Camping, (or Glamping), In Our Little Chalet

My husband and I discussed camping for the first time, early on in our relationship. He’s a rough it kinda guy.

When we met he had a tent, 2 canopies, sleeping bags, a lantern, coolers, a propane grill, a standing outdoor shower and a portable toilet seat that sits on a 5 gallon bucket (along with other stuff). Well, mostly a rough it kinda guy.

I looked at all of this wonderful gear and said, uh….no….I need real walls, cuz of lions and tigers and bears, Oh My !!!!!!

He is such a sweetheart. He understood that I needed a little something more….

like hard walls and a roof, a door, windows, (with drapes for privacy), air conditioning, heating, a toilet, a shower, a sink, a cooktop, a little bit of cabinetry and drawers, (for soaps & utensils), a table with comfortable seating, a queen size bed with lots of blankets and pillows, under bed storage for towels, clothing, books and games !!!!! Must have games !!!!! Must have games !!!!! Must have games !!!!!

And that is how we went from “Camping” to what my daughter calls “Glamping”, (Glamour Camping).

We own a home, but in our HOA we aren’t allowed to park a trailer out front where someone can see it. Our back yard isn’t really big enough to park a trailer, so we started to look for a trailer that our 2006 Subaru LL Bean could pull and that could fit in our garage. Our limiting factor was the height of our garage door when opened. Later we found out the Subaru LL Bean was also a limiting factor.

We looked on YouTube for advice on the best trailers for our needs. We searched the internet. We found an amazing little trailer.

We drove for hours to look at a 2018 Chalet Model XL 1930.

I loved it from the moment I saw it.

It had EVERYTHING on my list of wants (see above) !!!!!

The Dimensions and Exterior Features

The most important feature about this unit… is… it has…. WALLS, A ROOF, A DOOR, WINDOWS… I could go on, but you’ve already seen my list.

The overall length of the XL 1930 (when including the tongue), is 18 feet 7 inches. It’s height folded is 6 feet 1 inch. This made this unit perfect for parking in our garage (unseen by the HOA).

It’s height raised is just under 11 feet (131 inches in overall height). The unit weight is 1,995 pounds. The tongue weight is 240 pounds. The GVWR is 3,500 pounds.

There are two batteries and two propane tanks (front right of the picture below). There is an access compartment for the Thetford toilet cassette (left of the entrance door). There are four stabilizer jacks with sand pads (two front and two rear, underneath).

In the picture below you can see the patented “Ergonomic Power Lift System”. With the push of a button, it lifts the roof up into an A peak (no cranking involved for this roof).

The unit has an underbelly storage passthrough compartment (above picture, left bottom corner). There is another door straight across on the other side of the unit.

We kept different things in different stackable storage boxes inside the passthrough. One box would have electrical items. One would have water related items. One would have sewer related items. Yet another would have items for setting up and leveling the trailer. All of our storage boxes fit very nicely in the pass through storage unit.

You will need to store lots of things like the electrical hook up cord, a surge protector with EMS, one or two dogbone adaptors, a small tool box with a level (we selected one that is magnetic), leveling blocks, a water filter, a garden hose with a nozzle to spray down anything dirty.

You should go read my post that talks about EMS surge protectors and dogbones.

Pertaining to Hoses

• Do not use a standard garden hose, for the water that is supplied to the trailer.
• Do not use a drinking water hose (even if it has a nozzle on it), to spray down something that is dirty.
• Each hose type needs to be stored separate from the other type, so you do not contaminate the drinking water hose.

It isn’t always easy to find a drinking quality water hose. When we find one, we usually purchase a second (if there is a second one available). The last thing you want to do is go camping and have something bad happen to your only water hose.

I was working on another post today, when I found something great. I found drinking quality hoses that are significantly less expensive than those I have found in stores. They are certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 for drinking water. The hoses are lead-free, BPA-free and phthalate-free. They are made by Camco (a company I trust for RV supplies). What I found the most amazing was the variety of lengths they offer.

Here are some links for you, in case you want to get yourself a trailer water hose.

• 50 foot long, 1/2 inch internal diameter (ID)
• 50 foot long, 5/8 inch internal diameter (ID)
• 25 foot long, 5/8 inch internal diameter (ID)
• 10 foot long, 1/2 inch internal diameter (ID)
• 4 foot long, 1/2 inch internal diameter (ID)

Windows and a Dormer

Overall, this unit has nine windows (all but one with curtains !!!! very important to me).

On this side, one of the windows is frosted. That window is in the wet bath area. A wet bath was an option for this model.

The frosted window is covered during showering with a specially made shower curtain. The shower curtain came with the unit, when originally sold.

There is a bubble window at the end of the trailer. It is over the full size queen mattress at the end of the trailer.

This unit has a dormer in the front. It was an option on this model. The dormer is raised during setup to allow for plenty of headroom when sitting at the table inside. The table is just the other side of this window (here at the front of the trailer).

Tires and Wheels

The tires and wheels look real good and underneath the unit, there is a spare tire. Well, what more can I say about that.

The Interior

Headroom and a Comfortable Seating Area

When you step in you are surprised at the headroom of this A frame. The dormer makes a world of difference in comfort, as it makes the dinette area feel so spacious.

