We are looking for some opinions. I understand that for the most part every floor plan has its solid good points and then some trade offs. All that being said here is my question to those that have full timed now for a while.
In researching 5th wheels what we have found is floor plans that do a good job of separating the space out, i.e. living area, kitchen, sleeping/bathroom areas. The issue we have however those floor plans that do that, separated out the areas usually are tight around the bed, be it one side or both. One of the "must have's/no compromise" is a king size bed. The floor plans that seem to be an open area (flow together) seem to have adequate space around the bed.
Let me explain my definition of tight and adequate room, tight to me is having to turn sideways and shuffling to get into the bed or having to enter the bed by basically crawling in from the foot area. Adequate room to me is being able to walk normally to your side and enter the bed as I normally would in a stick home. (hopefully the picture I tried to paint makes sense)
So to get to the meat of the quandary, here is my question. Anyone compromise on the tightness of the bed and regret it, may be even to the point of trading the trailer after a while to provide more "wiggle" room around the bed? Or have you just adjusted to the "new" way of getting into bed?
This is the only point of contention that the wifey and me are struggling with. Any insight would be appreciated.
kb0zke said
04:17 PM Feb 24, 2016
Ricki, we have a no-slide 40' MH with a queen bed. I'm 5' 6" and Jo Ann is 5' 11" so keep that in mind. Each of us can walk up on our own sides of the bed should we choose to do that. Generally, though that happens only when we're making or stripping the bed. Otherwise, the ceiling cabinets are usually in the way, and we tend to either face the bed or face the outside.
When we were at the Houston RV show recently we saw quite a few 5'ers with king beds and adequate walk-around room. Obviously the side of the bed closest to the nose usually has somewhat less room than the other side.
What "gets" us is the king beds and no nightstands. Both of us have glasses, cell phones, and other stuff that needs to be handy beside the bed. We'd much rather have a queen bed (full length) and two nightstands than any other arrangement.
Terry and Jo said
11:11 PM Feb 24, 2016
Rick,
Keep in mind that the pictures I will show in this comment do have a queen bed. However, as David mentioned, the least amount of space will be towards the nose where the closet is located. This image is of a DRV Suites Elite Suites model with the queen bed. In all the models I've seen, the bed is aligned crossways of the RV with the head of the bed in the bedroom slide-out. One has room to walk around the bed towards the nose to get to the side opposite of the hallway to the bedroom.
These next three images are from our Mobile Suites by DRV Suites, but it again has a queen bed with Select Comfort mattress. With the queen bed, one gets a night stand on both sides of the RV. If a similar model had a king sized bed, the night stand on the right side would not be there and space for walking around will be more limited.
Walking space at the foot of our bed. If one wants to pass the other in this area, the one being passed must sit down on the bed or move out of the area.
These photos give a bit of an idea of the space on the left side of the bed. When one goes to bed on this side, one has the hallway to work with for moving around to get into bed.
This next one is the only photo available to me right now of a DRV Suites with a king sized bed, I'll have to wait to get back to my own computer and external hard drive to see if I have any other pictures with a king. Sadly, this one photo doesn't now the walking space on the right side of the bed.
Terry
Rickl said
12:24 AM Feb 25, 2016
With the queen size mattress there is additional room to manuver on both sides. But as I stated the one non negotiable is losing a king size bed. So that is the delimena, I personally don't want to do the sideways shuffle to get into the bed (my sleeping position is towards the front or left side of the mattress looking from the foot of the bed).
The wife on the other hand likes the designated areas and says squeezing into the bed on the side or crawling from the foot would be ok. My point to her is/was after a while are you still going to OK with that and especially when we hit 70+ ( not too many more years to go).
That is why I'm trying to get some feedback from fulltimers that may have experience in this area. What scares me is 12-18 months down the road either the wife or myself will say enough is enough and then need to look for another trailer with room around the king size bed (no more queens for us, with the dog it mandatory ( it's a Lhasa Apso, 11lbs soaking wet but thinks it needs a queen bed by itself). I only want to spend the money one time, especially as we are considering going new.
