A privilege to host RVers
The Reimers didn’t know what they were getting into when they bought an RV park—and things couldn’t have gone better
Despite the fact that Pat and Peter Reimer had never been RVing they decided to purchase iRVin’s RV Park and Campground in their home of Valemount, B.C. They’ve been proud owners for 10 years now, and they realize that they have found their niche.
“There are wonderful people in the RV business,” said Pat, who manages the park while it’s open. “The customers are amazing. People are basically pretty relaxed. I guess it goes back to the fact that I was a teacher before I was here. A lot of the kids didn’t necessarily want to be at school, but in this business everybody wants to be here.”
Luck was with the Reimers in more ways than one. The campground’s previous owner had done his research, making sure that the park was laid out in a way that was big rig-friendly and easy to manoeuvre around. Now, Pat focuses on two key aspects of service—friendliness and cleanliness. She feels that these are the aspects that helped the RV park win gold in this year’s RVwest Reader's Choice awards. Talking to guests is as important as cleaning the washrooms and picking up litter, although neither is ever neglected at iRVin’s. To help keep the park running smoothly, the Reimers have seasonal workampers.
“We have two couples—they’re all in their 70s,” said Pat. “They work four days on and then get four days off . . . We have had the privilege of having the same couples for six years in a row, which is absolutely wonderful because then there’s no training. The years where we’ve had new couples there’s the training aspect of it that takes a lot of time for me.”
For Pat, every summer day starts when she opens the office at 8:30. Peter still works in town, but in the off-season the couple tries to fit in a vacation. There is no shortage of tasks when they’re open with paperwork taking a good percentage of Pat’s time. During the height of the season, the front office will remain open until 9 p.m. Despite the hours and the cleaning, she is pleased to be hosting RVers.
“It’s almost a privilege to have a job where you can enjoy yourself and just relax and talk to people,” she said. “That’s really what the business is all about.”
