To Bunkhouse ,,,or not to bunkhouse ,that is a question

[Bobj616]

Trying to decide if I want to get a bunkhouse TT so my grandkids will have permanent beds or get one with a big slide and trifold couch/bed and convertible dinette. The kids are 9(2) and 13 so they will, probably go with us for a few more years ,but after that we will have a lot of wasted space in the trailer. Anyone out there that did the couch and table thing for any length of time? The kids generally use sleeping bags and a pillow anyway and those can be stowed during the day. How much time do you spend indoors anyway? The smaller footprint for the non BB trailer would be nice. Any suggestion or discussion welcomed.

[BeachNuts1]

I have a bunkhouse unit and my kids are now grown and rarely camp with us. The bunks still come in handy when having overnight guests. Bunks work out great for storage of extra beddings or when visitors come for the day and have purses, jackets, beachbags, etc. No visible clutter in the camper.

[gaymeadowsman]

Some friends of our just bought a bunkhouse TT 2 weeks before Christmas for that same reason. After 4 trips and the grand kids only going once, they traded for what they really wanted. They lost $2000 on the the Bunkhouse but now they are much happier.

[engine31]

That is a tough question! We had 3 pop-ups, then a hybrid, then a bunk house for 9 years but no slides so we felt cramped on rainy/gloomy days. Last year we purchased a new TT with a slide and bunk house option for us it works great but our kids are younger and we can have guests sleep in comfort along with our 4 legged fury babies. I guess it just depends on the individual situation.

[dadmomh]

How often do they go now? How often will they go later on? Sports activities? Other? Personal opinion...I would buy what you would be comfortable with for several years. My cousin and DH bought with the grandkids in mind and they went maybe 2 - 3 times a year....the rest of the time, the bunks turned into a catch-all. When they sold it, they planned to get a model "for them, never mind the grandkids". Ended up they decided they'd not buy again. Consider, too, that as the GKs age, they think a tent of their own is a very cool thing and if you're comfortable with that, all the better.

[GaryWT]

Always a tough question. No grandkids yet but our 19 yo still camps with us half the time. We went with the bunkhouse room mostly because I wanted the full outside kitchen and we wanted our son to feel welcome to camp with us. My wife ha always had a rule of have enough beds available to sleep everyone without using the table and couch. Having the room has saved my oldest son and his wife once or twice when we camped in heavy rain and their tent got wet. They were able to easily move in for the night. When it is just the wife and I it makes a great changing room for us after showering or getting ready for the pool etc.

[opnspaces]

I like my bunkhouse.

I have 4 children aged from 9 to 16. My bunkhouse has a single top and a full bottom bunk. My 16 year old has always slept on the top bunk. In fact he aggressively defends his right to sleep up there from his other brothers. While I was typing this I asked him what he thinks about sleeping up there and he said "it's all right". You just have to love teenager speak. 🙂

Here's our current sleeping arrangement and it works well for us.

16 year old boy on top bunk.
11 year old boy on full bottom bunk.
13 year old boy on jacknife sofa in a sleeping bag.
9 year old boy usually sleeps on the front queen with me.

Everybody uses sleeping bags. Because they all use bags the making up and breaking down the beds is a non issue for me.

I lift and pull the seat and the sofa folds flat. Average time 5 seconds. My son lays his sleeping bag on the bed and climbs in.

In the morning my son stuffs his bag back into it's duffel. I lift the front of the bed and fold it back into a couch. This takes a tiny bit longer to fold so I'd say 6 seconds on average.

Now if I had to make the sofa into a traditional bed with sheets and blankets I would have given up years ago.

Come to think of it my 13 year old is probably strong enough to fold the couch by himself. If he only know where I came up with that idea he would probably hate this forum. :B

[capsfloyd]

We have the bunkhouse. 2 bunks on one side and the other side is a larger bunk and storage under. We can sleep 9 in ours. We have 2 gk that go all the time . We have outdoor kitchen on ours also
we like them both

[Lantley]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
As a grandparent who bought a bunkhouse thinking of the grandkids - I agree with the statements above - buy what you like, the grandkids can sleep anywhere. They don't 'need' bunks. (Fully agree with bunkhouse for own kids)

We upgraded to a non-bunkhouse and our grandkids from age 18 to 10 have slept in the recliners when they visit. (We moved the couch out for more storage space).

