasy.
 
That really does sound like the best way to go about it, you put experienced management people in the management position. They don't have to know all the details of the place, they just have to manage the people who do.
 
FORANE said:
Might be related to the number of folks licensed to drive vs licensed to fly. What doesn't make sense is that one can drive some huge GVWR rigs on the same ticket as is required to drive a yugo, with a few exceptions of course.
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You'd be amazed at how many are not just slightly over the GCVWR of their tow vehicle, but over it by thousands and thousands of pounds. Virtually anyone you see pulling s triple axle toy-hauler 5th wheel behind anything other than a one-ton dually, is almost guaranteed to be over the GCVWR on their door sticker or their rear axle rating, I'm amazed with what I see going down the highway.

That said, we had about as large of a pop-up as could be purchased for a decade and upgraded this year to a Keystone Laredo 312RE 5er. I refuse to buy an RV with a drive train built in. A trailer can be dropped and a pickup truck fixed almost anywhere. Roadside repairs or towing services for a Class A are not cheap, and the work done will run about 3-4x the price of fixing s regular pickup truck. The "convenience" of walking back to the kitchen while rolling is lost on me, I want folks belted in when moving.

So, for a tenth of the price of even many used Class A motor coaches, I'll take the 5er any day of the week over that. Even including the truck, you're hundreds of thousands ahead.

Jay Honeck said:
Add in the cost of a rig, and the requirement of having a toad (or at least a golf cart)...
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Another vote for the 5er. I just unhitch the truck and that's the local transportation. Towing a car behind a Class A makes no sense to me, but some folks like it.

kyleb said:
Unfortunately, when the tire blew, it damaged the RV. In fact, it tore out the wheel well and scattered their luggage all over the interstate. They recovered most of it. Worse, the flapping tire carcass also damaged the mechanism for one of the slide-outs on the RV. The damage is so extensive, the insurance company is considering totaling the vehicle.

It is almost inconceivable to me that a blown tire could do $50k of damage.
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Common. Factory tires are often crap. The best advice I got when I purchased the 5er brand new was to remove the OEM tires and upgrade. Secondly, we added a tire pressure and temperature monitor to keep an eye on the trailer tires for less than $200. The fastest way to a blowout is an under-inflated tire overheating. Yes, there's the once in a while blowout from a road hazard or poorly manufactured tire, but I bet an inside tire on s dually had a leak and was low on air and overheated. A couple hundred bucks for an active TPMS and sensors is NOTHING compared to the probable damage from a blowout. I highly recommend your friend have one installed.

Henning said:
You must be a ton of fun at a titty bar.:rofl::D;)
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ROFL!!

So all the other reasons given are why I like the RV. My bed, my stuff, all where I know it's stored, fridge with whatever I want in it from the closest Walmart to the destination, or anywhere on the road, silly-big TV (it came with an LCD TV bigger than any in the house), and ours has a King bed and a full house sized stand up shower, my coffee pot that makes more than two cups, Etc.

I'll travel by airplane too, don't get me wrong, but for some trips, the RV is just a home away from home. I can't see me ever doing s Class A, or even a Class C really, I'll always do trailers. They're dirt simple to maintain, and work well for the price.
 
denverpilot said:
ROFL!!

So all the other reasons given are why I like the RV. My bed, my stuff, all where I know it's stored, fridge with whatever I want in it from the closest Walmart to the destination, or anywhere on the road, silly-big TV (it came with an LCD TV bigger than any in the house), and ours has a King bed and a full house sized stand up shower, my coffee pot that makes more than two cups, Etc.

I'll travel by airplane too, don't get me wrong, but for some trips, the RV is just a home away from home. I can't see me ever doing s Class A, or even a Class C really, I'll always do trailers. They're dirt simple to maintain, and work well for the price.
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You won't hear me arguing, I think a 5th wheel behind a good tow rig is the best. Personally I'd prefer an FL-50 to tow with to a pickup.
 
