We have a 6 man Plastimo Transocean mounted in a stainless holder on the outside of the port aft rail. It has a 3 year service turnaround and we've done it twice now.
I personally don't like the idea of having the liferaft in a compartment. When you need it, it needs to be able to be deployed quickly and that's only really possible if it is outside somewhere.
We use that port side deck compartment for spare fuel containers.
