Doblo sleeping options

[essjay]

Hello there. This is my first posting, so I hope I have come to the right forum.

My wife and I (occasional campers, keen walkers, nearing retirement) are considering investing in a campervan and, partly as a result of this fine site, are persuaded that a car / van conversion presents the optimum solution. We particularly like the look of a Doblo high-top which we have seen in the early stages of conversion.

I guess my only reservation (so far) is the width of the bed (42”). We are both quite small and used to each other’s company, but I wonder how well we are likely to sleep.

I’ve seen pictures of conversions with full-width beds (54” ?), but I imagine getting up, dressed and ready for breakfast might be a tad awkward.

Does anyone have any first hand experience (ideally of both options) that they would be willing to share?

Finally, are there any other surprises that, as prospective new campervan owners, we might avoid before we commit ourselves?

Thanks

Steve

[NomadSue]

Hi Essjay. Welcome to the forum.

Sounds as if you are at a very exciting stage - browsing through the vans currently available. Have fun - you are wise to take your time choosing, presumably browsing through all the magazines and visiting showrooms and the camping and caravanning shows.

Re bed size: 42 inches is not much wider than a single bed in the house or airbed, surely? As far as I recall, a lot of the vans that we originally looked at, had beds this width. Lounge area was comparatively spacious, making for greater daytime comfort.

But 42 inches is rather a narrow bed for two people, in my opinion. Ok for when we were young

Personally, we decided to opt for the much wider bed as in the Romahome campervans. It is wide enough for us both to sleep in comfort, especially important as neither of us is as slim as we were! Once the double bed has been put up in our little van, there is only a tiny area in which one can stand ie the space between the cooker and the sink. So you still need to get on pretty well!

so I guess you 'pays your money and makes your choice.'

[pendel]

Derek & I are of average build & Derek is 5ft 9in and we find the bed in the Romahome very comfy. Our routine for getting ready for bed is, he goes out in the awning while I make the bed up, get the pj's on and get into bed ,then he comes in and gets ready fo bed. This works fine except Barney (the travelling cat) usually bags the warmest bit first. In the morning its basically the same routine in reverse. We havent found any problems with the size of the bed and as long as your warm enough you can sleep like a log. :so happy:

[Vanderella]

We opted for a van that has a large double or two singles with a gangway in the middle. This is very very handy for night visits to the bathroom, and for treading on the sleeping dog! As NomadSue says, take your time, look at plenty of vans before you decide.

(We are both quite large both in height and width, and thought of both of us sharing a 42" bed is quite horrific!!)

[essjay]

Doblo sleeping options

Many thanks for these wise observations. Yes it is an exciting process getting to the right decision. We realise that every consideration represents a complex compromise, so as you say it’s important to take your time.

By luck (in returning the Christmas decorations to the loft yesterday) I came across the old double air-bed my wife and I used when we camped with our boys. By chance it, too, is 42” wide. Neither of us can recall struggling to sleep on it, or rolling off the thing, but it was 20-odd years ago.

Anyway, I’ve pumped it up, and jammed it into a van-shaped slot on the floor between a bed base and the bedroom wall. And, if it’s held its pressure at the weekend we are going to sleep in our fantasy camper van for a couple of nights.

In the meantime, especially if our experiment does not result in a decisive outcome, I’d be really interested to hear how other folk have got on.

Thanks

Steve

[RomaDenizen]

anybody knows if the Doblo is a reliable model ? The internet seems to say yes, but heard some conflicting reports down the pub. anybody has a story to tell ?

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

anybody knows if the Doblo is a reliable model ? The internet seems to say yes, but heard some conflicting reports down the pub. anybody has a story to tell ?

I'll let you know in a couple more years 12K miles and counting...

[RomaDenizen]

just got myself a high-top Doblo. Very excited, still afraid of it. So many things to figure out, even the door locking mechanisms are a bit of a mystery. Wish me luck !!!!!!!

[andyvan]

Wooohooooooo !!! Well done, enjoy exploring it and hope to meet you in a field one of these days!
All the very best and congratulations:so happy:
Andyvan

[Graham]

just got myself a high-top Doblo. Very excited, still afraid of it. So many things to figure out, even the door locking mechanisms are a bit of a mystery. Wish me luck !!!!!!!

Marvellous, congratulations, enjoy your new van.

[RomaDenizen]

what i love about it is that its 1) A People carrier 2) a van 3) a stealth camper all in one......and 4) is under the radar for any serious punishment from the taxman. 5) strong enough to tow anything 6) easy to buy parts for 7) qualifies for normal car insurance ........... my mechanic has made an angry face that i bought something that wasnt japanese, especially a Fiat.... but he is crazy anyway .

[Caz]

Was parked next to a Doblo in the supermarket car park the other day and, as I was putting the shopping away, I had a good look at it and thought about what a nice little campervan it would make (as you do).

Can anyone post a link to pictures of the layouts they have?

This 42" bed sounds interesting, I'm used to a double at home and find most singles in caravans and motorhomes/campervans are too restrictive - the dog ends up on top of me! On the other hand I don't need a big double as there's only me (and the dog) so it seems a waste of space and time making up a huge bed.

Thanks.

[essjay]

Doblo advice

Well, you don’t learn if you don’t try. I’ve had some great nights’ sleep on an air-bed as a solo camper, but our double (42”) air-bed trial was abandoned within a couple of hours as a result of Mrs Essjay’s motion sickness. Undeterred, the following weekend we fashioned a more conventional “mattress” of the same width, and both had a reasonable night’s sleep. At least we didn’t seem to get in each other’s way, and single sleeping bags seemed more effective than a duvet.

So with that doubt resolved, I guess our next considerations are optimum layout and how little additional gear we can get away with.

Any observations (or pointers to previous posts) would be appreciated.

Thanks

Steve