Twin beds vs. a Queen bed

[superChop]

Twin bed preference has been addressed very well by many responders. As a couple, we have found that King size mattresses work best for us. Not too many ASs provide that size. I will add a couple of things we enjoy in our 1964 Overlander with twin beds over the wheel wells and neither of us are tall:
1. We have an extender that allows one twin to slide over to the other twin and provides a king+ size bed
2. My wife has sewn together "betties" that keep our sheets and blanket from sliding off the mattresses. Seems like no sheets fit any mattress we have purchased for our vintage trailers, so you either sew size specific top and bottom sheets, or our preferred option are the betties!
3. When we have our grandkids aged 8, 6 & 5 yrs old with us, the one that sleeps near the dinette has easy access to the bathroom in the middle of the night which is in the rear of the trailer. The other two grandkids have bunk beds over our twins, so we easily sleep all 3 grandkids. They have their own bettie type sleeping bags!

True story - we brought the three grandkids and their mommy on a Georgia to Port Angeles, WA trip in 2018 and all slept in our 26' Overlander. My D-i-L slept in my bed, and my wife made a mattress with fitted sheets that we placed on the floor by the door! Worked great! We surprised a couple of our neighbors in RV parks when we all came out of the trailer in the mornings!

4. This one has already been addressed - our easy access to the bathrooms, or lounge chair if insomnia hits!

We like our twins so much that when we purchased a 34' Excella for use in Florida, we converted the rear queen bed to twins with betties. Many folks at the Top of Georgia and Land Yacht Harbor in Melbourne, FL have seen the upgrades to this 30 year old trailer and have been impressed with the beds, bedding, size of trailer and other upgrades!

Enjoy making the decision, but our vote is for twins for a lot of great reasons.

[JCWDCW]

Making the queen bed is more difficult and the disturbance of your partner is a big issue with some of us “ mature” folks
Advantage of the queen is better storage and drawer space
JCW

[switz]

We started with a 2013 25FB International Serenity ordered while out of the country. Found out there was no space at floor level beside the bed for the width of my foot when making the bed despite the literature drawing showing space. The next unpleasant surprise occurred when I sat up in bed the first time hitting the overhead roof locker with my head. There was no way for me to gracefully get out of the bed to pee without waking my wife. The storage under the bed was not easily accessible either from the small hatch curb side or lifting the mattress.

We ordered a 31' Classic with twin beds. There is a night stand between the beds. There is inside access to the storage under half of each twin and outside access for the other half plus access to the space under the nightstand and heads of both twins. There is a hanging closet above the foot of each twin and a roof locker above each bed as well as one across the rear of the trailer that is easily accessible from the aisle. There is about 15" between the wall the the foot end of the mattress board with cabinetry in that space that provides a shelf for additional clothing storage (married remember).

We have spent the last 5 summers (early May to early October) full timing in the Classic at Ponderosa Shadows, an Airstream only based membership club in the mountains at Lakeside, AZ. Covid 19 derailed that for us the summer of 2020, but we still did a 30 day road trip in September to National Parks with the Classic.

We also have a 2015 23D with the corner bed. We use it for weekends when we don't want to haul the large trailer to restrictive size camp site camping areas. We get used to the both us getting out of bed for her to pee. There just was not the space for twins in that floor plan.

[Rgentum]

Facts, particularly relevant if you get up in the middle of the night to take a leak:
1. The queen-size bed in the 25 ft or 23 ft trailer has one of its sides against a wall, so if the person sleeping next to the wall gets up, they have to crawl over the person sleeping next to the aisle.
2. The queen-size bed in the 27 ft or more trailer has both of its sides on an aisle, so each person can easily get out of bed, on his or her own side.
3. The queen-size bed in the 27 ft or more trailer is a whole lot easier to make, as you have easy access to it on both sides; not so with the queen-size bed in smaller trailers, with access only on one side.
4, The queen-size bed in the 25 ft trailer is positioned so that when you get out of bed on its aisle side, you often hit your head on the overhead storage cabinet, particularly at night: Ouch!

Bottom line: If you want twins, the 25 works fine. If you want a queen, get a 27 or larger.

My sweetie, who traditionally makes our bed, took one look at the queen in the 27 and said, "This works for me."

[Mikebrady62]

We too love our twins for all the reasons stated above. We have been married 34 years and still love to cuddle at home in our King bed. We also cuddle in her twin in our AS. Just like at home it doesn't last too long and off I go my twin bed. Lots of fun spaces when camping for more active cuddling :-)

[369goose]

Originally Posted by CBWELL

We love the twin beds because of the extra room inside the bed area, as well as the extra outside storage. Have had both twins and regular, and the twins are easier for one of us to get up during the night without disturbing our partner. More overhead storage as well, and easier to access that storage.

Same here. Have had both and the twins definitely offer much more space inside for moving around and outside for storage. Currently have the queen and I must be used to making the bed as I don’t have much difficulty making it up anymore. The twins were longer so still had to lift the mattresses to dress with fitted sheets x 2 beds. With the queen some acrobatics are required for the person sleeping on the inside to get up during the night. We are not a “young” couple but don’t find the bed issues significant.

[Dennis C]

That's not entirely correct on the 23 FB. I sleep on the aisle side, so I can obviously get out of bed easily and walk down the center aisle. My wife sleeps on the window side, and there is space for her to get out and walk around the bed without climbing over me. It's not as spacious as a larger trailer or as easy to get around the bed, but it's possible to walk around.

I will say this - I can see how the twins would be nice for lounging and watching TV. We don't do much of that, but the dinette in the 23 FB is small and sometimes it's more comfortable to lounge in bed.

