Sleeping downstairs in a 3 seat Beach

CALI FATE · Jul 2, 2016

Had the Beach since January 16 and have always slept upstairs. Last night we stayed on the road in Birmingham after a party - decided to sleep downstairs. After reading the comments on here, I was a bit fearful that the bed might be too lumpy and uncomfortable without a topper / padding. Well it was fine and we both slept well. The traffic noise was definitely reduced and we were in stealth mode. I was prepared to move the mattress down from upstairs if necessary but i didnt need to - I love my van soooocooool

Hotel California · Jul 2, 2016

The noise is indeed less when the roof stays down i try to sleep below when parked up on aires that are to close to the road...
If it's just one night like you say afther party or so it is more than enough ...
Better have a drink and stay in the Cali overnight

Borris · Jul 2, 2016

Since collecting our new Beach at the beginning of June we have slept downstairs in it twice at the recent Tewksbury meet. I also thought that it was going to be a lumpy and disappointing experience but was delighted to find it is absolutely superb. Mind you we do have the VW comfort mattress that makes the whole thing flat and really comfortable. Yes it might be little on the hard side for some but we soon got used to it and the bed is huge.

I am a reasonably tall chap and found the medium bed layout just fine. In fact, unless you want to leave the middle seats in, I cannot see why the long bed would be required by most owners.

Just a quick plug for Nick at Comfortz. Having discussed the need to have a waterproof mattress cover with Nick at the recent Tewksbury meet, he has taken our VW three seat bench mattress topper away and has very quickly made up a pattern so that he can not only supply us with a full cover but other interested owners as well. This cover is now ready. When we have received it back and tested it we will give Nick our feedback and hopefully he will be in a position to be able to supply these as well. Once again another example of truely excellent service from Nick and Comfortz Liesure. When I discussed this with Nick I think he intended making the cover for the medium bed option only as this is probably the most practical and most used option.

California Dreamin · Jul 2, 2016

Numpty question: what is the medium vs long bed?We have a beach with three seat bench and mfb and the vw matress that runs from the rear of the mfb to the leading edge of the bench seat when flat. I am 6'2'' and found it comfortable but a bit short (we normally sleep upstairs with kids downstairs). Is there a long option/ config? (We leave one middle row seat in situ facing the rear when bed is down)

X4 VWC · Jul 3, 2016

The Beach 3-seater bench bed can be configured as short, medium or long with lengths of 1.60m, 1.80m and 2.00m respectively, when used with the comfort mattress. You have to join the mattress sections based on the configuration you wish to use. In the long configuration, the 2nd row seats face forward without the headrests, and can be used to provide an angled backrest when laying in bed (heads at the cab end of the vehicle). The multiflex board must be folded half down to do this. I've tried this in a Caravelle (with sleep pack) and it does create a gloriously large bed. The problem with the Beach is there are too many choices! I removed my 2nd row seats to create a larger living space and a bigger boot but I quite like the idea of a huge bed, and those 2nd row captain's chairs are really comfortable!

California Dreamin · Jul 4, 2016

Nice idea with the backrests, thank you. How do you configure the long 2m bed?

WBWanderers · Jul 5, 2016

X4 VWC said:
The Beach 3-seater bench bed can be configured as short, medium or long with lengths of 1.60m, 1.80m and 2.00m respectively, when used with the comfort mattress. You have to join the mattress sections based on the configuration you wish to use. In the long configuration, the 2nd row seats face forward without the headrests, and can be used to provide an angled backrest when laying in bed (heads at the cab end of the vehicle). The multiflex board must be folded half down to do this. I've tried this in a Caravelle (with sleep pack) and it does create a gloriously large bed. The problem with the Beach is there are too many choices! I removed my 2nd row seats to create a larger living space and a bigger boot but I quite like the idea of a huge bed, and those 2nd row captain's chairs are really comfortable!

We tried this at the weekend as I'd read on the forum it was possible, with no success. Had two front row seats flat w/o head rest, tried forwards and backwards, however we could not get the main bench to sit flat, it was jamming on the board at the back even though the board was in half. we've got a new T6 Beach, what are we doing wrong?

Fast Freddie · Jul 5, 2016

I found you had to move the rear board as far back as it would go. It sits on top of the tie down rings on the floor. At the furthest point back it just all clears. Hope that helps.

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California Dreamin · Jul 5, 2016

yes, to echo that, it is possible with the mfb in full rearward position - level with the end of the runners. The trick is to lift the leading edge of the bench so it can rise over and above the edge of the middle seats. You will notice there is a small cut out in the metalwork on the underside of the bench seat to enable it to clear the cushion of the middle seat.