When shopping for an RV, it’s easy to focus on finding a model that offers enough sleeping, dining, cooking, storage, and closet space. Those factors are certainly important. However, while you’re evaluating those areas, don’t overlook features that can mean the difference between a comfortable and a frustrating camping experience. One of the most underestimated spaces in any RV is the bathroom.
First-time buyers often pay little attention to bathroom size and features—until they realize how much time they actually spend there. Seasoned RVers, on the other hand, consistently rank the bathroom’s size, layout, location, and amenities among the top priorities when choosing a new rig.
In fact, it’s not hard to imagine that a significant proportion of the late-model used RVs for sale on a dealer’s lot were traded in on new ones because their owners judged the bathrooms inadequate.
The most criticized features of RV bathrooms, besides size, are the inconvenient location of a toilet, the lack of storage space for toiletries and the poor design of shower stalls. Who can forget the frustration expressed by one RVer who examined a motorhome’s toilet compartment and complained, “I could do my business there okay, but I’d have to go into the hall for the paperwork.”
Bathrooms and shower areas are notoriously poorly designed and constructed. Many of the most widely used models of combination tub/showers require the camper to balance on one foot and climb into them through a child-size opening.
While walking through a new or used RV that interests you, consider whether the bathroom has adequate storage space for your family’s toiletries and whether it has towel racks, a large enough mirror and heating ducts. Either the bathroom should have space for keeping towels and linens or there ought to be a linen closet conveniently located nearby. Is the tub/shower large enough, and is its curtain or sliding door adequate?
In order to step into the tub, do you have to climb over the toilet or stand on a heat register? Is the shower enclosure well-built or does it look as if it leaks? Stand in the shower to determine if the space there is adequate. Does the bathroom have a built-in hamper for dirty clothes? Is there enough knee and elbow room when seated on the toilet? Does the RV bathroom have – and do you need – a power roof vent?
Maybe take a check-off list with you as you’re shopping for an RV so you don’t overlook something that you may regret later.