Imagine vs. Reflection, how did you decide?

[hammertime]

We have an Imaging 2970 RL. The heating duct work is in the walls in the bedroom and bathroom, and on each side of the island in the living area.

One difference between the Reflection 297 and the Imagine 2970 is the side of the trailer that has all the windows, i.e the dining/recliner side. I think the Reflection has that slide on the street side and I know the Imagine has that slide on the curb side.
I never gave it any thought until I read it here and it struck a cord. Think about when you are in your camp site, what side of the trailer do you want to be looking out of? Do you want to look at your neighbor or do you want to overlook your camp? There are various opinions obviously, but I have no interest in looking at my neighbor, or having them look in our windows. I know you can close the blinds, but you don't want those closed all the time either.

The tall doors and deep storage in the storage area on our 2970 RL is awesome! I keep an 8' foot fiberglass step ladder in there and I store it against the wall, not laying on the floor. I can just get the feet of the ladder out the door without having to tilt it.

There are two disappointments I have compared to our 1997 Sunny Brook, and that is the stove/oven and the refrigerator. The oven is ridiculously small. I mean what in the wide wide world of sports were they thinking!!?? I get it, most people don't use there ovens when camping, I do. The fridge I guess I can live with. Our SB had an 8 cubic foot fridge, our Imagine has a 6 cubic foot fridge. You can work with the smaller fridge and freezer you just need to hit up the local grocery store a little more. Or, in our case we have an electric cooler, so we bring that along just in case.

this is very important -- this made our decision for a 303 instead of the 29 we initially looked at

[Bearlabelle]

My wife and I began camping for the first time September of last year. Yes, we have ridden motorcycles for thousands of miles in the U.S. and ridden the Alps in Europe and Spain and Portuguese mountains but camping? Never. After consulting friends who are suppliers to the Northern Indian RV market, it was hands down Grand Design with no hesitation. We bought an Imagine 2670MK. Perfect for the 2 of us with an out door kitchen for me to cook with. No room in the bed room period. Storage was limited with only 2 medium drawers. Gather your cloth the evening before, put them in the dinnet booth because there is no room to dress in the bedroom. Moving forward one year. We love camping and the camping community. We bought a 2020 Reflection 320MK 5th wheel with an out door kitchen and entertainment center. We were considering the 337 but liked the desk in the back and the outdoor features. The step in closet and bedroom are awesome. Bath is a serious upgrade Mike at Northgate treated us very well. Close to even what I bought my Imagine for and the trade they gave me. Best of luck. Going with the Reflection would be my choice if it were a year prior.

[Sbrunk21]

I was in the same boat. After researching quite a bit, the extra added features in the Reflection wins hands down! Here is a feature sheet that might help you for the Reflection. Sorry I do not have one for the Imagine.

[zadiemay]

IF money is no object, I would have gone for the Reflection or the Solitude that has the same floor plan, with the bedroom slide out! We went with the 2970RL Imagine & LOVE the floor plan & the only thing I would/will miss for sure is washer/dryer.... so if you can get it, do it! I would like the solid surface counters too, but paid cash & got what would work for us!

[zadiemay]

IF money is no object, I would have gone for the Reflection or the Solitude that has the same floor plan, with the bedroom slide out! We went with the 2970RL Imagine & LOVE the floor plan & the only thing I would/will miss for sure is washer/dryer.... so if you can get it, do it! I would like the solid surface counters too, but paid cash & got what would work for us!

[JiMissy]

We first found Grand Design looking at the reflection. We looked at a few imagined and they were not up to the reflection standards so we were looking at reflections till.we walked into an solitude. Needless to say our solitude 375 res is our dream home we always wanted. My advice, get the best you can. Remember that settling for less will always make regrets.

[scheney55]

Seeking advice: Hello, I'm new to this forum and planning to become a GD owner very soon. This is the first RV purchase for my husband and I. My family had an RV when I was a child and we've borrowed my parents' RV a few times over the years, so we have a little experience. We plan to do some extended travel across North America and will be RVing full-time for a year (or longer if we love the lifestyle). We believe our RVing style will be a combination of mostly Nat & State parks, Harvest Hosts, and Boondocking with a few private campgrounds from time to time. We are in our late 40's and will be doing some part-time, remote work while traveling.

We've narrowed our search to a Grand Design travel trailer, either the 2020 Imagine 2970RL or the 2020 Reflection 297RSTS. (The floor plans are almost identical.)
We love the new modern pebble interior of the 2020 Imagine. It's by far my favorite interior of any TT we've seen. The Reflection has a more traditional decor, but we love the stone countertops, solid cabinets, glass shower door, and upgraded features like w/d hookup...and I believe Reflection has slightly better insulation and air conditioning system? (correct me if I'm wrong about that)

Knowing what you know now, would you choose Imagine or Reflection for extended traveling? Do we choose the interior we like best and save a little money, or go with the interior we like less -and spend a little more- to benefit from the higher quality features? We will be towing with a GMC Sierra 2500 Diesel. Thank you for your advice!

