Encore Winter Quarters Manatee

I reserved a premium site at Encore Winter Quarters Manatee and was extremely disappointed. The picture on their website is misleading and does not reflect the actual condition of the site.

The site had no proper pad and was not level, which is unacceptable for something advertised as a premium site, especially considering the high price.

To make matters worse, I asked the front desk if I could stay two additional hours after disconnecting power and sewer so I could spend some time with friends staying next to us at site 2049 (who were also disappointed). They wanted $30 just to stay parked for two hours.

Very poor value for the price.
I will not be returning and would not recommend this resort.

— Rene St-Pierre

K, this is an Rv Park actually, full of great people, huge clubhouse, two pools, outdoor facilities and packages are delivered directly to your site (numbered) lots to do, golf, pickle ball, karaoke night always something happening! (all close) lots of shopping very close, (Walmart, Costco and lots of restaurants) we are really glad we found this one!

We stayed here a couple years ago (under different management) and this place has gone WAY done hill! The park needs some serious attention. The grounds are in bad shape. The pools close at 5pm!!!! They used to be open until 8pm! This was really annoying. The hot tub was cold. There were zero activities. They used to get food trucks in there and have parties at the clubhouse, now this place is a ghost town. Not a fun place anymore. We won’t be back. Sad to see, as this used to be a great park. Do better Encore. Oh and the best part, PRICES HAVE GONE UP. Seriously. Where is all the money going??

I wish I could give this place negative stars. We were only visiting a camper site, and though the permanent homes were nice, they parked us next to what was basically a junkyard. This isn't even the worst part of the visit. The advertised amenities were no longer working. The hot tub wasn't working, the pool heaters were out, and there were no community activities going on as advertised. Management was horrible. Every time we interacted with anyone in the office, they acted like we were an inconvenience. For example, we were having a package delivered. It was supposed to be delivered, and we hadn't seen it at our site yet. So we went to the office to make sure it wasn't left up there. The lady we interacted with was very hateful and snappy, and said the package would go directly to the site when it arrived, and promptly went back to ignoring us. The worst part was when we went to check out. Our RV slide-out was unfortunately malfunctioning, and we needed to be out of our spot by 11 AM. We were unfortunately late trying to get our slide-out fixed and pulled in. The next RV that needed our spot unfortunately pulled up around 11:05, and bless their hearts, they were so sweet and understood our situation. On the other hand, the management kept calling us, telling us they needed us to leave, and had no sympathy whatsoever. Even though there were many empty spots next to us that they could have moved them to they were still harassing us about leaving our spot. We explained the situation multiple times, and they could have cared less. In fact they were happy to tell us multiple times over the phone they could charge/were going to charge us for being late. After multiple phone calls we finally told them fine and to go ahead and charge us. I have never dealt with such unprofessional, money hungry management at an RV park. We have never had problems at any park we have stayed at, but the management staff here could care less as long as they get your money.

We have stayed at this Encore park in the past, always throughly enjoying each visit. Much to our disappointment our most recent visit was quite different, as we came here with the intent of purchasing a long term home.

After arriving here, we noticed many homes for sale, along with numerous empty abandoned lots. Upon chatting with some of the park residents we realized there was a lot of animosity, frustration and even anger regarding changes in new park rules, lack of advertised amenities and activities all made by management: including, but not to exclude: • both swimming pool heaters are no longer working, dirty swimming pools that NOW close at 5 p.m. daily • hot tub no longer working •lack of amenities as advertised: NO planned activities director, Bingo, community cookouts, karaoke, WI-FI, church services, dances, food trucks, or entertainment. Residents are NO longer allowed to volunteer to lead or organize above said activities.

While leisurely strolling through the park we've noticed the inconsistencies with the standards of various sites- for example: • abandoned homes • dilapidated RV's • faulty equipment at sites (receptacle/electrical boxes)• street lights not working • the new rule for removal of current storage sheds and landscaping.

During our most recent visit here, we had the opportunity to be a part of one of the "coffee and donuts Monday morning community meetings" led by the current Winter Quarters Manatee Encore Park manager, Dawn. She greeted the crowd and proceeded to talk about the upcoming changes. A Veteran resident politely stated we "ALWAYS" begin each meeting with "The Pledge of Allegiance". Dawn's response was, "As of today this has changed and we will NO longer be saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

Her response appeared to insult many of the current veterans and families living in this Encore park. They politely requested to say the pledge and she boldly refused. Next, a bunch of veterans stood up and proudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance, joined in by the entire crowd, including the Canadian residents.

Upon completion of the pledge Dawn threw her hands up in the air, stomped off to the kitchen and angrily announced, "if anyone wants to listen to me you can find me in my office".

I was appalled at this childish, unprofessional behavior from someone in a managerial position. This Winter Quarters Manatee Encore Park has been a favorite Florida destination for us. It is now very heartbreaking to witness such a decline in curb appeal and community spirit. Because of this, along with the visible discontent of several residents, we have now decided to pursue Florida long term residency in another NON Encore park.