Henning said:
That really does sound like the best way to go about it, you put experienced management people in the management position. They don't have to know all the details of the place, they just have to manage the people who do.
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What's great is we've contract the same innsitters three times now, so they know everything about our (somewhat unusual) systems. (That whole "You deliver breakfast to 23 guest rooms every morning?" conversation is always telling.)

Heck, the place probably runs better with them than us. If I could afford it, I'd let them stay a few months! :)
 
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I haven't read the whole thread but this picture shows what we have. I have 4 kids and the memories made using our camper will be with them forever.

Take for example the video link below. One winter day two of my boys and I decided to leave the ladies at home and go on an overnight ice fishing trip. We hooked up and went an hour away to a lake stocked with rainbow trout. They still talk about how they loved that trip.

http://youtu.be/hhhLSTtY60o
 
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Plans are good if you are more worried about the destination and creating memories there. RV's are good if its about the journey and destination. This is especially true for a family of 5, where GA is extremely restrictive and downright ridiculously expensive.
 
LDJones said:
There's the intangible of having all YOUR crap with wherever you go, enjoying your dirt, not somebody else's every night.

At least that's what some RVers have explained to me.
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Yep, hence my string of boats. Everything in reach, and the last one had all the toys including a generator and air conditioning.

My wife wants a small RV. I tried to explain that a tow behind is waaaay cheaper for the same amenities. She said "Yeah but I can't get up and go cook us dinner while you drive (helm)." Can't argue with that logic. :dunno:
 
Diffren't strokes. I know many people who talk about getting RVs for retirement travel and some who have. I even know a couple who sold their house and live full time in a fifth wheel. They traditionally spend the winter in southern Utah and the summer in the Black Hills. I didn't think that would last long but it's been at least 15 years. But to me, RVs have no appeal. If I'm going somewhere on vacation I don't want to cook for myself, or clean up. I don't even like to do that at home...

But the small airplane idea, while better than an RV, is probably something I wouldn't do either. It's more of a BTDT thing for me. I want to see other places in the world. On my schedule. Hopefully before too long.
 
Dart said:
Yep, hence my string of boats. Everything in reach, and the last one had all the toys including a generator and air conditioning.

My wife wants a small RV. I tried to explain that a tow behind is waaaay cheaper for the same amenities. She said "Yeah but I can't get up and go cook us dinner while you drive (helm)." Can't argue with that logic. :dunno:
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Yes you can, the safety factor, or lack of, when standing and cooking going down the road. If you analyze the risk return, it just isn't in favor of doing it. A good compromise with a trailer is to have a remote generator start in the truck so when you decide to pull over to cook you can fire it up 10 minutes ahead of time for heat/AC.
 
Everskyward said:
Diffren't strokes. I know many people who talk about getting RVs for retirement travel and some who have. I even know a couple who sold their house and live full time in a fifth wheel. They traditionally spend the winter in southern Utah and the summer in the Black Hills. I didn't think that would last long but it's been at least 15 years. But to me, RVs have no appeal. If I'm going somewhere on vacation I don't want to cook for myself, or clean up. I don't even like to do that at home...

But the small airplane idea, while better than an RV, is probably something I wouldn't do either. It's more of a BTDT thing for me. I want to see other places in the world. On my schedule. Hopefully before too long.
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There is a Grumman Mallard that I see at Pompano that is fitted out as an RV, that's what I want with a pair of Diesels.
 
Dart said:
Yep, hence my string of boats. Everything in reach, and the last one had all the toys including a generator and air conditioning.

My wife wants a small RV. I tried to explain that a tow behind is waaaay cheaper for the same amenities. She said "Yeah but I can't get up and go cook us dinner while you drive (helm)." Can't argue with that logic. :dunno:
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Ask her if she's into sticking her hand into a hot pan or having it fall on her when she falls down when you have to swerve to miss a child in the road.