We bought an Imagine 2600rb a little over 3 years ago. We have been rving for over 40 years. Our last rv was a 32 ft 5ver we had for 10 years. We were tired of having trouble fitting into state parks and wanted something smaller. We liked the upgrades of the Reflection tt but didn’t like the extra length - the Reflections are quite a bit longer than we wanted. Having a pull behind since it doesn’t sit in the bed of the truck like a 5ver does feels much longer and also quite a bit more sway. Our 2600 does provide for a surprising amount of storage but we will be going back to a 5ver next time since much easier to tow.

[Firmn74]

Seeking advice: Hello, I'm new to this forum and planning to become a GD owner very soon. This is the first RV purchase for my husband and I. My family had an RV when I was a child and we've borrowed my parents' RV a few times over the years, so we have a little experience. We plan to do some extended travel across North America and will be RVing full-time for a year (or longer if we love the lifestyle). We believe our RVing style will be a combination of mostly Nat & State parks, Harvest Hosts, and Boondocking with a few private campgrounds from time to time. We are in our late 40's and will be doing some part-time, remote work while traveling.

We've narrowed our search to a Grand Design travel trailer, either the 2020 Imagine 2970RL or the 2020 Reflection 297RSTS. (The floor plans are almost identical.)
We love the new modern pebble interior of the 2020 Imagine. It's by far my favorite interior of any TT we've seen. The Reflection has a more traditional decor, but we love the stone countertops, solid cabinets, glass shower door, and upgraded features like w/d hookup...and I believe Reflection has slightly better insulation and air conditioning system? (correct me if I'm wrong about that)

Knowing what you know now, would you choose Imagine or Reflection for extended traveling? Do we choose the interior we like best and save a little money, or go with the interior we like less -and spend a little more- to benefit from the higher quality features? We will be towing with a GMC Sierra 2500 Diesel. Thank you for your advice!

Have you looked at the Reflection 303RLTS? It sits at 32’5” overall. It has a pantry and a little more living space. We love ours. At one time, and may still be, it was their best selling model.

[Jroy99338]

Seeking advice: Hello, I'm new to this forum and planning to become a GD owner very soon. This is the first RV purchase for my husband and I. My family had an RV when I was a child and we've borrowed my parents' RV a few times over the years, so we have a little experience. We plan to do some extended travel across North America and will be RVing full-time for a year (or longer if we love the lifestyle). We believe our RVing style will be a combination of mostly Nat & State parks, Harvest Hosts, and Boondocking with a few private campgrounds from time to time. We are in our late 40's and will be doing some part-time, remote work while traveling.

We've narrowed our search to a Grand Design travel trailer, either the 2020 Imagine 2970RL or the 2020 Reflection 297RSTS. (The floor plans are almost identical.)
We love the new modern pebble interior of the 2020 Imagine. It's by far my favorite interior of any TT we've seen. The Reflection has a more traditional decor, but we love the stone countertops, solid cabinets, glass shower door, and upgraded features like w/d hookup...and I believe Reflection has slightly better insulation and air conditioning system? (correct me if I'm wrong about that)

Knowing what you know now, would you choose Imagine or Reflection for extended traveling? Do we choose the interior we like best and save a little money, or go with the interior we like less -and spend a little more- to benefit from the higher quality features? We will be towing with a GMC Sierra 2500 Diesel. Thank you for your advice!

We chose the imagine 2020 2970 RL 33’ based on trailer, tongue weight and our vehicle load limits. Our total CGVW (trailer, 10 gal water and truck loaded is around 14,500#). That being said we agree the reflection had a few more bells and whistles, but very happy with the Lighter Imagine.
Side note: be prepared to have warranty work done, so read the small print and purchase close to a dealer.
Good luck 👍

[atagirl22]

As a full-time RV'er I would recommend to really look at what you want to take on the road with you, (I have since gotten rid of a storage unit of items as it is cheaper to go buy everything then to keep paying a monthly storage fee). Look for how you plan to store items, especially clothes!!! We actually removed all of our furniture and put in our living room sectional as my husband is 6'3 and the furniture is very small and uncomfortable for him. We also did not find the sofa comfortable as a bed. As the previous person posted spend time in your rv and really think it through as it can be an expensive lesson. We have our 321RL Solitude fixed up for the long term plan and loving it!