More on caravan versus motorhome

Habitation door is always on the correct side when over there and never had a problem with it over here!!

We have 3 burners and have never used more than 2 at a time, we don't use a microwave at home so do not want to waste space in a van with one, prefer to have the extra storage.

As for the wheel arch, yes if the shower is a midships then unfortunately all vans would have the problem unless you are on a long tag axle chassis.

I agree TG as I said in my post layout, interior colours etc are all personal choices and am not demeaning anyone who buys one just saying the UK builders just seem to take the caravan layout into a MH and not think about any design as much as the continentals with Bailey seemingly literally plonking a caravan on the back of a chassis.  Personally we cannot stand the orange wood interiors of Carthago's but I know some people on here love them, again personal choice 

Lol, Michael thats because it's real 

personally not a huge fan of the MFI look...

however, i agree with many of your observations..

in a finite space, layouts are governed by key priorities, generally in the sleeping arangements and the amount of 'larger storage' space required.

vans with fixed beds (singles, transverse, island) can (generally) be categorised into two 'styles'....'continental' (with large garages under said beds) which means being at the rear and ablitions ahead of them, or 'uk' with the bathroom at the end, and the beds ahead, which prevents a garage-type storage area.

similarly, vans without fixed beds generally have poor external storage (for large items) due to lack of actual space or poor external access.

these vans give larger more open lounges, but require the beds to be made up and bedding to be stored somewhere other than the bed.

drop down beds have allowed designers to give a 'fixed bed' scenario to a previously non fixed bed design, but the issues of poor storage are not addressed in this way, though bedding can be kept on the bed.

customer 'likes and dislikes' will depend on which elements they place priorities and which layouts they tend to favour.

we happen to like a fixed bed layout and also wanted a garage for bikes. once this 'priority' has been dialled in, its tricky to be able to squeeze a palatial lounge out of a van of 6.4m, which, combined with its slimmer width, was another design 'want'.

switch the priority to the lounge and designs change....twin sofas appear (front or rear) and other kit is built at the opposite end of the van.

kitchens and bathrooms appear abbutting against the cab seats or across the rear.

this results in bed making every day and storing storing said bedding, which eats into the poor overall total storage...

none of these designs (and myriad others) are right or wrong, merely each has its advantages (to its particular purchaser) and its compromises....what one customer sees as a must have, another see as a compromise....

perhaps a van with a large open front lounge (with drop down bed for guests), large kitchen amidships, low level single beds with washroom behind and then a garage behind that might satisfy most....but this would be a very large van....and wouldn't be easy to use daily nor satisfy rear lounge afficionados...

not sure id put 'door on the wrong side' as a plus or a minus as it's obviously 'correct' when abroad nor doesn't seem to be an issue ('wrong') when in the uk, we just park 'nose in or nose out' to suit us, so even with the door on the 'correct side' it still wouldn't govern which way round we pitched.

as it happens, with the way the van gets parked at home, having the door on the right gives us better acces from the house, but it would never be a design 'want' nor deal breaker..

we only have three burners on our hob, i wonder what it is that we cant cook as we seem to only ever use one or two....steamers are great for doing different veg etc...again, surely not something tha that would break a deal?

similarly, we dont have a microwave but i cant say we've missed it..we have one at home but are not what i call 'microwave chefs'. any frozen stuff we want for an evening meal can be thawed overnight or throughout the day. others may be much more dependent on one, but even a van without one could be modified easily by any savvy dealer wanting to shake a customer's hand?

shower doesnt seem to be compromised by wheel arch, though i have seen some that are, agree this would annoy...and as we use the van shower regularly, it might vause me to look elsewhere....but as i said earlier, this is a result of a rear fixed bed design pushing the shower forward.

still, its good to see designers trying to respond to our seemingly limitless demand for 'all things to all men' wish lists....

good hunting to anyone looking for a winter bargain....

 wash your mouth out can you say that about other than uk  vans

You will get "jumped on by ONE or two

Bailey (and Swift, Elddis etc) make their MH look like their caravans to ease the transition from one to another as their customers change styles of vanning.

if they looked starkly different, it might be a step too far for those who are comfortable with the brand.

i guess its a rare thing for a uk brand caravan owner to head out and research (say) a german or french MH, although im sure it happens more if theyve lost faith in the brand for whatever reason.

by the same token those who didnt come from caravanning wouldn't have any pre-conception of what a 'van' should look like and go into the market place with (perhaps) a more open mind, eventually selecting something 'they like' rather than having 'what theyve always had'.

the percentage of any brand's customer moving from one of their products to another must be very high. the brands just make this as easy as possible, hence the 'corporate' look and feel.

I believe that the UK manufacturers recognise that there is a difference between what British motorhome/caravan users want and what continental users want. As we mainly tour abroad I look at hundreds of different continental mortorhomes and almost without exception our Autosleepers is different in having no garage and plenty of lounge/kitchen space. It seems that the lifestyle "over there" is different with the emphasis on outdoor living so the garage is essential for storing bikes, loungers etc. and the indoor space is limited because most of the time it isn't needed.

What happens when it rains you may ask? the Brits on their Club sites which they have had to book, sit indoors watching TV and hoping it stops soon.  The Germans go home because it isn't too far.  We go further South until the rain stops!

Hitch, I like your style. Happy (sunny) touring in 2018

Bailey did build a 'continental' style MH, it had a garage, twin singles above, with the usual front turn round driving seats and small kitchen. It was dropped after the first build as it was not popular.

They have and still do build models with drop down beds, they are popular but the owners are not keen on them in winter, it seems they have to leave the bed down when not in use as the mattress gets mouldy/damp. When in use in winter (for a family) again the issue is that the drop down bed is very cold as it has to be raised during the day to use the lounge beneath, which means when they get into bed at night the bed and bedding is cold. 

Not all those that own British style MH have come from a caravan back ground, although I will agree that some do, but surely that could be said of all makes. Within the Bailey motorhome group there are many that have come from other makes of MH's both British and Continental.

Our style of MH is rear lounge with twin couches which we make into beds at night time, takes about 3 mins to do so. We have great storage in the MH, plenty of overhead lockers, plenty of cupboards and a very good bathroom. No we don't have a garage for the bikes but we didn't buy the MH for the bikes we bought it for our use.

As we tour both UK and abroad it has to work for both 'styles' of touring which it does very well. We have plenty of space during the day and comfy warm beds at night. The kitchen has all the items I want/need and space enough to work in, when abroad I do tend to cook outside, however in the UK its nice to have the choice of still being able to cook and prep inside. The cab area is not a waste of space during the day when on site as we can turn the seats if we wish to. There is NO space that is only used for 1 specific activity other than the bathroom. 

In the past we have had all types of van layout, fixed side bed, fixed singles, made up lounge beds, the only one we didn't like was the side bed. Having fixed beds is great but it makes for a much larger van than we want these days, at least 1 third of the van is only used for 8 hours of a night time. If we were to site a van then yes this is the type we would choose but not for touring.

Its a good job we all like different styles, so please let this not be 'one is better than another'. They all have their place in the market or they wouldn't make them.

Happy New Year to all when it comes, we'll be away soon afterwards in our 'British' made MH 

TG - a well thought out post.............

But resistance is futile......

To some.....German is better. Full stop.

...as TG says (quite rightly) not better but different.