Viewpoint: The Ultimate Mega-Resort for RVers & Golfers

Play a round at one of the golf courses, read a book in the library, attend a silver-smithing class or sit down for a dinner show. Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort, nestled in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains in Mesa, Ariz., is the place for RVers and golfers looking for some excitement or to kick back and unwind.

“It’s a resort that has something to do all day, everyday,” says Steve Frandsen, Viewpoint general manager. “Basically, if you want a busy day, you can have one. But, if you don’t want a lot to do, you can just relax. If I had a choice, I’d be out there golfing.”

With over 100 clubs, including woodworking, crocheting, computers, tennis, horseshoes, to name a few, there’s a little something for just about every type of RV-golfer. The resort is geared toward those 55 and older.

Viewpoint’s busy season usually runs from January to March, when the weather is nice in Arizona, but some visitors get a jump-start as early as October. And it’s no wonder—Viewpoint was rated the Park of the Year for 2004 in the mega-park category by the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC), based in Falls Church, Va.

The ARVC has 3,900 member parks throughout the U.S. and Canada and offers awards in various categories to its members, according to Micki Leak, director of meetings and membership for the ARVC. “We have an independent panel of judges that decides which parks the awards go to,” she says. Panelists judge based on a point system including features such as maintenance, customer service, etc.

Viewpoint was also named Arizona’s RV Resort of the Year for 2002 and 2003.

RV Services

Viewpoint offers over 1,800 spaces for the mobile, short-term RVer or for those desiring a destination for the entire winter season.

Resort staff want to make the experience as care-free as possible. Those with reservations simply drive in and are escorted personally to their site. “You can pull in, plug in your phone and cable and you’re ready to go,” comments Frandsen. Travel trailers, motor homes, fifth wheels and resort homes are welcome.

Rates are: $35 day, $199 week, $615 month, $1,808 three months, $2,410 four months, or $3,700 year.

Space fees include: free local telephone service, free cable TV, water, sewer, refuse removal and a private mailbox with mail handling service. Monthly and annual fees do not include electricity. Rates exclude applicable sales tax.

Golf Options

The two all-grass courses are challenging for the experienced golfer, but are user-friendly enough for those who are just starting out. Gently rolling fairways are landscaped with pines and poplars, cool streams and lakes and perfectly manicured greens. Viewpoint features both an 18-hole championship and a 9-hole executive course. The par 71 championship course provides a fair test without the extremes of desert target golf. Golf courses are always open to the public.

Facilities and Activities

Viewpoint’s facilities include a picturesque clubhouse with spacious banquet rooms and a quaint little bar and grill. Its settings are ideal for most types of group functions. The Terrace Green Event Center provides an elegant option for weddings, receptions, golf outings and social gatherings.

Saturday nights are an event at Viewpoint, with functions held year-round in the newly remodeled grand ballroom. ViewPoint’s grand ballroom can accommodate hundreds of active senior adults dancing to a live band.

Sunday church services are also available. Monday’s feature bingo and free music “jam” sessions all day, Tuesday dinner shows are scheduled, and on every other Thursday from January to March attend a concert, sing at Friday karaoke, or have breakfast on Saturday morning.

The resort also houses North-Point, its 20,000 square foot recreational complex, complete with lap and recreational pool, two Jacuzzis, sauna, a state-of-the-art exercise facility, luxurious Living Room and additional craft rooms. NorthPoint is designed to create a gathering and social spot with an unsurpassed view of the Superstition Mountains and city lights.

For more information, call (800) 822-4404 or (480) 373-8700, or visit http://www.viewpointrv.com/. 
Source: http://rvgolfermagazine.com/rvgolfparks.htm

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High-end RV park to open on Florida's East Coast

Margate to be home to South Florida’s first luxury RV park

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@SunSentinel.com
or 954-572-2008.

Suzie Cote, left, and Jean-Francois Leblanc are shown on one of the finished pads at the Aztec RV Resort in Margate. This former  mobile home park will become an RV park for millionaires, the  first truly high-end RV park on Florida's east coast. Most of the early buyers  are French Canadians (Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel / March 14, 2010)

A property once occupied by the working poor soon could become home to the mega-wealthy on wheels. 

In September, Margate is expected to become the first city on Florida's East Coast with an upscale RV park. Until it closed in 2007, Aztec Estates mobile home community filled the 104-acre site on the east side of State Road 7 and south of Southgate Boulevard. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Broward County Commission unanimously approved a needed rezoning. If state and city officials also sign off on the deal as expected, developers hope to fill the new Aztec RV Resort with rich snowbirds enjoying a nine-hole golf course, a forested backdrop, and a scenic canal. They will live aboard luxurious motorcoaches that cost more than $200,000, on lots starting at $108,000. About a quarter of the park's RVs are expected to cost more than $1 million.

"These are the ones rock stars use when they tour," Margate Vice Mayor Frank Talerico said. 

"It's not a camping park — it's pretty high-end. People with a lot of discretionary income have these things."

About 20 percent of the park's 646 lots have been sold — all to buyers, mainly Canadians, who paid with cash, said sales manager Jean-Francois Leblanc.

After the Aztec mobile home park closed, the property was rezoned to accommodate a development with 707 single-family homes, townhouses and condos. After the housing market bust, that plan never materialized.

In March 2009 a group of nine Canadian investors bought the land for $17 million and dropped another $23 million on improvements including new sewers and water lines, more than 27,000 trees and other landscaping.

They used Pelican Lake Motorcoach Resort in Naples as a model. Salesmen tell clients the Margate resort will be even nicer, with tiki huts for picnics, a playground and shuffleboard court, and optional upgrades such as fountains, outdoor kitchens, fire pits and roll-up screens for outdoor movies.

Sales brochures are printed in both French and English for the mostly French Canadian clientele they are trying to reach and both American and Canadian flags fly at the State Road 7 entrance to the RV park.

Another attraction directed at Canadians will be a court for petanque — a sport resembling lawn bowling and bocce that's very popular in France.

Frank Cannatelli, a Quebec businessman, bought five lots — one for him and his wife to use in winter, the others to either rent for income, or flip once the park is sold out. 

"There's nothing else like it," he said. "The airport is close, the casino is close, the beach is close. There's lots of things to do."

Margate Mayor Joe Varsallone said he was impressed with the plans.

"The type of people that will be moving in are people who are very, very financially sound, no question about it," he said. "There will be [property] tax revenue for the city of Margate and also revenue for stimulating the economy. These people are going to have to patronize the different businesses in Margate."

Though final approvals are still pending, construction is well under way at the RV park. Decorative lanterns mark each lot and the security fence is nearly complete.

Chester Watson, a retired owner of used car lots from Montreal, spent Monday touring the park and said he is thinking about buying a lot to use in winter. "It's going to be like five stars," he said.

Source:  Sun Sentinel News

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