[369goose]

Originally Posted by dream_stream

We ought a 23fb in June. The queen is great for us and we prefer the same bed. It’s tight getting out on the front side, but not a big problem.

Same

[Captn.Ken]

As said before, the twin beds provide the opportunity for more exterior storage which I use for my power cords and hoses, etc. And, two twins give you more sleeping area than one short queen. We have had the experience of crawling over your partner to get out of bed. Bah Humbug! Love our twins!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Twins for the three of us....Hop Hop.

Bob
🇺🇸

[369goose]

Originally Posted by Dennis C

We chose our trailer with the bed size in mind, among other things. We wanted a smaller trailer, but we wanted a queen bed. The 23 FB queen bed is very comfortable for two people, and getting up at night really isn’t a problem. I’m 6’4” and my wife is 6’0”, and we have no issues with the size or length of the mattress. In our particular trailer, there is a nightstand on one side of the bed (hers), but not the other. We like to have a cup of coffee in bed in the morning, so I made a custom wooden shelf insert that sits on a partially open drawer that I use in the morning to hold my coffee cup. I can see the benefits of the twin bed configuration, but we prefer sharing a bed.

We did something similar by putting a Lexon (plastic) top over the open lower drawer next to our queen bed. That provides a hard surface that serves as a nightstand for drinks, phone, book, etc. unintended bonus is that when closed it prevents the drawer from accidentally opening in transit too.

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by 369goose

We did something similar by putting a Lexon (plastic) top over the open lower drawer next to our queen bed. That provides a hard surface that serves as a nightstand for drinks, phone, book, etc. unintended bonus is that when closed it prevents the drawer from accidentally opening in transit too.

It works well. My shelf insert is made from some leftover "beetle kill" pine boards that were used for the ceiling in my house. I have one that's a single plank width, and one that's two planks wide, both with rails underneath to hold them firmly in the drawer opening. I find the single plank version to be the most useful.

[bcheever]

I'm 6'8" and my wife is 6' and we are both older. We prefer the queen bed - my wife sleeps warm and it's a great feeling to have someone to cuddle with if it starts getting cold : ) But to each his or her own - whatever you have to do to make it work!

[Atwebs]

Folks have this funny mindset that twin beds aren't as nice as a queen or king. Not true at all. First the Airstream queen beds are not really queen, just sort of a shrinky dink queen while many of Airstream twins are really "extra long" beds. So, if you are tall the twin might be a better option. They are also easier to make up and there is more storage.

We had a hybrid trailer with 2 full queen beds and there were a couple of issues we no longer have to deal with. There, if someone got up at night they had to crawl over the other person to get out. The bed was practically impossible to make up neatly as there was one side you really couldn't reach. And of course, with a 6'5" husband there was always the battle for either enough space to sleep comfortably or enough sleeping bag to keep covered.

[Mollysdad]

I have the queen and never considered the twins.
But, in hindsight, I wish I'd have looked more closely. The extra walkway, common sense cabinets, and two more exterior lockers all help.
I'm not sure which way I'd go still. I'd have to lay on the twin, roll over, see if the wall is cold, etc.

Currently the dog sleeps under the table, but with twins she could have one side and free up the floor in front.

I really don't know.

[gypsydad]

If you consider all the reasons given in this thread, the twin configuration makes sense to most folks who have had both configurations. (that would be us also!)

2 additional outside storage compartments (which are much larger in the 27'-30' models), but the extra storage inside also, accessibility to the 2 storage compartments/per bed, under each bed for shoes is great and easy to get to, plus the extra storage above the twins in most larger models...we have 2 closets at the foot of each bed; we converted the hanging closet on one side to shelves so both hold our folded cloths, plus some extra floor storage at the foot where wife stores more shoes, and I store our folding solar GoPower suitecase. More changing room, more sleep surface per person, and don't forget how clean/open the AS looks with the big windows from the front looking down into the bedroom thru the isle between the twins. Especially true for the smaller 25' or 23'GT models with the twin. Also, the twin is great if one of you is sick or needs to get up a lot...if you fish, think about getting up early without waking the wife...I could go on, and on...

[lemley]

I have an ‘88 Excella with twin beds. I thought that was a bad idea and had planned to change it. But after 3 years I would not consider it. Several reasons:

1. I also use Bella for guys fly fishing trips. The layout works perfect. I usually end up on the gaucho because of my shoring.
2. The night bathroom thing.
3. An invitation to cross the aisle is a good thing.

[DanHogHunter]

Originally Posted by sfling

As we search for our new-to-us Airstream, we see there are more trailers with twin beds than queen beds...many of which are seemingly being sold by married couples. Why?

Are the queen beds surprisingly small or uncomfortable, compared to twins beds? While I love the Dick Van Dyke show, I don't like the idea of my wife and I sleeping in separate beds, but would love to hear other folks experiences and preferences on the topic before we buy.

The dealer we went to only had the twin bed, so I've never actually seen the queen, so I may not be right about this. If you need a CPAP, the twin bed provides has a good place to put it. We didn't see a place for it in the diagrams of the queen bed layout. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me!

[TerraYacht]

A mandatory criterion in our purchase was a queen bed with access on both sides. We have no hip/crawling over issues (yet) but did not want the rudeness of having to crawl over our mate, or just lie there and hope the urge goes away?
Config is a little different in the TerraYacht but there is plenty of storage and a cubby/nightstand on both sides. We added a heated mattress pad for those cooler nights when we are plugged in so we have a comfy nest.

[Gkiesel]

Originally Posted by jw21id

Agreed, my wife & I recently bought a 25' Excella with twin beds...yes, we're older now with night time bathroom visits, etc., etc. The extra storage will be a plus!

It's the etc. etc. part that is most depressing at this age.