Why we Chose the Grand Design Imagine 2400BH

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After years of research, dealerships visits, and RV shows, we were confident that the Grand Design Imagine 2400BH would be the right RV for us. And in October 2019, we finally took the big leap into the world of RVing and purchased our new travel trailer! 

The BH stands for ‘bunkhouse’. With two kids, we knew that a bunkhouse model would be the best option for us. There are several different floor plans for bunkhouses on the market. I want to share with you all the reasons why this particular rig – and this brand – landed at the top of our list.

The Bunk Ladder

Most bunkhouse configurations are bumped up right next to either a dinette or a solid wall that attaches to the bunk ends, making it no easy feat to get to the top bunk. With the dinette bumped up to the bunks, you could use the back of the dinette seat as a step. However, I spent some time on various RV brand owners forums for some of these models and quickly learned that the back of the dinette benches can break down pretty quickly under the pressure. 

This was the only model in this size category that I could find with open floor space and a ladder for the bunk. I had only seen this option in larger models that were outside of our towing capacity. So we were very excited to find that ladder option in a smaller floor plan!

Double-Wide Bunks

These bunk beds are nice and wide! I was not comfortable with the standard single bunk sizes in other travel trailers. There was no room to move! It’s a scary thought that your child might roll right out of the bed, but that’s not a problem with the double-wide bunks! Each kid has space to sleep and store some personal items – stuffed animals, books, etc.

Enclosed Bedroom

Initially, a private bedroom with a door was not a top priority on our wish list. In fact, we started out looking for a murphy bed model so that we could tuck the bed away during the day and have a couch and open walking space instead, and thought a curtain was sufficient. We have found that we really LOVE having this private bedroom space with a door.

Inevitably, someone is bound to get a headache or tummy ache at some point on every trip, and this allows us a space to hide away and relax and recover privately. While it’s not really sound proof, it does also allow everyone else to still enter and exit the rig without creating very much distraction. The blackout curtains and tinted vent cover help darken the space even on the sunniest days.

If you have family members that suffers from chronic conditions or anyone that is prone to experiencing overstimulation and need a quiet space to go and unplug, having that enclosed room is a lifesaver!

Residential Queen Mattress

Manufacturers have been slowly moving away from the RV Short Queen mattresses (60×75) and using the standard residential queen mattress size of 60×80. We wanted our home-away-from-home to be just like home, so that we could throw any kind of mattress we want in there!

Open Floor Space/Walkway

We knew from the start that we wanted a unit with a slideout so there would be plenty of open floor space for everyone.  We  liked that the Imagine has an L-shaped kitchen that sits against the wall, leaving all the floor space unobstructed.

U-Shaped Dinette

This was a big-deal item on my list! The U-shaped dinette can seat up to 6 which is great when we have friends with us. It’ll even seat just the 4 of us much more comfortably than a standard dinette. And when the dinette is folded down into a bed, it makes for a longer and wider bed for adults than the standard dinette. The Imagine’s U-shaped dinette bed measures 76×44 as compared to the standard dinette bed of 67×41. (For comparative purposes, a standard twin mattress is 75×38.)

Countertops

The 2400BH’s kitchen is well laid out and provides more counter space than manyrigs in this size category. What’s not to love about that?! The collapsible side table by the sink adds extra space when needed.

And we love the quality of the solid surface countertops used throughout the rig. No cheap, peeling laminate countertops here like we saw in other rigs.

Large Pass-Through Storage Space

It’s a LOT of space! It was the largest pass-through storage we found for this size category. Grand Design claimed at that time that it was the largest in the industry. But, the biggest selling point for me was the fact that it was a fully enclosed, unobstructed space. We learned this was really important to us – and really hard to find.

Getting the max space out of this storage compartment was high on our wish list. It’s also why we abandoned shopping for murphy bed models. Murphy beds cut into that pass-through storage space to store the head of the bed when the bed is upright. The head of the bed was sometimes fully exposed inside that pass-through storage space to the outdoor gear that we would be storing in there or to potential water or bugs whenever the exterior storage doors were open too long. 

Pet Station and/or Wine Drawer Inserts

While the pet station was not a big deal to us since we don’t RV with pets, it is a unique feature Grand Design incorporates into several of their models! It’s a shallow drawer that stores two pet bowl inserts. You can close the drawer and the bowls are out of the walkway when not in use. In the Imagine 2400BH, it is located under the fridge. I removed the pet bowls and use them at home for our cat, and we have just been using the drawer for storage. Like I said, not a big deal for us — until I learned there’s another insert option available for 5 BOTTLES OF WINE!! It can be ordered on the Grand Design site. I haven’t ordered it yet, but plan to!

Shoe Storage

After tripping over shoes in the popup for so long, this feature couldn’t be appreciated more! It’s so nice to just kick off your shoes at the door and slide them under the shoe storage, out of sight and out of the way!

Bathroom

To finish off this tour, we might as well mention the bathroom. Honestly, I don’t know that there’s anything extra special about it compared to other rigs on the market. Simply having a fully functional, spacious bathroom topped my wish list!!

Grand Design did a great job utilizing all the space, so there is lots of cabinet storage, and nice elbow room and height in the 30×36 shower. There’s also a cool mildew-resistant retracting shower curtain that “self-squeegees”.

Exterior

The exterior of the Imagine 2400BH did not disappoint either! Compared to other models that we considered, all of the tanks were much bigger, the R-values were considerably better for the floors, the roof, the cap, and the walls, a bigger furnace and better underbelly protection from the cold. If we ever wanted to camp somewhere really cold, we could. Not that I want to, but we could if we had to!

After all that awesomeness, bet you’re wondering what we don’t like about our new rig. Because, let’s be honest, there’s always room for improvements. That’s for my next post! I’ll also show you what improvements Grand Design has already made to this rig since we purchased our Imagine 2400BH just a few months ago.

Wondering what’s accessible in the Imagine 2400BH when the slideout is in? Check out my blog post here!

What’s more important than the rig itself is all the places and activities that we’ll get to experience with our family and friends! I am looking forward to sharing all of our future travels with you, so please be sure to Subscribe To our Email Newsletter to keep up with new blog posts, offers and opportunities!