Seriously. Get that stupidity out of her head. RV is rolling, she's seated and belted in. Just like the airplane.
 
I have some friends that spend about 6 months a year traveling all over in their 42' diesel pusher. With all the slides out they have around 900sf of living space IIRC. Sure you could get a bigger hotel room that's almost as nice, but what about all your stuff? You gonna bring all your possessions with you to the hotel, and have to unpack and repack every day? They like to see the world and visit everywhere inbetween. They just got home from a 3 month trip from San Diego up the pacific coast to Alaska then back down through montana. They are literally driving their vacation home, and have everything with them that they would have at home, and never have to carry a suitcase or get woken up by maids. And I'll tell you what, that thing is more luxurious than any of the 5star hotels I've stayed in. Damn thing has radiant heated tile floors, and programmable buttons controlling everything. You can literally roll over and hit a button next to the bed to start the coffee pot in the kitchen.
 
Mmmmm... The bathrooms at Four Seasons establishments are hard to beat for luxury, you can forget about size of the head in an RV unless you have it custom built around it.
 
I like my motorhome for short excursions, and I've lived in it for as long as six weeks -- but there is nothing like a hotel with maid service, restaurants and a bar for luxury.

Well, unless you have a wife who does all that stuff for you. Trust me, my wife likes to vacation in the motorhome, but she sure doesn't consider cooking all the meals and cleaning to be "luxurious".

I've run the numbers every way possible. Flying and hoteling is cheaper AND more luxurious. And unless you enjoy sitting in I-35 traffic, bumper to bumper, flying is way more fun! :)
 
Jay Honeck said:
I've run the numbers every way possible. Flying and hoteling is cheaper AND more luxurious. And unless you enjoy sitting in I-35 traffic, bumper to bumper, flying is way more fun! :)
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Who drives on interstates? See America from the back roads. :yes:
 
You guys aren't traveling in the right kinda motorhomes. Take a look at a Country Coach or a Prevost some time and tell me that hotel is more luxurious. I'll then call you a liar.

Like I said before though, it's not all about the luxury, it's about being at home, with everything that home has. Your clothes, your dishes, your movie collection, your books, your bbq, your bicycles, etc. You never have to pack or unpack or go to the airport, your home is wherever you park it. My friends wife is a quilter, she spends her spare time in the motorhome at her sewing machine. You gonna cart a sewing machine and all the materials to a hotel? I think not.
 
StinkBug said:
You guys aren't traveling in the right kinda motorhomes. Take a look at a Country Coach or a Prevost some time and tell me that hotel is more luxurious. I'll then call you a liar.

Like I said before though, it's not all about the luxury, it's about being at home, with everything that home has. Your clothes, your dishes, your movie collection, your books, your bbq, your bicycles, etc. You never have to pack or unpack or go to the airport, your home is wherever you park it. My friends wife is a quilter, she spends her spare time in the motorhome at her sewing machine. You gonna cart a sewing machine and all the materials to a hotel? I think not.
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Different strokes for different folks. I run yachts, some times minimum crew and the billionaire's wife cooks for everyone and everyone just cleans up after themselves, some times you have a full service crew who do everything to higher standards than any hotel.
 
Jay Honeck said:
I like my motorhome for short excursions, and I've lived in it for as long as six weeks -- but there is nothing like a hotel with maid service, restaurants and a bar for luxury.

Well, unless you have a wife who does all that stuff for you. Trust me, my wife likes to vacation in the motorhome, but she sure doesn't consider cooking all the meals and cleaning to be "luxurious".

I've run the numbers every way possible. Flying and hoteling is cheaper AND more luxurious. And unless you enjoy sitting in I-35 traffic, bumper to bumper, flying is way more fun! :)
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Travel in a RV does not stop one from eating out and the only reason the hotel has a maid is because the room gets turned over every other day. I dont have a maid a home and I dont consider the fact that I have to change my bedsheets a downside to owning a home. I have done the living in a hotel thing for more than a year, not even a comparison to having your own place.
 
