How comfortable are the beds?

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IMZvonko

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Posts
24
Location
Copley, OH
It seems like most of the "beds" I'm seeing (I've been looking at class B & C) are made by folding down/out some sofa or chairs. That doesn't seem very comfortable for my arthritic 61 year old body. Plus, my wife has a difficult time falling and staying asleep and I am sure she'd struggle on those.

In the coaches that have bigger beds, the pictures always show it with the bed made so I can't tell what's underneath.

How comfortable are the beds? Are there mattresses for those that are created by folding out/down something else? What about the main beds? Do they have mattresses? Are they comfortable?

I also noticed some have a bed in the cubby above the driver/passenger area. That looks really uncomfortable. I can see myself banging my head all the time. Do you all use those? Or is it more for kids?
 
We have a 2017 Winnebago Aspect 30J. Ours has a memory foam Mattress that came with it.
I love it, very soft and comfortable.

I have read that adjustable air mattresses were also an option too?

Our Aspect has the head and foot boards running inline with the bumpers so it is not compromised when we fold in the bedroom slide.

We love our Winnebago!

JD
 
Our Aspect has the head and foot boards running inline with the bumpers so it is not compromised when we fold in the bedroom slide.
Can you please explain (or show with a pic?) what you mean by that sentence. I am having a hard time picturing it and looking up a few coaches like yours didn't help.
 
I presume he means the bed runs longitudinally in the coach as opposed to transverse.

Mattress comfort is really, really subjective.

You've sussed out and I agree - the Overhead berths, fold out berths and dinette berths have limitations in what one can do.

With a pedestal bed one is primarily limited to a board based mattress as opposed to a spring frame. However what one can place on top of the base board is pretty flexible. Many pedestals could be an odd size.

The best I can describe mine is Asian Queen - Sort of a non-PC way to say a shortened queen bed. I know some pretty tall Asians - LOL...
 
IM,

What I meant is the head and foot of the bed run North and South (inline) with the bumpers of the Aspect 30 J.

AKA...main Bed is positioned Lengthwise...

We have a bedroom Slide which is the closets and drawers. When the slide is in travel mode it snugs up against the side of the bed. Some RVs the bedroom will require the mattress to be hinged (My Guess) so it can fold and that will prevent use while traveling down the road. I will come back and add a good pic later as my Rig is in travel mode ready to roll in the back yard.

JD
 
It really comes down to the individual RV, lots of those multiple cushion jackknife sofa, or dinette beds are not very comfortable, some people add foam toppers which may help some, but not much. Though here some designs are better than others, they also make Sofas with air mattresses, including sleep number style air mattresses, others have Murphy beds,or even traditional beds, though in smaller RV's the options are limited. Still even designs with fold out or retracting beds that mandate relatively thin mattresses can be made reasonably comfortable with a higher quality aftermarket Latex foam mattress, and to a lesser extent by an aftermarket memory foam mattress.
 
Our Bedroom Slide. Only time my better half slept while we were traveling, I passed the Arch in St Louis Right out the passenger side window.

You snooze..You lose sometimes, as I was racing thru in the AM to beat the rush hour traffic that was getting ready to get going.

Our Aspect 30J has no Over head front bed, and does not have that upper portion hanging over the cab as most class Cs have with the sleep over cab bed.

JD
 

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It helps to have some idea what kind of "residential" mattress you like. Memory foam, sleep number, coil spring, soft, firm, whatever. Then just get that kind for the RV in whatever size you need. We ended up with a name brand we like at home and we're very happy with it. Even the dogs agree...

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
I think the proper term is RV Queen.
You might be right but Asian Queen is a thing. I have a bed frame that I bought in Asia. And yup, a standard queen doesn't fit.

I probably haven't measured that frame compared to the RV bed to see if there are any inch differences.

I hate buying mattresses. Even if you get the size right there are now a bazillion choices in mattress "technology" - TBH I am a terrible judge of comfort. If it's primarily horizontal I can sleep on it. Too many years off watch sleeping on spare sails - LOL...
 
Thanks for the replies. Several of you mentioned adding your own mattress. I didn't think of that. Do you get those custom made or do they actually sell RV-sized mattresses?

So, for those that have a separate bedroom area, are the beds "permanent" or do they fold up (someone mentioned dropping down from ceiling) or down so you have space back there when not sleeping?

Where do you store the foam for the foldout sofa/chair beds?
 
