Do you sleep upstairs / downstairs?

[Eber123]

Hello,

When we got the van, the first nights my wife and I slept downstairs. But this turned out a bit too small. So we agreed that my wife sleeps upstairs and I downstairs.

There are a few reasons for this:

• First the weight limit on the upper bed. In this case I am the guilty part, with too much pounds on the rips. By the way, I wonder if the weight limited of the upper bed has increased on the T6.1?
• Second reason is that my wife gets easily disturbed during her sleep. Meaning if I would turn around on the upstairs bed it would wake her up.
• The third reason is that I like to read or listen to music a bit longer in the evening.
• The fourth reason is that when I am downstairs if something is going on I can check this out quicker as if I would be upstairs.

So far it went well. 2x years ago we went to Mayo for a few days. It was very windy and heavy rain during the night (the days actually were fine). I was amazed how good the upper roof coped in those condition.

Happy sleepy California,
Eberhard

 

[Calimili]

I removed the shelf that form the bed downstairs completely, pushed the bench further back, so I have a big "living room-kitchen", and sleep always upstairs.

 

[Crofty]

Sleeping upstairs is our preference as then the downstairs is all ready for the morning and gives you lots of space downstairs that way. We like sleeping up top it’s comfy and cosy. Agree getting up in the night is a pain so try not to do that but getting up and down is rash enough it just wakes up the other person . When parked up we pop up the roof and lay out all the bedding ready for the night and push up the roof giving lots of room downstairs . Works well for us. We have bikes on a tow bar rack that tilts so you can still open boot with bikes attached . Would that work for your bikes?

 

[Jim2007]

Sure, you can leave a duvet and pillows upstairs and push the bed upwards. They are pillows and duvets, that will not damage the roof. The max weight is whatever max weight the gas struts can carry untill the bed comes down. How much you can leave up there when closing the roof however (hardly anything) is a whole different thing.

It holds two of the thickest Duvalays, two pillows and a blanket with no trouble.

On the subject of nocturnal visits to the loo, funnily enough at home I can succumb quite often but have never needed to in the van. Weird.

 

[Heggiepro]

Upstairs is so much more convenient, throw the duvet and pillows up when we arrive and push the bed up till it’s needed. Dog sleeps downstairs, only time we’ve slept downstairs was a mad scramble at 3am to get the roof down with 50mph gales making us feel that the roof was going to be blown off!

 

[Dark Ocean]

We’re only two weeks into California life, but I have to say, I was surprised at how noisy it was upstairs. It makes sense when you think about it really, it’s only a tent on the top of a vehicle. Downstairs is double glazed and so quiet when the roof is down. Added bonus, the kids prefer it upstairs so we dont have to worry about climbing up and down in the night.

 

[SusiBus]

Always sleep down stairs. Never even tried upstairs. As we wild camp mostly, for some illogical reason it makes us feel safer.
We've got a 6' bed at home, surprisingly we manage with limited space downstairs, get a lot more cuddles as well.

 

[Cali Phillip]

Always sleep down stairs. Never even tried upstairs. As we wild camp mostly, for some illogical reason it makes us feel safer.
We've got a 6' bed at home, surprisingly we manage with limited space downstairs, get a lot more cuddles as well.

so do we, much less obvious without the roof up.

 

[Baronardup]

Hi there, Just starting to look into buying a campervan and ideally a California. We have camped for years but maybe looking to buy a California for when we retire and have more time. We are just a couple so wondering which bed people use. Does it depend on the weather? The reason we are asking is that if most people use the bottom bed, then is it worth getting a campervan with a top bed? Top bed seems ideal as in you have the usual downstairs and do not need to get the bed ready each night but we have not tried one and looking for the views of experienced users. Any help / thoughts would be very much appreciated.

Hi, we're just retired (well, 95%) and have recently bought a California Ocean (take a look at the 5 seater California Beach if you have several grandkids), and have had a couple of camping trips so far. One consideration for where you sleep is how agile you both are, as you have to climb up and down using the front seats. And, as others have said, how good the old bladder is! I have to use my imagination this year so far, but if it's a hot night, upstairs would be great as there are window openings (with fly screen) up top. One last thought, we use ours daily as our regular drive and it's brilliant (it has the auto DSG gearbox), would prefer the reversing camera option although you soon get used to using mirrors.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Hi, we're just retired (well, 95%) and have recently bought a California Ocean (take a look at the 5 seater California Beach if you have several grandkids), and have had a couple of camping trips so far. One consideration for where you sleep is how agile you both are, as you have to climb up and down using the front seats. And, as others have said, how good the old bladder is! I have to use my imagination this year so far, but if it's a hot night, upstairs would be great as there are window openings (with fly screen) up top. One last thought, we use ours daily as our regular drive and it's brilliant (it has the auto DSG gearbox), would prefer the reversing camera option although you soon get used to using mirrors.

