Ever wonder what an upscale Love’s RV Stop is like? We did! When we are just traveling through, I very seldom make reservations, particularly in the middle of the week. Campgrounds and RV parks were few and far between on our route through Illinois, so when the one we wanted called and said their campground was flooded, we decided it was time to try a Love’s RV Stop in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois.
Everything was done online, from booking and confirmation to the entrance gate code to get in. While it was surprisingly expensive, it was convenient. The price was more than $70 a night! Our senior discount brought it down to $68.
Getting in and out
This is a major truck stop, so there was lots of traffic in and out of the Love’s. I was glad that I had read the gate code they sent ahead of time, so our RV and tow car did not block the big boy semis, entrancing and exiting to get to the fuel lanes. It was busy! The GPS did take us right to the RV side.
Amenities
I was totally surprised by all the amenities that it offered! There were two fenced dog parks—one for small dogs and one for large dogs. They had a basketball court and four pickleball courts, laundry, showers, a playground, a fire pit area, and a covered picnic table shelter.
RV sites
There was a mixture of pull-throughs and back-in sites. The pull-throughs were really close—both next to each other and facing the front of the RV across the small gravel exit lane. At least everybody could put out their awning! The back-ins had a little bit more room between. All had a strip of grass.
It was also surprisingly occupied at 1 p.m. on a weekday. It was clear that a number of people had been there for longer than an overnight stop. The maximum number of nights that can be booked is 29. I didn’t see any discounts for weekly rentals, though.
Love’s Travel Stops
We generally fill up the RV with diesel at Love’s using our Open Roads discount card. I have bought a fair amount of snacks, bananas, water, and milk on our way, too. And I discovered their banana pudding this trip. It is amazingly good. Of course, the ingredient list is so small and long that I couldn’t tell what nefarious chemicals are lurking in it.
Bojangles
My husband volunteered to buy lunch. I had assumed it would be the standard Subway, but I was, again, happily surprised that they had a fast food joint that we had not tried before. It was all about comfort food—fried chicken, grilled chicken, dirty rice, coleslaw, mac and cheese, and, best of all, homemade biscuits. You could watch them being made through a glass window. I doubt there was a lettuce leaf anywhere except on the chicken sandwiches!
It was LOUD!
Oh, my! Despite the premium amenities, it was unbelievably noisy. Like, I-can’t-sit-outside noisy, can’t-sleep-without-earplugs-or-sleeping-pills noisy! The trucks in and out of the Love’s for fueling, downshifting, and going up the entrance ramp to the interstate were louder than anything we expected.
Stay again?
We probably would not stay again, or only if nothing else is available. It was expensive, the sites were too close together and it was too noisy. But it was exactly the new experience we wanted to try. My husband says, “Never say never.”
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RVT1267
When passing through the Bloomington/Normal area we always stay at Comlara Park, a Mclean County Park on a lake just north of Bloomington off I-39 a couple of miles. A beautiful huge park with large electric RV sites at a very reasonable rate…something like 1/3 of the Loves rate. Of course you only have a huge natural park full of the outdoors for that price. No pickleball or other amenities.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/92/Parks-Recreation
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/690/COMLARA-Park-Interactive-Map
I think Love’s prices are out of line for the experience. I refuel at Love’s, but will never overnight there.
We have used Love’s (with back-in RV sites) for rest & lunch stops. The truck stop did have bus / RV parking lanes in addition to the hook-up sites. There were no signs about limits on parking time, but we stayed only long enough for for salad lunch. We used the picnic table in the large dog run and let our golden retriever explore and check up on us.
I’d happily do that again. As Nanci said, the place seemed a bit noisy and busy to get a decent night’s sleep. But it was also mid-day. Maybe a little quieter at night?
We’ve stayed at a Loves RV Spot. Yes, it’s noisy but then again it’s a truck stop/ travel store next to a major interstate hwy. We’ve witnessed people staying longer than a night, which I don’t get. It’s an overnight at best. No more. The amenities are great! Everything works! We would/will do it again.