Sanlan RV Park – Lakeland, FL – Review

Sanlan RV Park turned out to be a an Awesome park. One that we will definitely come back to. Big Open spaces to run around in, We met great new friends and really enjoyed the environment. A surprise of the majesticness of this park

Video we shot with the Drone of Sanlan RV Park

Site quality = 4.5/5

Most of Sanlan’s Sites are concrete pads with 50 amp power and sewer

We were in spots 272. 271 and 272 have a beautiful view of the large open grassy field and pond. Great spot. A little tight for a 43′ motorhome but well worth it for the views

Spots 389-405 are all pull throughs with concrete pads and big enough for the biggest Coaches and there tow behinds.

Facilities = 3/5

This park has been around for 40+ Years and where they do do maintenance, some of the facilities are a little old. Nothing bad, everything is taken care of and clean. Just older. If you are looking for the style of a Riverbend this is not the place for you. The value here are the people, the 6 miles of beautiful trails, the great restaurants in Lakeland closeness to Tampa and Orlando.

Amenities = 3/5

We rated the amenities at the park a 3/5 mainly because they are a little dated. But there are plenty of things to do here

• Two Pools and a Jacuzzi
• Several Meeting rooms
• Horsehoe area
• 27 hole Golf Course
• Shffleboard
• Bocci Ball
• And of course the 6 miles of Trails
• Laundry Facilities

The trails make this one of the coolest places we have stayed

Location = 4/5

Sanlan and Lakeland actually surprised us as to all the great things to do at the RV park and in the quaint town of lakeland. We actually left wishing there was more time to go experience some of the other things in the area.

The RV Park is located in the more industrial portion of the town but the town square is just 3 miles away. There are two Publix grocery stores within 3 miles, and plenty of interesting sites close at hand.

The 6 miles of trails here are amazing. Suprisingly they are something out of Jurassic Park. You can walk or bike but with the amount of them it is a lot more fun with a Golf Cart. If you don’t have a Golf Cart, you can rent them by the Day, Week or month. I think they are $90 a wekk.

Pet friendliness = 5/5

This is a very Pet Friendly park. With large open fields to play in and most everyone here has dogs. They do charge 7 a week per dog extra. Did not like that but it is probably the most pet friendly park we have been to. You need to be careful with you pets near the ponds and on the trails. This is Florida and there are alligators here. There were reports of  a dog prior to us getting away from his owner and running down to one of the ponds and getting eaten.

Overall rating = 4.5
BONUS ALERT = Big Open park with a great location with 6 miles of beautiful trails. 

Summary:

We loved this park and likely will be back next year. We found the management that runs the place to be disorganized and not very friendly to the campers, the staff were nice – just the management were quite rude. But the people at the park many of them have been coming here for 20+ years and were a wealth of knowledge and we met some great new friends and had a great time hanging out with them. Excellent restaurants close by and plenty of things to do. You are only 30 minutes from Tampa and Orlando and we did not go to either one because we found so many nice things to do in Lakeland. Our site was awesome and we were not on top of our neighborhs.

The following were some of the Great Restaurants and places we visited while at Sanlan

The Poor Porker – Friends Doug and April took us here after Dinner. This last year was simply a shack were you could get the best Beignets you have ever had. This year the place has been transformed into the coolest hipster hangout you have seen. Part old Gas station now with reall cool art, outdoor firepits, neat little shop, bars and of course the best beignets you could ever have. On the weekends they have live music, BBQ and craft beers as well. This is a must go to while you are here.

Cafe Zupina – Friends Doug and April told us about the place and the 4 of us had a great dinner here Friday night. The owner of Cafe Zupina makes some of the freshest and awesome mediterranean food we have ever had. The grape leaves were amazing as well as the hummus and a artichoke appetizer that exploded in your mouth with flavor. , Lynnea’s Eggplant Pasha was one her favorite dishes she had ever had.  This place is not cheap but not to bad. You can bring your own WIne.

Devicious – We went for Lunch at the Devicious down on Main Street right by the park. Found it on Yelp with 5 stars. The owner is from New york and owned an authentic deli there for years before moving here. For both Lynnea and I this was probably the best sandwich we had ever eaten. I had a Chorizo Sandwich on Cuban bread with lettuces, tomatoes, avocado onion, havarti cheese and black Olive. Lynnea had here make a Chorizo sandwich also but just had the owner do what she thought was best. The Loaded Potato salad was very, very good as well. We liked it so much we came back on Saturday for Breakfast and again were not disappointed.

West Caribbean Cuban Restaurant – Located about 2 miles away from Sanlan in the industrial part of town, we ordered to go Cuban Sandwiches, Black Beans and Rick and Plantains. They were all very, very authentic and fresh. Would have loved to have had time to come back here. So much more to try – Highly recommend

The following are things worth checking out that we did or friends told us about that we never got around to go to.

• Saturday Open Air Market – On Saturdays they close down the Streets in the square and have a open air market. We got some good deals and had a great time.
• Food truck city – Was not here when we were but once a month they close the square and 40+ food trucks hawk there stuff.
• Florida Southern was designed by Frank Lloyd Right has a great tour worth going to
• Sun n Fun Air museum – Did not make it but heard great things about it
• Legoland – is supposed to be a lot of fun and close by
• Saigon Bistro – was recommended by Doug and April as having great Thai food
• Harrys Old Place – was recommended as the place to get great seafood
• Fresco’s – Several people mentioned it as worth trying
• Mannies Steakhouse – is where people said to go if you were craving a steak

Pictures of Sanlan