U-shaped seating vs. gaucho/sofa seating?

[HeatherPage]

If every other feature in two pop-ups were relatively the same and the units were roughly the same size in length and width, which would you prefer, u-shaped seating or gaucho/sofa style and why?

Thanks in advance!

[wynot]

If every other feature in two pop-ups were relatively the same and the units were roughly the same size in length and width, which would you prefer, u-shaped seating or gaucho/sofa style and why?
 
Thanks in advance!

We don't like climbing over seats to get to bed, so no U-Shaped for us.

[AustinBoston]

If every other feature in two pop-ups were relatively the same and the units were roughly the same size in length and width, which would you prefer, u-shaped seating or gaucho/sofa style and why?

Thanks in advance!

IME, all U-shaped seating is between a bunk end and the rest of the world, so use of the bunk end requires climbing over the U-shaped seating/dinette.  Not a problem for the young and agile, but a growing obstacle for the middle aged and overweight.

Austin

['tiredTeacher]

We chose the Starcraft 2107 for the u-shaped seating. It allows DW to lean against the side and put her feet up. It allows two to sit comfortably facing each other for conversation. It accomodates 3 when guests arrive. Our layout has a facing dinette at the one end of the camper and the u-shaped seating area at the other.

[HeatherPage]

I think I'm leaning toward the u-shaped for the very reason 'tiredTeacher stated, but I'd still love to hear further opinions.

[HersheyGirl]

I am on my second camper with the u-shaped dinette and I really like it.  I don't mind climbing over the dinette to get to the bed and like having seating for many.  I like the looks of the u-dinette and it gives the camper a more cozy feel.  Good luck.

[flyfisherman]

I've had both. The previous camper had the gaucho/sofa and my present little Starcraft has the U shaped seating and I prefer it hands down. Without the table being set-up it just opens the space up (and mighty comfortable seating, too). As for having to climb over the seat to get to the bunk, simply removing the center back cushion allows easy access. And for this old man, it makes getting into and out of the bunk a lot easier. Besides, if accessing the bunk over the seat is that much of a hassel, you have a queen sized bunk on the other end where you can have a "clean shot" at it!

Me thinks you need to get over to the dealer and get inside that camper and feel, see, smell and touch the surroundings. For sure, you'll then have a handle on whether that camper is for you and yours or not. I kinda believe more campers have sold themselves by a buyer setting in them rather then brochures and salesman put together. For a fact, it was what sold me on my present popup.



Fly

[Kelly]

I like the u-shaped dinette.  I'm also on my second PU with it.  Both also had a second dinette.  The first one was parallel to the door and I hated it cuz you had to climb over dinettes on both ends to get to bunks.  The one I have now is perpendicular to the door and works much better.

My girls climb over the dinette to get to bed.  I don't have to climb over anything to get to my bunk.  DS sleeps in the second dinette so nobody climbs over him to get to be either.  (Did any of that make sense?)

We don't have a table for the u-shaped, so it's treated more like a couch.  I leave the back cushions at home cuz they are a pita to store and they keep falling over when they get climbed on!!  I also like having more underseat storage, so I'm not looking at our stuff all the time.  Helps keep the PU neater.  (Always a plus with 4 kids!)

Here are links to the 2 floorplans I've had.  The Jayco is a 1995 and the Pal was a 1998 ~ but the layouts are the same.

Current Floorplan (Jayco 1207)

Previous Floorplan (Palomino Yearling RL)

[volzjr]

