After our night in Winslow, AZ and our stop at the Meteor Crater, we arrived in Yuma, AZ. We were able to “mooch-dock” at Bob and Janet Bockus’s place for the night as shown above. Since we arrived in the early afternoon we took advantage of the daylight to check out both Fortuna De Oro (Cal-Am Resort) and The Palms RV Resort.
FORTUNA De Oro (Cal-Am Resort)
Driving through the sites we were underwhelmed to say the least. Having stayed three months last winter at View Point RV & Golf Resort in Mesa, we compare places to it. Lots at Fortuna De Oro are smaller with a super small concrete patio pad. Many were worn and broken. It appears that they would like to have a small tree at each lot, but so many either have nothing but dirt, or have a small, straggly “Charlie Brown” tree. However, they have FABULOUS pickleball courts! I think there were 11 courts—fully dedicated pickleball courts. AND lights are provided for evening play!!! The courts are also labeled by levels of play. This tells me there are a lot of players as well as a good range of levels. Another big plus is that the monthly rate to stay here is $750 + electric. The price, nice pool and pickleball will likely sway us to stay here for the month of March 2020.
The Palms RV Resort
I absolutely loved The Palms RV Resort. Such a peaceful feeling. The grounds are beautiful, and in my opinion are the best in the Yuma area. Cost of renting a site varies according to the month. Palms RV have site lots that you can actually purchase. Currently a standard site is $40,000; A super site is $64,000. You are free to build on your site or just use it for an RV and toad. We took a tour of the resort, and saw some smaller “home” buildings that also had room for a large RV. All buildings have the stucco Tuscan exterior which unifies the resort, yet allows for individuality. Since you own the land, you pay property taxes based on whether it is a “vacant” lot (approximately $650 yearly), or how much of a home you build onsite (could be approximately $2000 yearly). There is also a $250 HOA monthly fee. This fee includes all resort amenities, water, trash, and sewer. A place where you can park a motorhome, AND have a home on the lot is what we are likely interested in when we transition to having a winter home-base and/or when we may be ready to stop RVing in a large Class A motorhome. It is important to me to have a place where we can accommodate a visit from our kids or friends. Location is crucial. A few hours to our grandkids, and amenities are a MUST! Palms RV appears to be very friendly. They have a nice social pool as well as a lap pool. The have some tennis courts that get used for pickleball. (A negative that there are not fully dedicated pickleball courts). I have hopes that they may end up with growing the pickleball to be a big drawing feature. They offer a great special if you have never stayed here before! It is a “buy one, get one” type offer. In other words, rent a lot for one month, get another month free; rent for two months, get two more months free; rent 3 months, get 3 free! Unfortunately, that offer ends each September. Therefore, Since that offer ends in September, they suggested we stay elsewhere in Yuma this March, but come over to enjoy some events such as the concerts and “Burger Bashes”, so we can get a feel for the Palms. https://yumapalmsrvresort.com/
How does The Palms RV compare to Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort in Mesa (VP) for a longterm stay?
VP is much bigger, and therefore, has more amenities. The pickleball club at VP is huge and level of play is really good. VP has 9 dedicated courts with 4 more planned for winter of 2021. VP’s phase III homes are nice, but there is NO room for an RV on your site. At VP you do not own the land. You either buy a manufactured home and rent the land +HOA (approx $9,500 yearly) or you pay that same rent/HOA amount for an RV site lot. I’m not sure if water, sewer or trash is included with the VP rental/HOA total. Mesa AZ is twice as far from Chula Vista, CA than Yuma, AZ is. I have a bond/friendship with so many of the people I met last year while at VP, and will miss seeing them this winter. Mesa is also only about an hour from my brother and his family.
This is all mainly research/fact gathering information for us to consider when we are looking for a true longterm resort. We have various travel plans for the next couple years. We will explore these and any other possible resorts for a one to three month stay to give us firsthand experience comparisons before seriously considering one as a longterm or seasonal home.
(Oct 30) We have made a month long reservation at Fortuna De Oro for March 2020. We look forward to see how we like the Yuma area. Ironically, we already know 3 different couples who will be in Yuma while we are there.