Single beds or fixed island?

I'm only a little squirt but hubby is 6 foot and we sleep in two full length singles.  Hubby would definitely appreciate an extra few inches but manages.  Anybody taller would struggle.

We opted for this arrangement in a two berth van because I don't want to tow the extra length of van that's only going to be used to sleep at night.

Personal choice but we're happy with things as they are.

I would have thought that any caravan with designated single beds (as opposed to settees made up as beds) will be two foot six inches wide, although the distance between the beds won't be as great as the settees in the lounge. As Jill points out caravans (and motorhomes for that matter) with separate designated sleeping areas will also be longer in length for towing. 

David

The single beds in our Motorhome are 1929 x 1730 (6ft 4in x 2ft 5in). We find them perfectly adequate with Duvalays. Our previous Motorhome has slightly smaller singles and that was fine also.

Check the sizes of the beds as they do vary between models but for accessibility I’d opt for 2 singles every time.

I figured that for a decent size island bed, whether with a longitudinal or transverse arrangement, one would have to go for an 8ft wide caravan, otherwise access from both sides will be rather limited. To make towing a bit easier I didn't want such a wide caravan so we chose two singles instead.

We used to have a Bailey Cadiz, two single beds. Neither of us are small and they were long enough and wide enough for us. Much preferred that layout to the previous ones we had with island bed.

The bed arrangement in our current van was the principle reason for choosing it. We previously had a Bailey Barcelona with a 'French" double bed and Ros - having had a knee replacement a few years ago was finding it increasingly difficult to get in and out of it - regardless of whether or not I was in it at all!  Getting out of it and back in, in the middle of the night was a real challenge and she was getting seriously fed up with it..

We chose the current van - a Knaus Starclass 695 - and 8' wide - principally because of the two single beds - just short of 3' wide ( almost as wide as a standard 'domestic single) and the longest one is about 6'10' long. There is a gap of  2' between the beds and they are SO comfortable.

More importantly, though - is the fact that they are actually lower than the Barcelona fixed double - which, again makes access a lot easier.

The only slight downside is that - with it being an 8' wide van, I've got to be a bit careful about where we take it.

Each to their own - depends what your priorities are - but for us - it works.

Our near neighbours had a Bailey, bought only a couple of years ago, that has single beds. Both of them are over 6' tall and are apparently well satisfied with the unit. Can't remember the model exactly but suggest you look at those. 

It may in fact have been what DEBSC had but I can't confirm (as I've forgotten!)

Be careful when looking at Island beds some friends of ours b ought a c/van with an island bed but did not it seem to notice what the length of the bed was when at the show, only when they picked it up ,they realised that to make the full length it was required to be extended.which when done there was not enough room to get past it 

Somebody on CT started a thread recently saying exactly the same thing. 😯