By Tony Barthel
When I was selling RVs I talked to so many people who were buying bunk model RVs with the hopes that their grandchildren would come camping with them. Then they didn’t. Then the RVs got traded in for what the travelers really wanted.
Perhaps the problem wasn’t so much with the intentions but with the RVs themselves. For example, look at a lot of the beds in bunk model RVs and you’ll see why teenagers don’t want to come along. Although another reason might be that teenagers just don’t want to spend their whole vacation hearing about how much they’ve grown, asked about what they want to be when they grow up and answering questions about the technology grandparents have.
Back to the RV. Perhaps some people might consider a Winnebago Voyage V3639BHL. Yes, technically this qualifies as a bunk model RV – but it’s really something very different.
What’s inside the Winnebago Voyage 3639BHL
What’s really different about this fifth wheel trailer is concentrated in the back, so let’s take a look there. There are two entrances to this rig, a main entrance and a rear entrance.
Going in through the back door, the first thing you come to is the second bathroom, which consists of a porcelain toilet and sink. This is nice as you have access to the bathroom directly from outside. So it facilitates those quick trips to the potty where you don’t really have to traipse through the whole rig.
From the bathroom there’s an entrance into the rear sleeping quarters of this trailer, and you’ll notice a 54” X 74” bed in the back. Next to that are three large storage areas. These include two hanging areas and one with movable shelves, making for quite a bit of stuff-carrying capacity. But wait, there’s more.
That ladder that you passed leads up to an upper floor loft which features a 64” X 80” bed as well.
Back bedroom for visitors (e.g., “fort” for grandkids)
This back bedroom could work for the occasional visitor traveling with you. But it could also be a great place to sleep for a couple who comes along. If either of you has younger travelers along, there’s the “upstairs fort” – which just about any kid would love. Just add a Nerf gun and that makes that fort even better.
There’s a door that closes off the back bedroom from the main sleeping quarters. You have to go through the back bedroom to get to the rear restroom.
Inside the main living area of the Winnebago Voyage 3639BHL there are theater seats at an angle to the large TV and space-heating fireplace. Those seats share a road-side slide room with either a table and chairs or a dinette. That dinette can make for another sleeping surface. However, it’s likely the kind that dissuades your grandchildren from wanting to travel with you.
Frankly, I’d rather sleep in the theater seats. But I’m not going to admit to having done so plenty of times after a night of visiting more than one micro brewery. Hey, it’s better than the dog house. Besides, Fido snores.
There’s another slide on the camp side which holds the pantry consisting of a 10.3-cubic-foot gas-electric refrigerator, a pantry and a three-burner stove with 17-inch oven. There’s also a convection microwave above all that.
The sink and plenty of drawers are located in the island. There’s more storage on the front wall pantry, which also has a shelf for coffee makers and whatnot.
I like when RV companies think of our shoes. Winnebago did with a bit of storage below the lower step leading to the upper deck. (Is that sentence confusing?)
Upstairs in the Winnebago Voyage 3639BHL
Upstairs in the Winnebago Voyage 3639BHL is the typical corner fifth wheel bathroom with a doorway into the hall and a second one into the bedroom. A large wardrobe slide has lots of storage in a nicely-arranged configuration. It even includes some countertop space with a window on the road side.
The 60” X 80” bed up here is flanked by wardrobes on either side as well as night stands, each with both 110vac and USB power.
In summary
If you have others who you want to travel with you, the Winnebago Voyage 3639BHL fifth wheel could really be a great choice. With the back bedroom and second bathroom, the other travelers have a lot of privacy but also a large bed on which to rest their heads. This kind of sleeping and privacy arrangement might be just the incentive to encourage them to actually want to go with you.
As for answering all those tech questions, I can’t help with that nor do I want to. I tend to be the tech support guy for all my friends already, so that’s a subject I am not interested in addressing when traveling.
These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. We receive no money or other financial benefits from these reviews. They are intended only as a brief overview of the vehicle, not a comprehensive critique, which would require a thorough inspection and/or test drive.
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Why does Winnebago design two 100 gallon waste tanks, yet leave only 60 gallons of capacity for freshwater? It must be because the manufacturer does not see any owner of this rig boondocking for more than one night or two. This is what my RV friends call a “park queen” or “camp queen.” Too bad, because it would seem Winnebago is cutting itself off from a segment of the market for which it designed this RV.