I am willing to comprise on the living area, but as she states how much time do we spend in the bedroom. Good point but getting out of bed in the middle of the night for that nature call or in the morning and ramming into the wall or sliding door doesn't excite me.
Thanks for the input so far and if anyone else would chime in please do.
kb0zke said
06:44 AM Feb 25, 2016
Ricki, that's why the usual advice is to buy a used coach first, as no matter how much research you do you are not very likely to get it exactly right the first time. As for running into things at night, that happens to everyone, whether in an RV or S&B. You will soon develop the necessary habits to avoid the obstacles fairly quickly.
NWescapee said
09:09 AM Feb 25, 2016
Rick - we have the same model as Terry & Jo, although we bought our used so we didn't have a choice. Ours came with a king sized bed, but we also have a 4th slide, the dresser in the bedroom slides out about a foot. That foot makes a HUGE difference, if we're both getting ready at the same time, that extra foot of floor space makes it possible for both of us to walk past each other without having turn sideways or one of sit down on the foot of the bed to let the other pass. I would not want a 5th wheel without this extra room.
I sleep on the side without the nightstand, and usually just "crawl" in from the foot of the bed. I'm not 70+ yet, got more than 20 years to go before I can say that, but we've been living in this rig for almost 3 years and given that we got 90% of what we wanted in our dream floor plan, I can live with not having a nightstand. This is also the first time we've ever had a king size bed and while I didn't think I wanted one, now that we have one we like it, especially with a cat that thinks her sleeping position should be horizontal between her parents!!
-- Edited by NWescapee on Thursday 25th of February 2016 09:10:47 AM
The Bear II said
09:30 AM Feb 25, 2016
I'm 6' 3" and built like a bear. Mrs bear is 5' 8".
We have a 38ft 5th wheel with a queen size bed slideout. There is plenty of room at the foot of the bed and plenty of room on the left side of the bed. But on the right side of the bed (towards the front of the 5th wheel) we have to open the closet door to make it easier to walk on that side of the bed. This was not a problem 20 years ago when we bought the 5th wheel and we were much more limber. Now we either get in bed from the left or foot of the bed and crawl/roll over to the right side.
Other than that our floor plan is great with plenty of room and no bottle neck areas except when I'm stretched out in my recliner. I have to lower my feet so my DW can get by to head towards the front of the 5th wheel.
With 364 to 400 square feet of room there have to be compromises and the bed area seems to be the most common spot where it gets tight.
I'm beginning to look at Destination Model trailers mostly due to the flat floor front to back but also because some of the common tight areas have been eliminated in most of the floor plans.
Terry and Jo said
11:50 AM Feb 25, 2016
Rick,
I failed to mention that I think all the photos I posted were of 38-foot models of DRV's. If Ruth sees this again, maybe she could take a picture of the area of their king sized bed on the left side near the closet and post the picture here for you.
Once I get back to my own computer and hard drives, I'll see if I have anything else that shows that area.
Terry
Rickl said
12:34 PM Feb 25, 2016
So to sum up what I have seen is that no one has any regrets or problems with the smaller area on the side of the bed. It is just something you were able to overcome.
Not sure if anyone has looked at a Grand Design Solitude 384 but there is plenty of room on both sides and the foot ( the dresser area at the foot slides out also). That is my pick, but the wife likes the Solitude 375. On my side in the 375 that area is diminished by I would guess by 1/2, it's about maybe 6-7" for room- thus the sideways shuffle. The area at the foot is smaller but still doable. (No slide out)
I'm not that big, 5' 11" and 205 lbs and still flexible but thinking down the road what I will be like. I'm probably over analyzing this but I would rather try to cover all the bases up front. For a long time I look at things like this and put everything imaginable thing in to get a basis for cost. Then based on the cost I decide what I can and am willing to live with out. That way I don't have any regrets as I know have a reason as to why I don't have that certain thing/item due to the cost. For me it works!