The unit comes with carbon monoxide, LPG and smoke alarms. Additionally, there is a fire extinguisher as soon as you step up into the trailer, on the right (easy to access if in a hurry to extinguish a fire).

Here is the dinette (below the dormer window). The dinette can be converted into a bed for one adult (or maybe a couple of little children). Under the right bench seat there is room for some storage.

Along the front wall, above the dinette table, you see heating and cooling vents. There are also two electrical outlets and a way to attach to cable (providing the place you choose to camp offers cable).

There room for some storage under the left bench seat.

There were conveniences in this trailer I hadn’t thought of, like outlets and cable connectivity.

The Kitchen

This XL 1930 has a three burner propane cooktop. Notice the flaps on the back (currently folded in). When the cooktop is in use, the flaps are folded out (to stand left and right of the cooking surface). This helps prevent food splatter from hitting things left and right of the burners.

The kitchen area came with a three cubic foot, Dometic brand refrigerator with freezer compartment.

I was amazed at how much food the refrigerator could hold and keep cold.

I was pleased to see the Chalet came with a folding faucet and a double basin sink. I found the double basins to be very handy, as you can wash dishes in one side and rinse in the other.

A huge window spans the area over the sink, counter and stove top. it is also an emergency exit window.

Cabinetry and a Built in Stereo System

The quality of the cabinetry is amazing. There are 2 drawers, a flip down storage box and a cabinet under the sink. The thing I like most about this trailer was it comes standard with counters that are residential height!

You don’t feel uncomfortable having everything way lower than what you would experience at home. That makes a big difference in physical comfort when the counter, sink or cooktop are being used.

This trailer also has a Jensen AM FM radio and CD player built into the cabinetry. Just to the left of that you can see a bit of the side of the queen mattress.

See the cabinet below the mattress? In there, there are drawers (trays), you can pull out and load up with whatever is important to you (like GAMES !!!!! lots of GAMES !!!!!).

The Walls, the Mattress and Condensation

To the rear of the trailer is a full size queen bed with one of the most comfortable mattresses I’ve ever slept on.

I don’t have a great picture of the bed, just know I slept like a baby so peacefully, night after night (and we camped for several weeks in it).

There is a grab handle attached to the underlaying support board so you can lift the mattress. Once lifted in the upward position, hydraulic arms keep the board and mattress up. Under the support board are three long sturdy plastic slide trays. The trays provide a huge amount of storage. We put towels and clothing in two of the trays. We put dishes, pots and pans and such in the last tray.

The first night we camped in our beautiful little Chalet, we noticed condensation (moisture), building up on the walls. People don’t realize how much moisture can build up in a trailer during normal use. Moisture will deposit itself on the walls. Moisture will also build up under the mattress, on top of the support board that holds it up. If not stopped, the moisture can cause mold to grow, which will ruin the mattress and the underlaying support board. Because of this, it is very important to do 2 things;

• Purchase a marine grade quality mattress underlayment
• Purchase a dehumidifier with an air purifying feature for inside the trailer

We needed to order a mattress underlayment that would provide airflow between the underlaying support board and the mattress itself. We found exactly what we needed from Den-Dry. We made our purchase through Amazon. The product was delivered to our door. It arrived in a roll. It only required 2 cuts with standard scissors to fit it to the exact size of our mattress. Once cut, you simply lay it under the mattress, (it comes with some simple instructions). It was very easy to do.

We found a great dehumidifier with an air purifying feature for our trailer. The brand was Tenergy Sorbi. It wasn’t very expensive and didn’t take up much room. It made a visible difference in the level of moisture in the trailer, (as we no longer saw any moisture build up on the walls). Additionally, it really helped with the internal air quality (pollens and campfires are not my friends).

Wet Bath and a Flushable Toilet

Our model of trailer came with a foldable wet bath. Below, the wet bath is shown in the upright position.

Opposite the shower in the wet bath is a Thetford cassette toilet (a very nice toilet unit in here).

The wet bath is folded down before bringing down the sides and the roof of the Chalet, prior to transport.

This trailer satisfied all of the things I felt I needed, to feel both safe and comfortable while camping, (ok ….. glamping).

What Has Happened to the Chalet?

We bought our Chalet used from a RV dealership. We kept our Chalet for a year, and loved it.

I don’t know the status of the company that made our Chalet. All I have found online is that Chalet’s manufacturing plant was in Albany Oregon. I recently took a look at their web site and saw it was last updated July 5th of 2020.

At this point in time, I can still find our little Chalet’s brochure online, click the link to see it “Our Chalet’s Brochure“. In it you can see all of the specs and features of the XL line of Chalets.

The only reason we sold our Chalet was because, over time we found we wanted a little more interior room. We wanted a little more storage space and more options for seating.

I find myself smiling, as I look at the pictures of our little Chalet (thoughtfully designed, beautifully crafted and made to last).

What an amazing product. Ours was beautiful.

I hope you have safe and joyful adventures when you are out and about in your RV.

If you haven’t already read them, make sure you go read my posts titled;

• “5 RV Camping Things You Must Have “Electrical or Electronic”
• “9 RV Camping Things You Must Have for Clean Water“
• “10 RV Camping Things You Must Have for Gray and Black Water, (Sewer)“.

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