Some RVs have slideouts, others don’t. If your RV has slideouts, this question is for you: With your slideouts in, can you easily access your kitchen? Or is it nearly impossible and your slideouts must be out?
Here’s an example: If you pull over to a rest area for a lunch break, can you make yourself a quick sandwich with the slideouts in or is it uncomfortable, cramped, or not possible?
After you vote, please leave a comment and tell us if you wish your answer were different or not and why. Thanks!
Our kitchen is accessible unless you need to get in the silverware drawer.
2003 LiteWay Outback kitchen access no problem, but dinette no way.
A more important question is Can you access the bathroom?
Slide in or out, everything is easily accessible. Narrow hallway, minor irritation.
Thankfully, I don’t have any slide-outs on my Motor Home.
We can access the fridge and the bathroom. This was a must for whatever we purchased.
In our Montana fiver we have full access to the residential fridge with the slides in, but not the pantry, sink, stove or any other part of the galley. We do have full access to the bathroom.
Kitchen, bathroom and bed are all fully accessible. I always check that when looking at a potential trade.
Bathroom and bedroom is accessible, but that’s it. (Great pic!)
In our fiver we have full access to the fridge and pantry with the slides in, but not the sink, stove or any other part of the galley. We do have full access to the bedroom and bathroom.
Access to the fridge, bathroom, and bed with the slides in was the primary selling point for each of our 3 RVs. We had to be able to load the fridge in a Walmart parking lot, sleep in an RV parking space at Flying J, and use the bathroom anywhere without extending the slides.
The only things we can’t access with the slides in are the larger TV (which has been used maybe a dozen times in the 12 years we’ve had it) and the drawers under the hanging closets at the foot of the bed. Realized that on the way home from Indiana to Colorado when we couldn’t access fresh clothes after a Walmart stormy night. So we keep an emergency change of clothes in the cabinets over the head of the bed.
We can when we remove the dinette!
We can access everything but to be comfortable We have to pick up the dinette table and put it on the dinette seats. We do that for loading and unloading the trailer. It works fine.
With the slides in, the front of our motorhome is very similar to what a non-slide RV would be. We have unimpeded access to both sofas, the kitchen, “shortened” table & two chairs. Also the half bath.
For the back, the bedroom is useable, but we can’t walk around the bed. To use the full rear bath requires scooting over the bed.
We would never buy an RV without first seeing the unit with all slides in. Because very deep slides of 3′ + are more and more common the floorplans in many newer RVs become unusable for us since we want access without running out slides.
One of the very FIRST things I will check before going ANY further is how accessible is everything in the coach with the slides closed. Our Dynasty Countess III passed that test. The rest is history.
We have dual RV full-size freezer/frigs. One can be accessed with all the slides fully retracted. The pantry door can be partially opened. Good enough for a roadside picnic lunch – so long as you remembered to take out any needed accessories like plates, cups, knifes. Other than the sink, the rest of the kitchen is on the slide. When fully retracted, all the drawers and cupboards are blocked. An opposing slide blocks the back of the sink’s island.
We have access to bath, bedroom and kitchen sink but no access to the rest of the kitchen or living area with the slides in. However, we have an outdoor kitchen so for road trips we pack food and drinks in that refrig for easy access. We would not consider using the outdoor stove for a quick stop but its available if needed.
We can use our entire motorhome with slides in. Only have 2. We have a north/south bed, so in the rare instance we can’t/don’t want to put that slide out, person on inside has to crawl out if they get up in middle of the night…not me 😊. The kitchen. bath, living area totally accessible. On trips to a destination, we only use the bedroom slide when stopping overnight.
We can get to most of the kitchen but cannot fully open the refrigerator. I just make sure the lunch things I need from there are placed toward the front on the side we can reach in.
We just got a Grand Design Transcend 240ML everything is accessible with the slide in.
Nice! Wishing you many happy and carefree miles in your new Transcend, Snayte.👍 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
One under seat cabinet is not available to pull out, but can be accessed by lifting the seat. Otherwise, our kitchen is fully accessible. Most of the drawers in the bedroom require the slide to be out to access, and one person has to crawl across the bed if the slide is in. However, we’ve never been in a place where we couldn’t briefly open the slide to grab what we needed. Occasionally having to crawl across the bed makes us feel young again, like when we had a tent trailer. (Oh yeah, there’s a reason we sold it!)
We chose to pick a 5th wheel RV with the good access to the bedroom and bathroom while the slides are in as we feel that access is more important when traveling than access to the kitchen. It works out for us when we need to pull over to rest or potty. We keep a cooler in the truck with sandwiches, drinks and ice plus a goodie bag with snacks.
At least, not the most important part -the ‘fridge:(
I answered somewhat, but we have full access to everything in the kitchen once we get past the theater seating. It’s a little tight but I don’t need to turn sideways to get by. It would have been a little easier if we had settled for the recliners because they can be turned to allow easier access.
BTouring Cruiser 5230. No problem accessing any part of the kitchen with the slide in or out. Trifold sofa in place of the ridiculous dinette that most RV manufacturers offer.
that is what we for that and bath room easy to get to while traveling
2019 Flagstaff 21fbrs with full access to kitchen, refrigerator, bed and bathroom with slide in. Great for quick stop for food or a few winks when on the road
We have a 2022 Newmar New Aire 3545 and it is easy to use the kitchen whether the slides are extended or retracted. 🙂
Molded fiberglass trailers are unable to have slides. Not having slides doesn’t bother me.