Terry and Jo said
06:57 PM Feb 25, 2016
Agree with your last comment, Rick. When we were researching for our fifth wheel, we looked at our floor plan without an extra slide in the bedroom and a different fifth wheel of the same brand with the 4th slide. We elected to go with the one without the extra slide because the cabinetry on that side had a lot more inside storage, plus it had two extra storage areas that the other didn't have. We also found that the dresser drawers in the one with the extra slide were smaller than the drawers in our floor plan. Sometimes, what sounds like a good idea turns out to not be so much.
The only regret that I have with our selection is that the access panel for the back side of the shower faucets are inside one of those extra cabinets I spoke of above. In the model with the extra slide, that access hole for the shower faucet is simply covered by a decorative wood "plate," but it is out in the open and easier to work with.
We are looking for some opinions. I understand that for the most part every floor plan has its solid good points and then some trade offs. All that being said here is my question to those that have full timed now for a while.
In researching 5th wheels what we have found is floor plans that do a good job of separating the space out, i.e. living area, kitchen, sleeping/bathroom areas. The issue we have however those floor plans that do that, separated out the areas usually are tight around the bed, be it one side or both. One of the "must have's/no compromise" is a king size bed. The floor plans that seem to be an open area (flow together) seem to have adequate space around the bed.
Let me explain my definition of tight and adequate room, tight to me is having to turn sideways and shuffling to get into the bed or having to enter the bed by basically crawling in from the foot area. Adequate room to me is being able to walk normally to your side and enter the bed as I normally would in a stick home. (hopefully the picture I tried to paint makes sense)
So to get to the meat of the quandary, here is my question. Anyone compromise on the tightness of the bed and regret it, may be even to the point of trading the trailer after a while to provide more "wiggle" room around the bed? Or have you just adjusted to the "new" way of getting into bed?
This is the only point of contention that the wifey and me are struggling with. Any insight would be appreciated.
When we were at the Houston RV show recently we saw quite a few 5'ers with king beds and adequate walk-around room. Obviously the side of the bed closest to the nose usually has somewhat less room than the other side.
What "gets" us is the king beds and no nightstands. Both of us have glasses, cell phones, and other stuff that needs to be handy beside the bed. We'd much rather have a queen bed (full length) and two nightstands than any other arrangement.
Rick,
Keep in mind that the pictures I will show in this comment do have a queen bed. However, as David mentioned, the least amount of space will be towards the nose where the closet is located. This image is of a DRV Suites Elite Suites model with the queen bed. In all the models I've seen, the bed is aligned crossways of the RV with the head of the bed in the bedroom slide-out. One has room to walk around the bed towards the nose to get to the side opposite of the hallway to the bedroom.
These next three images are from our Mobile Suites by DRV Suites, but it again has a queen bed with Select Comfort mattress. With the queen bed, one gets a night stand on both sides of the RV. If a similar model had a king sized bed, the night stand on the right side would not be there and space for walking around will be more limited.
Walking space at the foot of our bed. If one wants to pass the other in this area, the one being passed must sit down on the bed or move out of the area.
These photos give a bit of an idea of the space on the left side of the bed. When one goes to bed on this side, one has the hallway to work with for moving around to get into bed.
This next one is the only photo available to me right now of a DRV Suites with a king sized bed, I'll have to wait to get back to my own computer and external hard drive to see if I have any other pictures with a king. Sadly, this one photo doesn't now the walking space on the right side of the bed.
Terry
The wife on the other hand likes the designated areas and says squeezing into the bed on the side or crawling from the foot would be ok. My point to her is/was after a while are you still going to OK with that and especially when we hit 70+ ( not too many more years to go).
That is why I'm trying to get some feedback from fulltimers that may have experience in this area. What scares me is 12-18 months down the road either the wife or myself will say enough is enough and then need to look for another trailer with room around the king size bed (no more queens for us, with the dog it mandatory ( it's a Lhasa Apso, 11lbs soaking wet but thinks it needs a queen bed by itself). I only want to spend the money one time, especially as we are considering going new.
