Bunk house or not to bunk house

[DL N K]

My daughter and son-in-law are looking for a 5th wheel RV. They have a 2 year old son, and are trying to decide between a bunk house and a more conventional floor plan.
I'm trying to help them by searching for opinions from folks with real world experiences with small children (kids and / or grandkids) and bunk house/non bunk house floor plans. I'd hate to see them buy one or the other to wind up hating it 6 months or so down the road.
I personally think the bunk house would be better so the little one has his own space, but their concern is the bunk room eats into living space.
All answers/opinions appreciated.
Thanks

[Jim Jarvis]

someone else is sure to answer your question but I would like to point out that you have one fine dog there. We have 2 poms and love them to bits.
Jim

[bsmeaton]

We bounced back and forth on that topic since time began with our kids. We always opted to go for the living space. The bunkhouse seemed great for sleeping, but once everyone is up, they really block the views and eat into other comforts. Fold out couches and Dinettes always worked well for that. Now they just prefer a sleeping bag and pad on the floor.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

With just one little one, and a youngster at that, we probably would not go with a bunk house, our luck he would crawl up to the top deck and take a flying leap and we would be at the hospital half the weekend (now ask me how I know about hospitals and camping weekends, HA HA, it is called 3 sons!)

On my camping rig history page:

http://www.geocities.com/genieyorks/...torybyrig.html

You will find a exterior and interior photo of a bunk house that worked REAL fine for a family with 3 active boys. Cause of the wall between the bunks and the main living area, we never had to look at their messes. Bunks ran opposite direction from what they do now, ahhhh, some great memories!

This will end up being one of those choices that is based on the way the parents live, and their comfort zones and how many more little ones they are thinking of adding to the family. When we traveled with babies, we had a lot of gear, like play pens. Play pens set up real nice on one of those dinettes that lower into a bed.

Main deal is to enjoy those babies!!!!!!!!

[wingerphil]

I would vote for the bunkhouse. When we had ours, when the kids were little, we appreciated the fact that their beds were seperate from the main living area. We could put them to bed (or down for a nap) and stll watch t.v. or play cards. They enjoyed having their own space and it worked well for us. Seems like it was just yesterday, man they grow up quick, daughter is married w/ 3 of her own and son just graduated college. Daughter and SIL bought a 5th wheel bunkhouse last fall, guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

[tcorbitt]

I think a lot of us struggle with this question... When our kids were little (under 10), we did not have the bunk house and really liked the extra open floor plan. Now that they are teens, we are in the bunkhouse and love it. They are big now and it is great to have the extra bedroom to keep all the clutter in. We are up earlier and they can sleep in. 90% of the time friends are camping with us, so the 4 bunk beds are almost always in use. Also, most of the bunk house models have closed bathrooms. This is great for teenagers as well. The Mountaineer 342 is perfect for us at this stage.

We really would love to have the more open floor plan, but for now, just enjoy having the kids and friends with us. The teen mess stays in the kids bedroom!! Bathroom privacy is available!! No recliners, bay windows, desk, fireplace,... small sacrifice/trade off for the better at this point in our lives... after the kids are grown and gone, we will have upgrade to the likes of those great looking Big Sky's...

Good luck with the shopping

Tim

[Steve and Brenda]

Ditto on Brad's comments. At this age the kids don't know any difference and a "KIDS ROOM" is a real waste of living space should y'all go without the kids once in a while.

[AZCampinfool]

I have to side with the bunks. Our kids are 3 and 5. With small kids, the bunks are great. We don't have the hassle of making beds up and then looking for a place to stash the bedding during the day. You can put the kids down for naps and close the door and still use the rest of the fiver. Same at bedtime and in the morning. It's also nice if one kid needs to go to bed before the other. Just put them in there and close the door. The rest of the family carries on like normal. We are nowhere close to being full timers or even long timers so we don't miss the living space the bunks occupy. When we are traveling, we don't spend much time inside the fiver. We are out sightseeing or enjoying the outdoors unless the weather turns ugly. We use bed rails on the bunks and have never had an issue with anyone falling out. My kids have never even stayed in a hotel since we prefer the fiver. Even at this young age, they can't wait the sleep in "their" bunks. At this stage, we would not trade the bunks.