When we started - taking the grandkids with us was a prime motivator for camping. We quickly found out that the simple logistics of waiting for them to finish school on Friday, going to the CG, setting up in the dark, leaving in a rush Sunday - wasn't a lot of fun for us, or them.

So we changed the plan. We went on Wednesday or Thursday, setup and enjoyed a quiet day together. Went back and picked up the rug rats after school on Friday, and took them home on Sunday evening (a few times we were able to convince their parents to come get them). They enjoyed it more, and we enjoyed it more - especially being able to extend our stay as we wished.

Then we realized we wanted to take more trips than could logistically include the grandkids. In 122 nights we owned the bunkhouse - the grandkids/ kids spent 18 nights with us.

Since moving to the larger trailer - we've had grandkids on the recliners 9 nights.

I totally agree with the above approach and I approach the OP's scenario in the same way. However it appears the OP has custody of one grandchild on a full time basis. In which case a bunkhouse may make more sense.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

As a grandparent who bought a bunkhouse thinking of the grandkids - I agree with the statements above - buy what you like, the grandkids can sleep anywhere. They don't 'need' bunks. (Fully agree with bunkhouse for own kids)

We upgraded to a non-bunkhouse and our grandkids from age 18 to 10 have slept in the recliners when they visit. (We moved the couch out for more storage space).

When we started - taking the grandkids with us was a prime motivator for camping. We quickly found out that the simple logistics of waiting for them to finish school on Friday, going to the CG, setting up in the dark, leaving in a rush Sunday - wasn't a lot of fun for us, or them.

So we changed the plan. We went on Wednesday or Thursday, setup and enjoyed a quiet day together. Went back and picked up the rug rats after school on Friday, and took them home on Sunday evening (a few times we were able to convince their parents to come get them). They enjoyed it more, and we enjoyed it more - especially being able to extend our stay as we wished.

Then we realized we wanted to take more trips than could logistically include the grandkids. In 122 nights we owned the bunkhouse - the grandkids/ kids spent 18 nights with us.

Since moving to the larger trailer - we've had grandkids on the recliners 9 nights.

[Joyce_in_NY]

No bunk beds. We had them in one trailer because we didn't want to have to make up beds every night on a cross country trip. My boys very quickly outgrew the weight limit on the top bunk. They also used to fight about who would sleep on top because heat rises and it would be way to hot on the top bunk. In fact, they would throw their blanket & pillow on the floor under the living room air conditioner in order to be comfortable to sleep. We couldn't wait to trade that trailer for one with rear living room and NO bunks!

[Speedogomer]

One nice iidea is a Cherokee 254q. It's a non bunk plan that has drop down bunks over the couch and dinette in the slide. Very slick design. My good camping friend has one and its pretty cool. You'd never know there were bunks there if they didn't tell you. They power raise up and down really easy with just a twist of a key.

[cyntdon2010]

we have the BH 318 lacrosse, Its like a den with a sofa and tv.

Wii video game, grandkids don't camp anymore. but adults use that area just to chill out.

[Merrykalia]

I'm in a slightly different situation....I have a 35 year old son, but I also have a 10 year old daughter and a 7 year old daughter. We spend in excess of 100+ days in our RV each year, so we have a bunkhouse. We had the rear, quad bunkhouse and HATED it. We upgraded to a 5th wheel that has the front bunkhouse with 3 bunks and a couch. It works great for us. The master is in the back and is usually quieter and the bunk room is beside the bathroom for easier access for the kids. (I have to climb 3 steps to potty, but for now, it works). The configuation of this bunkhouse gives the kids some floor space, which was severely lacking in the quad bunk. There was about 16" between the beds, so they either were laying on the beds or in the living room with us.

If you have custody of at least one of the kids and they will be with you all the time, go for the bunkhouse. It only takes one awful weekend to kill the camping fever in the kids.

[michigansandzil]

We did the make couch/break couch as a bed for about a year and a half and that was all we could take. It gets really old.

We LOVE our bunkhouse. Yes, the majority of the time camping is spent outside, but when it is pouring out, the kids have their own space .....and so do the adults. It's wonderful!
We have the quad bunks for 3 kids and it suits our needs well. The 4th bunk converts to a table/chairs when not used for sleeping. We use it for storage when nobody is sleeping there.

Be sure to look at the weight limits on the bunks prior to purchase. Some are rated only to 100 pounds.