Unfortunately, age-related decreases in bladder competency and in agility are invariably positively correlated!

As there are only two of us and usually our overnight stops are just one night, we keep the driver's seat facing forward. That makes getting up and down quite easy once you have the knack, using the shoulder of the seat as a step (but NEVER step on the arm rest, you'll break it).

 

[Palm]

Depends on time of the years, summertime Yes wintertime No. Place is also a factor.

 

[Tony hylton]

Hi there, Just starting to look into buying a campervan and ideally a California. We have camped for years but maybe looking to buy a California for when we retire and have more time. We are just a couple so wondering which bed people use. Does it depend on the weather? The reason we are asking is that if most people use the bottom bed, then is it worth getting a campervan with a top bed? Top bed seems ideal as in you have the usual downstairs and do not need to get the bed ready each night but we have not tried one and looking for the views of experienced users. Any help / thoughts would be very much appreciated.

We have always slept up top, I made a wooden ladder in Two pieces for easy storage.We also have a topper for bad weather which is great.

 

[Tony hylton]

Sure, you can leave a duvet and pillows upstairs and push the bed upwards. They are pillows and duvets, that will not damage the roof. The max weight is whatever max weight the gas struts can carry untill the bed comes down. How much you can leave up there when closing the roof however (hardly anything) is a whole different thing.

I damaged my roof.storing stuff on the bed, one can probably get away with a lot if the roof is manual , not electric.
be careful

 

[mountainman]

Always upstairs, unless it's below zero!

 

[sapto]

One of the best parts of Californiing is you can always choose where you want to sleep depending on the situation. We love to sleep up and downstairs.
At some point we disscused buying a bigger van however our futur van has to have a rooftopbed otherwise we stick to the California (that is why - and moneywise - the Grand California isn't for us. The Adria GSX Sport somewhat looks faboulus...)

 

[Deskman]

Upstairs with the exception of very high winds and once in a while when we want to be in extra-stealth-mode or when we need to move quickly. 99% of the time we are avoiding campings...
Oh, and in -14ºC I keep the roof down and the heater on.

 

[sapto]

Oh, and in -14ºC I keep the roof down and the heater on.

and an open window

 

[Kernowboy]

Kids up top, me and Mrs KB down below. Except in Scourie a couple of years ago when the winds hit well North of 60mph and the roof just had to come down. 4 downstairs in an Ocean is cosy, but doable!

 

[RichardH]

We sleep upstairs 99% of the time, whilst on a site leave the bedding in place, push the bed up out of the way and downstairs becomes a large welcoming/tidy space.

Likewise. In over 600 nights, in good and awful weather, we have slept downstairs only once (when attempting to stealth camp almost directly opposite a Spanish police station).

 

[ThomasHJ]

I damaged my roof.storing stuff on the bed, one can probably get away with a lot if the roof is manual , not electric.
be careful

Storing stuff in the bed when closing the roof is a bad idea indeed. But the question was about storing stuff in the bed and pushing the bed upwards, -while keeping the roof open-.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Storing stuff in the bed when closing the roof is a bad idea indeed. But the question was about storing stuff in the bed and pushing the bed upwards, -while keeping the roof open-.

It’s a very tight space between bed and roof, so tight that the zippers on the bellows windows leave imprints in the roof headlining (on ours anyway). So, obviously nothing up there when closing the roof.
But during the day with the roof up I think it’s OK to lift the bed with duvet/pillows etc up there.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Depends on the time of year. And what the weather is doing. We’ve slept upstairs all year round. We’ve got one of those wraparound pop-top covers to add warmth, but it’s only ever needed if it’s super cold. And it can get quite stuffy if that wrap is on, so it doesn’t get used too much.

In the warmer months, sleeping upstairs is lovely, too. I like the fresh air.

When we first got the van, we always slept downstairs. But found the bed to be too narrow for the two of us. We’re both over six feet tall. Although, we’d sleep perfectly fine down there if we needed to.

On a solo trip, I mainly slept downstairs but it was during a stormy week around Devon and Cornwall. I’d made the rookie mistake of putting the roof up, not checking the weather, and spent a terrifying night near Salcombe listening to the wind and rain whip constantly against the van. On those occasions, I bring the bed down from upstairs and slide the shutter mainly shut, to keep some ventilation but reduce the noise.

In answer to your question, upstairs is absolutely fine all year round. Unless it’s blowing a gale. A pop-top cover can keep out the cold when needed. But downstairs sleeping is perfectly fine.