I am willing to comprise on the living area, but as she states how much time do we spend in the bedroom. Good point but getting out of bed in the middle of the night for that nature call or in the morning and ramming into the wall or sliding door doesn't excite me.
Thanks for the input so far and if anyone else would chime in please do.
Rick - we have the same model as Terry & Jo, although we bought our used so we didn't have a choice. Ours came with a king sized bed, but we also have a 4th slide, the dresser in the bedroom slides out about a foot. That foot makes a HUGE difference, if we're both getting ready at the same time, that extra foot of floor space makes it possible for both of us to walk past each other without having turn sideways or one of sit down on the foot of the bed to let the other pass. I would not want a 5th wheel without this extra room.
I sleep on the side without the nightstand, and usually just "crawl" in from the foot of the bed. I'm not 70+ yet, got more than 20 years to go before I can say that, but we've been living in this rig for almost 3 years and given that we got 90% of what we wanted in our dream floor plan, I can live with not having a nightstand. This is also the first time we've ever had a king size bed and while I didn't think I wanted one, now that we have one we like it, especially with a cat that thinks her sleeping position should be horizontal between her parents!!
-- Edited by NWescapee on Thursday 25th of February 2016 09:10:47 AM
We have a 38ft 5th wheel with a queen size bed slideout. There is plenty of room at the foot of the bed and plenty of room on the left side of the bed. But on the right side of the bed (towards the front of the 5th wheel) we have to open the closet door to make it easier to walk on that side of the bed. This was not a problem 20 years ago when we bought the 5th wheel and we were much more limber. Now we either get in bed from the left or foot of the bed and crawl/roll over to the right side.
Other than that our floor plan is great with plenty of room and no bottle neck areas except when I'm stretched out in my recliner. I have to lower my feet so my DW can get by to head towards the front of the 5th wheel.
With 364 to 400 square feet of room there have to be compromises and the bed area seems to be the most common spot where it gets tight.
I'm beginning to look at Destination Model trailers mostly due to the flat floor front to back but also because some of the common tight areas have been eliminated in most of the floor plans.
Rick,
I failed to mention that I think all the photos I posted were of 38-foot models of DRV's. If Ruth sees this again, maybe she could take a picture of the area of their king sized bed on the left side near the closet and post the picture here for you.
Once I get back to my own computer and hard drives, I'll see if I have anything else that shows that area.
Terry
Not sure if anyone has looked at a Grand Design Solitude 384 but there is plenty of room on both sides and the foot ( the dresser area at the foot slides out also). That is my pick, but the wife likes the Solitude 375. On my side in the 375 that area is diminished by I would guess by 1/2, it's about maybe 6-7" for room- thus the sideways shuffle. The area at the foot is smaller but still doable. (No slide out)
I'm not that big, 5' 11" and 205 lbs and still flexible but thinking down the road what I will be like. I'm probably over analyzing this but I would rather try to cover all the bases up front. For a long time I look at things like this and put everything imaginable thing in to get a basis for cost. Then based on the cost I decide what I can and am willing to live with out. That way I don't have any regrets as I know have a reason as to why I don't have that certain thing/item due to the cost. For me it works!
Agree with your last comment, Rick. When we were researching for our fifth wheel, we looked at our floor plan without an extra slide in the bedroom and a different fifth wheel of the same brand with the 4th slide. We elected to go with the one without the extra slide because the cabinetry on that side had a lot more inside storage, plus it had two extra storage areas that the other didn't have. We also found that the dresser drawers in the one with the extra slide were smaller than the drawers in our floor plan. Sometimes, what sounds like a good idea turns out to not be so much.
The only regret that I have with our selection is that the access panel for the back side of the shower faucets are inside one of those extra cabinets I spoke of above. In the model with the extra slide, that access hole for the shower faucet is simply covered by a decorative wood "plate," but it is out in the open and easier to work with.
Terry