Best bunkroom setup?

Question

I am working on the plans for the renovation of my mountain cabin. 3 story cabin with 4 bedrooms/4 bathrooms. All of the upper bedrooms will be king beds. For the basement I am planning on a bunkroom, as the bedroom down there is big enough to hold that, but it’s not really feasible to divide it into 2 bedrooms. So I can do 2 queens on the bottom and 2 twins on top. Or I can do 1 king on the bottom and 2 twins up. Because of the layout, I have the ability to rent the basement as a separate listing since there will be a kitchenette in the downstairs living room. Or it can just be part of the whole house rental and be a good spot for kids. The area is known for hiking, biking, wineries, and just weekend getaways from Atlanta. Is there a good/bad reason to do one or the other?

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Annette Holbrook so we have a dedicated kids bunkroom downstairs in our lake house.

It has been one of the best reviewed areas in our place. Having a space for kids to hang out separate from the adults gets great reviews and creates a nice break from adults.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

Any way to do 1 king and 1 queen? If not, I would say queens in this scenario as its more flexible than just the 1 king.

John Underwood · Answer

Don't get the ones that are made out of logs. They can have splits in the wood that bed bugs can hide.

Michael Eskenasy · Answer

I’d design this around booking flexibility, not just maximum headcount.

If the basement can truly function as a separate listing, I’d lean 1 king + 2 twins. That gives you a much broader guest mix: couple + kids, two adults + kids, overflow from the main house, or a standalone basement booking that doesn’t immediately feel like “the kids’ bunkroom.” Two queens + two twins maximizes bodies, but it pushes the room harder toward large-group occupancy and makes the separate-listing option less elegant.

The bigger move is to treat the basement as its own revenue unit even when it’s bundled with the house: separate sleeping capacity, kitchenette, bathroom, entrance, cleaning/reset standard, inventory, and pricing logic. Then you can sell whole house / main house / basement without creating operational chaos.

That’s how we’d usually design this kind of system: preserve optionality first, then let actual booking data tell you which configuration earns the most.

Matthew Tregoning · Answer

I'd lean two queens below if the room still has space for luggage and people to move around. Gives you more flexibility when it's rented separately. I'd tape the beds out on the floor first though. Four beds on a floor plan can look a lot better than four beds in the room.

Best bunkroom setup?

5 Replies