Family favourite

Rob McCabe puts a six-berther – and Club Caravan Design Award class winner – through its paces

This twin-axle, six-berth caravan is still basking in the warm glow of success after winning the Large Family Caravan class in the Club’s 2024 Caravan Design Awards. It’s a flexible, well-thought-out layout that’s worth a closer look...

Build quality – 93%

Bailey’s long-established Alu-Tech build method does away with timber altogether and exterior fasteners nearly altogether, the aim being to greatly increase moisture resistance. This is backed by a six-year bodyshell integrity warranty, extendable to 10 years for an additional £265.

Our test vehicle was a lovely thing to behold. The easy-on-the-eye woodwork was all expertly joined together, while everything that’s designed to move in some way did so with pleasing seamlessness.

Towing – 90%

At a smidge over 1,600kg when fully laden, it’s relatively lightweight for a twin-axle six-berther, but you’ll still need something fairly big and SUV-shaped to take on towing duties.

Although the Al-Ko ATC trailer control system isn’t standard (it’s a £550 factory-fit option), twin-axle tourers give a reassuringly planted feel on the move thanks to the much bigger area that’s in contact with the road at any given time. The same physics apply when making walking-pace manoeuvres – it’s all very solid and predictable.

Many potential buyers will also be keen on the modest 7ft 3in width – not everybody clamours after one of the eight-footers that can suddenly make some B-roads and site approach roads feel very small.     

Daytime – 91%

The big picture window at the front is key to the Phoenix’s light and airy ambience. The parallel sofas in the lounge area are great, with four good corners to flop into; and although you could certainly seat six here, mealtimes would be a deal more comfortable if you also used the side dinette, with its clip-on table and two nice, fat, facing seats – assuming you haven’t left the bunk in situ, of course.

Storage provision is outstanding. A good example is the recessed shelved area right by the entrance door, which avoids an unkempt pile of shoes taking over the doormat – and there’s even a hanging rail in there. The bespoke compartment for the freestanding table is built into the bulkhead of the side seat nearest the entrance door; and unlike some, there’s enough room inside to slide the table in and out with ease.

Gadget-obsessed teenagers will be impressed by the portable Sonos Bluetooth speaker that comes instead of the good old fitted radio and stereo speakers (like, sooo 20th century!), and by the plethora of device-charging options. Five mains sockets are strategically placed throughout, including a floor-level one by the single seats that’s convenient for the full-length mirror on the outside of the washroom wall.

Night-time – 90%

Let’s deal with the elephant in the room first, even if it’s only a baby elephant. Is it a bit of a faff to fold out and put away the overhead bunk to give you that sixth berth? If you’re doing it every day so that you can return the side dinette to a seating area during waking hours, then yes. If you erect it at the start of your trip and leave it made up for the duration, then not really.

A big percentage of the 762’s sales will be to families of four or five, for whom this is an even more user-friendly layout. Utilised as a five-berth, the three offspring can draw lots to decide who gets the fixed bunks and who gets the single in the quickly converted side dinette. Used as a four-berth, better still: there are two great bunks which can be permanently made up, so no effort at all. You can wave them off to sleeping quarters that indulge each of them with a reading light, a flyscreen/blind-protected window and, neatly, their own privacy curtain. Up front, there’s the choice of a big, nicely fitting double or – eliminating faff almost entirely – two singles, although these top out at 5ft 11in long.

Kitchen – 86%

Confirming the Phoenix’s status as an entry-level Bailey, there’s no electric hotplate on the hob, but you do get a built-in flatbed microwave – highly desirable in a family-berth caravan. The hob cover that matches the worktop is a nice idea: as well as providing valuable extra work surface if you’re not using the hob, it gives the entire area a neat, uncluttered look when it’s in place. Indeed, it’s a smartly turned-out kitchen generally, with attractive, cream-coloured lockers that stand out from the wood-finished furniture.

A decent amount of storage includes a floor-level cupboard that’ll accommodate one of those giant-sized cereal boxes that, in my experience, lasts about four days if teenagers are allowed unfettered access to them.    

Washroom 87%

It’s almost certain that a family of four, five or six will use the site facilities for showering, but if you need to have a shower on board (while stopping over at a CL, for example) you can do so. And you won’t be slumming it: the shower cubicle here is generously proportioned. In fact, the entire room is comfortably big enough to be used as a changing room, and there’s plenty of hanging space in the wardrobe.

It’s not the most eye-catching washroom ever, but it’s impressively practical.

Lighting – 90%

If you choose the single-beds option in the lounge you get a reading light each; if you go for the double bed, you don’t. That’s the only real let-down on the lighting front. Two more flush-fitting lamps in the sunroof surround serve the front, and it’s nice to see another one lighting up the nearside dresser/media station. Mood lighting glows from above the overhead lockers, and the open shelving in the front corners is attractively illuminated.

An LED strip on the underside of the overhead lockers supplies the kitchen perfectly well, while both the fixed bunks have a dedicated, adjustable reading light; there’s another in the side dinette opposite. The aforementioned full-length mirror is served by a pin light directly above it, which is good to see. Full marks in the washroom, where a pull-cord controls two flush-fitting lights above the mirror on the rear wall, another above the wardrobe (which illuminates the inside when you open the door) and one in the shower cubicle.

Verdict – 90%

Looks like the Caravan Design Awards judging panel knows its stuff! The 762 is a very well-thought-out, practical caravan that represents good value in today’s market: even if you specify the ATC option and extend the body warranty, you’ll still get change from £29k.