For me the big deal with vacation travel isn't the accommodations, or lugging bags in and out of the hotel, or shuttle trips to and from airports, it's meals.

Yeah, I like to eat with the best of them, but after a couple of days of restaurants a couple times a day the idea of just sitting down to a quiet dinner at "home" sounds better and better.
 
"sleeping in my own bed no matter where I'm traveling ... priceless"
 
My Lance 20' bumper pull sold yesterday so the search begins for the replacement. I have been looking at used Dynamax motorhomes and flew to Spearfish a few weeks ago to drive one. All I can say is wow they are nice to and to have the home like feel when staying in it with my clan is darn exciting.

I have owned 5th wheels and bumper pulls and there is small chance I will buy another smaller 5th wheel. Our old Montana was HUGE behind the Ford double cab 3/4 ton. Whatever I get has to fit in the hangar. It will be used 3-4 days every month while I'm on call and each time my son and daughter have events either on front range or the western slope which is all the time.

Pulling a car is no biggie and we have a couple of old dependable landcruisers which would love to be pulled!
 
Jay Honeck said:
What's great is we've contract the same innsitters three times now, so they know everything about our (somewhat unusual) systems. (That whole "You deliver breakfast to 23 guest rooms every morning?" conversation is always telling.)

Heck, the place probably runs better with them than us. If I could afford it, I'd let them stay a few months! :)
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Are their contract rates so high that the inn would be unprofitable during the time you are away?
 
Henning said:
Mmmmm... The bathrooms at Four Seasons establishments are hard to beat for luxury, you can forget about size of the head in an RV unless you have it custom built around it.
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I've already pointed out that one of the selling points of mine was a full sized house style shower. No "custom built around it" at all.

The RV industry listened and the girls wanted to sit down to shave their legs.

If you want a normal bathroom, they're an available stock feature nowadays.

What kinda space do you need for your man-primping anyway?! Sheesh. Four Seasons? LOL. Not exactly a standard hotel bathroom there.
 
It's a lot more satisfying to get a burning sofa out of the window of a high-rise luxury hotel room.

Nauga,
who heard it from a friend of a friend :rolleyes:
 
Jay Honeck said:
In July, no. In September, yes.
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So, are you saying that if you had to pay someone to run it (say if you wanted to retire), it would not be profitable?

Sounds like a low-margin business. Not a dig on your specific hotel, but the industry in general.
 
Part of the deal [and full disclosure - we don't own one and would NEVER buy new] is that you can give up your house - a really really nice driving motor home with a tow dolly for a runabout once you get there - is under $100k. After selling your home you live can like that go anywhere you want for $800 a month. That $40 night is for a place thats by the night - not the month.

Want to spend June July and August on the Cape? $1000 a month.

Pack it up and go to Vermont for September and October.

Then head on down to South Carolina for Christmas - Spend the winter in South Florida or head on over to Arizona or SoCal or the Palm Springs area. Wander to your hearts content - that is the appeal and I can see if even if I'm not interested in doing it right now.

I'd get bored living in a trailer after a few months - but for a few months - after retirement - sure. Meaning I'd prob end up leasing a unit for a year . . . . you just can't re-sell the darn things - hence my leasing idea. . . .
 
My nephew works for a company that moves him every couple years. He's never in one spot long enough to justify buying a house, and dealing with apartment leases and moving possessions all the time got to be a headache. So he bought a fifth-wheel trailer and takes it with him - company pays his moving expense, and will even send a crew out to move the trailer for him (although he has a truck capable of pulling it.) This is his first year of living that way - we'll see how long it lasts.
 
Matthew said:
My nephew works for a company that moves him every couple years. He's never in one spot long enough to justify buying a house, and dealing with apartment leases and moving possessions all the time got to be a headache. So he bought a fifth-wheel trailer and takes it with him - company pays his moving expense, and will even send a crew out to move the trailer for him (although he has a truck capable of pulling it.) This is his first year of living that way - we'll see how long it lasts.
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I have lived in my 5th wheel 3 different times. I lived in it twice now for 2 years and once for 2 1/2 years. of course I was single, and it was the best way for me to live.