There are RV sizes. Example, I think the RV queen is 6" shorter than a regular queen. Often that's just for a little extra clearance for a slide or some drawers, and your particular spot may not need it, or you may not care and you can go with a standard size. Many brands and styles are available RV sized so not much question you should be able to find something you like. I've read where a number of folks swear by the spendy select comfort mattresses. The only caveat with those is having power available nearby to run the pumps and controller. My previous camper was a popup with just basic foam cushions to sleep on and that wasn't much better than camping in a tent with a foam pad. Moving up to a real mattress in the RV was a nice switch for me, and mandatory for my wife who broke her back a few years ago and sleeping on the ground was a non-starter for her.

My bed is a permanent pedestal in the bedroom over the fresh water tank, half being the tank and the other half is accessible storage by lifting the end of the mattress. It's always a bed though and I've thought how it would be nice to turn that into a different use area by day but that wouldn't happen without re-engineering the pedestal and losing the storage space. You see a number of RV's now that have murphy beds in the main living area which can offer a new degree of versatility in a small space, the downside being you're having to set up/tear down every day and there's no mixed use.

No cushions to store for the convertible furniture. The dinette cushions are used for the bed, same for the couch when it's converted. Sometimes there are "spare" cushions like a seat back you may not need for the bed, those can get stuffed under the lowered dinette table or I'll usually stack extra pillows and such in the front cab area.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
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Some RVs have oddball sized mattresses, usually when it lacks space for the standard US sizes. Large coaches or higher-priced models typically have standard queen or king size beds and may offer air-adjustable mattresses, memory foam mattresses, etc. Even if the size is non-standard, quite a few mattress companies make custom or specialty sizes.

I've seen numerous Class C models with queen or RV Queen beds, but maybe I've been viewing larger ones, i.e.28-31 ft, and models with a slide. Smaller ones may use a Murphy bed or other fold/drop down. A few only offer the front cabover bed that you climb up into. Class B's, though, often convert bed to sofa by rearranging cushions or otherwise converting living space to sleeping space.

This infomercial shows some common types of ClassC floor plans and sleeping facilities. Everywhere from bunks to short-king size (70x76 rv king).
 
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You need to start looking at larger Class C motorhomes. Anything smaller than 28' long will have a fold up bed of some sort. 28' RVs tend to have corner beds, which means one person will have to crawl over the other person to get in or out. When you get into 30-32' motorhomes, you will find they have real mattresses, although they may be slightly smaller than a home mattress, so take a measuring tape with you when you start looking.

I have a bad back and wanted to be able to walk around my bed. There is only about 6" on either side, but it does make it easier to make the bed.

I prefer a softer mattress and the one that came with my motorhome was a little too firm for me, so I topped it with a 3" memory foam. Really nice now. It is as wide as a regular queen, but it is about 10" shorter, so it depends on how tall you and your wife are, but definitely try laying down on a mattress to make sure it fits you. And under my bed is storage.

And you DO NOT want a jackknife bed. That is basically a couch that opens in the middle. There will always be a depression in it and you will both roll towards that depression!!
 
I agree that jackknife sofas make lousy beds, but when we last had one as a guest bed, we used a "foam bridge" that's made for combining two twin mattress to make a king, but we cut one down to fit the sofa. Our adult daughter slept on it for several nights and declared it 100% better than without it. Amazon carries several brands of them...
 
It seems like most of the "beds" I'm seeing (I've been looking at class B & C) are made by folding down/out some sofa or chairs. That doesn't seem very comfortable for my arthritic 61 year old body. Plus, my wife has a difficult time falling and staying asleep and I am sure she'd struggle on those.

In the coaches that have bigger beds, the pictures always show it with the bed made so I can't tell what's underneath.

How comfortable are the beds? Are there mattresses for those that are created by folding out/down something else? What about the main beds? Do they have mattresses? Are they comfortable?

I also noticed some have a bed in the cubby above the driver/passenger area. That looks really uncomfortable. I can see myself banging my head all the time. Do you all use those? Or is it more for kids?


Not sure what class B or Cs you are looking at but we have a class C with bedroom and queen size bed with a gel foam topper that is more comfortable than out bed at home. We have another queen size bed over the cab we place a gel topper on and that bed is as comfortable as well. I am 67 years old and 250 lbs and find either bed very comfortable and zero problems using the cab over one
 

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