[RLVoumard]

Another VOTE for a bunk house. It's MUCH easier to keep the 5er clean as the kids have their own space. Have not missed the back window since most of our camping is in RV parks. I'm an early riser, it's sure nice to get up and read the paper/coffee without waking anyone up. Ours is a 319 BHS model. Also as others have said the all in one bath room is also a plus with the kids on board.

Have fun shopping

[Broome101]

I can tell you coming form both worlds of having bunkhouse then going with 3685FL having kids sleep on the sofas it took up all our living area that way. unfortunately Montana other than Mountaineer does not offer a high end bunk house. This year I sold my 3685FL and went back to bunk house, just for the fact was when the kids were in the living area with other kids form the RV Park as you know if you have kids they go from one camper to the other as adults we had no where other than outside to sit and talk. So having 13 & 8 YOA kids we went back to bunkhouse model. Our new rig has a slide out on each end in back which transforms into a double bunk on each side, with the bottom bunks being flip sofas making a double size beds on bottom and oversize bunks on top, entertainment and wardrobe in middle and door to close them off. We have plenty of living area with the supeslide in living area, washer dryer in master bedroom, works out great for us.
Keystone offers several models Everest has nice double bunk in back similar o ours, Cougar has several nice bunk models, as does Laredo, and Mountaineer. But none of those models offered other things I did not want to give up such as high gloss, double pane windows, gen set, washer dyer and several other comfort items not needed but wanted. they just have to get what is best for them, but we ended back with bunkhouse after all said and done and are very happy with it.

[Wrenchtraveller]

We had both plans when the Kids were small and all family members agreed , bunkhouse wins hands down. Because we have a son and a daughter, one used the dinette bed, one used the sofa bed.
We were restricted to the use of our dinette and sofa both evenings and mornings.We sold that rear kitchen Fifth wheel and bought a new Bunk bed model Fiver. IMHO for real convenience, nothing beats a made up bed and both my kids would read or play video games on their bunks during the daytime. We had 8 wonderful years with our bunk bed model Kit Companion Fiver, many great trips and I had a tear in my eye when I traded the old girl off.

[RCMP03]

Having just experienced a wonderful week of camping with our daughter and 2 year old grandson, I wished we had a separate space for him. Nap times were ok, but we were forced to stay outside the camper the entire time so he would not wake up. Night time was a struggle, my husband and I traded the master bed with them. Nick slept with his Mommy in the master bed. Needless to say she was exhausted by the end of the week. My husband and I suffered bad backs from the fold out futon type couch (not like the Monty's couch). Granted we had a much smaller trailer at the time, but it would be somewhat the same set up in our new Monty, but more living room. If I had a family that came along with us all the time, I would opt for the bunk. You can enjoy the view when out and about with those precious little ones! Another thing they need to consider is the position of switches, I noticed in our Monty that these little guys can reach the water heater and other switches. I know this for sure because that was the first thing Nick reached for when we were showing off our new camper to them! Just my opinion!!!!

[dbrill]

Another vote for a bunkhouse. We take our 3yo grand-daughter with us most of the time (leaving shortly to pick her up for a trip this weekend) and we really appreciate having the room for her to nap and sleep in while we move around the rest of the 5er or sit around outside. Also with a small TV/DVD in the bunk room we don't have to watch Nemo or Shrek over and over and over in the main area. Plus when our kids were younger and going with us we could close the door and not have to see their mess. We picked up the bunkhouse about 4 months before we knew we were going to be grand-parents planning for that day.

[SlickWillie]

If we had children with us on a regular basis, I would definitely want the bunks. We have one of the grandchildren with us on occasion, and it is a PITA trying to get around in the kitchen with the sofa bed down. Same way when we had the Sportsman travel trailer.

[scrowba]

Our kids are 9 and 11, the front livingroom works out great for us. In the evening they have the front of the rig and we have the back. The back door comes in handy when we want to stay at the fire later then them.

[Sunnyside]

Another vote for the bunks. Our kids are 10 and 13, boy and girl. It's nice to have their own space. We get up a bit earlier than they do on the weekends we camp. We can do work or read etc. The kids have their respective bunks decorated to their liking. We camp about 30-40 weekends a year.

Jim