Now that I am settled and married I think I will stick with the house.

As for vacations I prefer the 5th wheel to a hotel anyday. I fly for a living so why would I fly for vacation?

Something else I notice. Why do people that have huge motor homes stay at a hotel? There are a few hotels down the road from me right next to the interstate. There is a really nice Rv park a couple miles further. Yet the hotels always have 4 or 5 big motor homes in the parking lot.
 
Zeldman said:
Something else I notice. Why do people that have huge motor homes stay at a hotel? There are a few hotels down the road from me right next to the interstate. There is a really nice Rv park a couple miles further. Yet the hotels always have 4 or 5 big motor homes in the parking lot.
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- laundry
- dumping out the tanks is a hassle, if you are travelling at capacity and know that everyone needs a shower after returning from a hike, spending $85 on a night in a motel is a steal (dont even have to sleep in their bedbug infested sheets)
- driven too late into the evening to worry about setting up camp
- only have the motorhome to use it for places that dont have hotels
(state parks, beaches, fishing lakes).
- forecast to be a rainy day
 
We lived in our motor home for a year, when we changed businesses, and took a year off to go traveling. It was absolutely fabulous. The scenery changed on our whim, I didn't mind dumping the holding tanks, and we stopped towing a car after the first five weeks, and used the RV as a family car.
 
comanchepilot said:
Part of the deal [and full disclosure - we don't own one and would NEVER buy new] is that you can give up your house - a really really nice driving motor home with a tow dolly for a runabout once you get there - is under $100k. After selling your home you live can like that go anywhere you want for $800 a month. That $40 night is for a place thats by the night - not the month.

Want to spend June July and August on the Cape? $1000 a month.

Pack it up and go to Vermont for September and October.

Then head on down to South Carolina for Christmas - Spend the winter in South Florida or head on over to Arizona or SoCal or the Palm Springs area. Wander to your hearts content - that is the appeal and I can see if even if I'm not interested in doing it right now.

I'd get bored living in a trailer after a few months - but for a few months - after retirement - sure. Meaning I'd prob end up leasing a unit for a year . . . . you just can't re-sell the darn things - hence my leasing idea. . . .
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I struggle with NEW math....

$800 a month? $40 a night? What math has $40 x 30 days and gets $800?

Was this all about interest/payments?




The other missing cost is the fees RV parks charge. The few I have used were $25-40 per night. Gets you electricity, water, and sometimes a sewer drop.
 
dans2992 said:
So, are you saying that if you had to pay someone to run it (say if you wanted to retire), it would not be profitable?

Sounds like a low-margin business. Not a dig on your specific hotel, but the industry in general.
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Heh, no, I'm saying that being a professional innsitter is pretty lucrative. :)

Actually, they are reasonably priced, for what they do. We hope to join their ranks in a few years.
 
denverpilot said:
I've already pointed out that one of the selling points of mine was a full sized house style shower. No "custom built around it" at all.

The RV industry listened and the girls wanted to sit down to shave their legs.

If you want a normal bathroom, they're an available stock feature nowadays.

What kinda space do you need for your man-primping anyway?! Sheesh. Four Seasons? LOL. Not exactly a standard hotel bathroom there.
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Yeah, that's a normal bathroom. Have been in the bathroom at a Four Seasons? For $400k you can live at the Four Seasons for over 5 years.
 
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I saw that and spoke with the owner Very friendly fellow. He even gave me a quick tour of his RV (a Roadtrek 190 forget which year)
 
Henning said:
Yeah, that's a normal bathroom. Have been in the bathroom at a Four Seasons? For $400k you can live at the Four Seasons for over 5 years.
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...and you will always be in the same place.
 
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