Don't buy one with several rooms unless you want to spend forever and end up fighting with each other while putting it up. A steep igloo tent is best for shedding water. LL Bean and REI make the best ones. Learn how to tie a few basic knots (youtube) so you can rig a shelter over your picnic table using a tarp.

We are a 3 person family; we camp 4-6 times per year.

We have an 8x8 tent, plus a 12x12 canopy shelter. The tent is tight, but cozy. I'm fine with the size because I can put it up with my elementary school kid. The canopy gives us extended sheltered space outside the tent (lets us cook under cover). Putting the tent entrance under the canopy keeps everything dry.

We have the REI kingdom 6 for our family of four and love it -- it has a dividing partition down the middle, and we can fit a queen size air mattress on each side. It actually sets up very easily once you understand where the poles go (was tricky the first time or two, but easy when we just used it last week). It also has lots of storage pouches inside and is just well designed overall.

We bought the REI kingdom.
Lots of room... but honestly a PITA to set up.

Been camping since I was an infant;

Took our kids camping since they were infants;

Last tent (when they were tweens), was a 4 bedroom tent from Costco. We each had our own rooms for sleeping, and kept all our stuff in the fourth. It's a modified dome, easy to set up/take down, and fairly s.all/light weight. Couldn't beat the price....

For 3 people a five person tent will be fine.

At least an 8 person.

I am a novice camper, but last year I went on a week-long hike with some serious campers. Our tent was too small. I decided I had the "experts" right there, so I had some discussions about this with them.

my takeaway was that REI really does a good job at researching and making good tents.

I think ours is a 10-12 person. It holds two air mattresses and has some room for our gear, a portable toilet and some room to change our clothes. It has a divider which is nice.

We are in the market to grab a new family tent. There are 3 of us, but we'd prefer to not be directly on top of each other when we sleep, so I'm guessing we're looking for an 8-person tent? Any thoughts/suggestions?