REI Grand Hut 4 Review

The Grand Hut 4 is roomy and tall for a 4-person tent, and should the weather turn, the full-coverage rainfly will keep you and the crew dry. The ample headroom is thanks to the pole structure that includes a hub system. We will get into the negatives of that later, but it is a trade-off. Because of the 6'3" structure with nearly vertical walls, wind and this tent also aren't the best match. But for the speed, weight, and size of this tent, you get loads of value.

Performance Comparison

The open and airy look of the Grand Hut - large, tall, and ready for adventure.

Photo: Rob Gaedtke

Space and Comfort

The Grand Hut scores well here, especially considering it is a 4-person tent. Remember that many of the tents in our lineup are 6-person tents, so scoring this high against some larger heavy hitters is a bold statement. This is because the floor space, height, and vestibule of the Grand Hut make fitting a few extra people inside totally manageable. You will have plenty of stash spots with the eight pockets, and the huge doors with tuck-away bags make this a superb summer tent. REI decided to put a translucent white material around the bottom half of the tent, giving you some privacy should you choose to change when the fly is off, a nice feature for packed sites and families with bashful offspring.

When it comes to packing a family of four in this tent, don't plan on bringing everyone a blowup bed. The Grand Hut is best suited for two twins with some extra space for walking. We were able to fit a full and a twin, but that makes the interior 100% bedding and not super functional. The vestibule is also a little tight, and frankly, because of the large size of the tent, having a stubby tail looks a little awkward.

Tall and stubby, the Grand Hut sits ready and nervous about the changing weather.

Photo: Rob Gaedtke

Weather Resistance

Hot days, no problem. Rainy days, this hut has you protected and well vented. Windy days, be warned.

Six-foot tall walls plus a plastic hub system are not a great pairing. Let's start with the walls. Assuming you have the rainfly on and the wind is blowing, you will see the sides trying to cave in. We would strongly advise always using the guylines that come with this tent. For poles, REI chose to go with a single hub-pole assembly, complete with a hub that isn't super intuitive. For the initiated, you know the drawbacks of a hub system; for the rest, a hub system is a way to avoid the typical dome shape that comes with crossing poles. The hub gives strength to the middle of your tent while allowing your walls to be much more vertical. The drawback to this is that you have a mess of poles that are all connected, and they tend to be weaker and have more points of failure. On the plus side, the Grand Hut comes with eight good-sized stakes and a pole repair tube that may just save you from a rough night in a broken tent.

One might be so inclined to try and push the flared pole into the hub system like the other three side, but one would be incorrect.

Photo: Rob Gaedtke

Outside of a windy nightmare, the Grand Hut is fairly qualified in a diverse range of weather — just keep in mind when finding a campsite the height and vertical nature of the tent you are pitching. Use the guylines, put rocks on the stakes, and enjoy.

The bamboozling, unwieldy all-in-one pole design on the Grand Hut. Yes, campers, this is all attached together.

Photo: Rick Baraff

Ease of Use

Though the hub system looks and feels like a hot mess, the poles still go together fairly easily, and if you mess up and put the red poles in the grey holes, well, maybe don't blame REI. Once the poles are in, 16 snaps later, the hut is erected and ready. This setup is actually far easier and faster than many of the popular 2-person REI tents. So while the hub system isn't ideal, it is fairly easy to manage. We were pitched in just under 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Teardown is about the same; however, if you are shorter than 5' 9", unbuckling the top clip will be a slight ego hit. Thankfully, getting everything back into the oversized carry bag is easy. The weight (13.7 lbs) and size of this thing when packed are also pretty impressive. You would get a few laughs pitching this at a backpack-only lake, but the lighter weight certainly means you can walk out farther from your car without breaking your back.

That pesky hub! All four structural poles are pre-attached at this hub creating a giant spider monster that you must tame to get this set up. Don't worry, though - like all things in life, it'll get easier the more you do it.

Photo: Rick Baraff

Durability

We might be sounding like a broken record here, but outside of the hub system, the Grand Hut has typical REI tent quality. Probably the highest quality item is the floor and the rainfly, two areas in a tent you don't want the manufacturer to skimp on.

The remainder of the tent looks and feels well-made, and the bug-free netting is also sound. All four corners are reinforced, and the tub flooring should keep groundwater from seeping in. The included bag isn't anything special but doesn't feel cheap, and the standard stakes and guylines are on par with the rest of the offering. All in all, the Grand Hut isn't winning awards for the highest durability, but it is on the winning end of the spectrum of tents we tested. Adding this tent to your camping gear collection will be a solid investment that should last a long time.

Setting up the pole structure of the Grand Hut - look a little like the canvas tents you sported as a child?

Photo: Rob Gaedtke

Family Friendliness

Two adults, two kids, and two dogs "fit" in this tent. However, it's tight. Each person may not have their own mattress (depending on size) and forget about cooking or sitting in the vestibule area. While there are definitely fancier and more spacious choices for a family car camping tent, this tent will get the job done. If you are planning good weather trips with tables and fires and can keep some of your clothing and gear in your car, you will find this tent completely adequate.

The translucent white walls that go ¾ of the way up the tent are a great privacy feature for changing, and four pockets in the ceiling and four on the floor mean all your keys, phones and headlamps will stay easy to reach.

Though a little tight for four people and two dogs, the tall ceilings definitely help make you feel less cramped than you actually are.

Photo: Rob Gaedtke

Value

The Grand Hut, despite its shortcomings in various areas, is of great value. A 6'3" tent with a bomber rainfly and quality materials at a very affordable price is hard to beat. And when you pair that with its light weight, the pot gets even sweeter.

Conclusion

The REI Grand Hut 4 is a great choice for those looking to get an excellent tent for their money. It has good airflow on hot days and is well protected should you need to get the rainfly out. This tall outdoor hut is also light, simple to pitch (once you learn the hub system), and offers a good number of pockets. It's not as spacious as other tents, and the vertical walls aren't ideal in the wind, but when you step back and look at all the positives combined with the price point, this is still a great value snag.

This tent is all about value. If you are looking for a solid car camping tent and you don't want to spend a lot, you found it.

Photo: Rob Gaedtke