If there was only the two of us, we would have gone with the u-shaped seating. It looks "cooler", and seems more comfortable and roomy. But with our three kids, and the occasional friend (for a total of six campers), we felt that the u-shaped seating would be a problem.
As we were making our decision, we took our brood to the dealership and "hung out" in each of the models we were considering, for at least half an hour. We wanted to see how we "fit" in each one for sleeping, eating, etc. In the U-shaped seats, we couldn't all fit in one area, so for meals some of us sat in the dinette and some in the U-shaped area at separate ends of the camper. The same thing applied if we wanted to play cards together. In the gaucho unit, we could put four in the dinette and two could sit on the sofa (facing the dinette) with lightweight TV-type trays, and we could eat, play cards and converse together easily. In the u-shaped unit, some folks in the dinette have their backs to those in the U-shaped seats. We actually considered that maybe the two separate areas could be a good thing, if the kids wanted to play a board game in one area, and we could play cards or just talk in the other area, but we realized that we do enough "separate" stuff at home, and the point of getting the camper was to have something we could do together.
Next was the sleeping part. We figured (correctly) that the older kids would want the bunk ends, and the younger ones would be sleeping on the gaucho/U-shaped seats. In the u-shaped units, that meant that the older kids would have to climb over the younger kids to get to bed, because the younger ones would be going to sleep earlier. That also meant that no matter who slept where, that someone was going to have crawl over someone else for any middle-of-the-night potty runs. In the gaucho units, no one has to crawl over anybody to access a bunkend, dinette or sofa.
Given the above, the choice for us was clear. We bought the Utah with the gaucho sofa. Your circumstances may be different, but that was the thought process we went through... HTH.

[wynot]

Me thinks you need to get over to the dealer and get inside that camper and feel, see, smell and touch the surroundings. For sure, you'll then have a handle on whether that camper is for you and yours or not. I kinda believe more campers have sold themselves by a buyer setting in them rather then brochures and salesman put together. For a fact, it was what sold me on my present popup.
 
 
 
Fly

Wanna know what you don't want?  Rent a popup and live in it for a few days and a few setups.  You'll know exactly what you DON'T want.  Best money you'll ever spend.

[HeatherPage]

All very valid points, thank you!

[garym053]

My Starcraft has the slideout Dinette and Gaucho on other side. I like the arrangement. I did not consider U shaped dinettes as I didn't want to climb over them to get to bed.
I can sit on the Gaucho and put my feet up on a dinette cushion if I need to, however since we are only in the camper to sleep, most of the time I'm sitting in a chair by the campfire with my feet up on a log!
We actually ate inside the camper for the first time in 8 years of camping the weekend before last. Still cooked outside, but ate inside as it started raining before I could set up the picnic table canopy.

[zamboni]

Our first starcraft PUP had the dinette in front of the main bunk, so we had to climb over it.  However, we rarely kept the table inside, so it was no big deal.

Next rig was a Niagara with the slideout dinette.

Looking for a hybrid, my wife and I were convinced we did not want to climb over a dinette to get to bed, so we eliminated the 23B floorplan.

...

(note, in sig, what floorplan we own...)

...

Sitting / hanging out in the rigs, we found:
1)  All 2+2 dinettes are cramped with 4 adults
2)  If the dinette is on the slide, you have to step up into it, making it hard to put a 5th person on the end (they'd have to sit on a barstool)
3)  If the kitchen was on the slide instead of the dinette, the kitchen was smaller - lower upper cabinets (to make room for mechanism), and the lowest cabinets were "fake" to hide the slide out mechanism.

However, in the 23B, with the huge U-shaped dinette... we turn the table on the side most of the time (in front of part of the dinette and sofa).  No big deal, after all, to step over the dinette bench seating - makes the camper feel very big.

We can also sit, easily 6 adults, or 8 mixed adult/kids around our U-shaped dinette by pulling up 2 chairs to the "open" end.  Very nice for playing games, eating together, etc.  On a campout last Feb, when it was very cold, we packed 10 people & 3 dogs in our rig for eating & hanging out, with no real problems.

[kimrb266]

I'm not a fan of U-Shaped dinettes because I don't like the thought of having to climb over them to get into the bunkend.  I think of us getting on the cushions and  breaking down the foam and make them saggy, they'll get dirty faster and I don't even like the sofa area in our Niagara for the same reasons.  

The hybrid we are looking at happens to have a U-shaped dinette but the difference is that it is in a place where we don't have to climb on it to get into bed.  We like this one dinette in particular because it's large enough for all five us to have dinner where the regular dinettes we can't.

[AustinBoston]

On a campout last Feb, when it was very cold, we packed 10 people & 3 dogs in our rig for eating & hanging out, with no real problems.

Boy, that is some togetherness!  If you took our immediate family, added enough close friends (or family) to make ten people and three dogs, and put them in the Taj MaHaul, then after a weekend there would be quite an odor, :% and probably at least one catfight. :swear:

Austin