Caravan Feedback
Although our caravan was a 2003 model it served our needs well and did not feel old!!! Our kitchen was modern and included a fridge freezer, all kitchen equipment, toaster, full gas oven & microwave, we often cooked a full roast dinner without any problem. Our caravan was well equipped and you can buy inventory packs from Park Resorts if required. Before buying park inventory packs its worth comparing prices with the high street as there are amazing deals now on household goods and you may get a better deal.
Our caravan came equipped with a 22 inch DVD & TV combo that was great and we would recommend anyone to have this. We built a good library of DVD’s CD, books and games which friendly visitors left. This resource is good for evenings when you don’t go out and on the odd rainy day.
We also bought a small vacuum cleaner so we could do our own cleaning as small rechargeable vacuum cleaner we bought initially would not pick up dog hairs from the carpet.
We found that the curtains in the caravan bedrooms were very thin and so it got light very early (we have black out blinds at home), not what you want on holiday. As a result we had thicker curtains made to measure which was a great investment. We also found the bed mattresses a bit firm, we may look to replace the double mattress in the main bedroom next year. In general, the quality of the mattresses and curtains are fairly similar across most older caravans, although newer more luxurious models do go above and beyond.
Shower cubical was easy to keep clean and there was always a good flow of hot water from the boiler, although there was a slight pulse to the flow.
We personalised our van with the following items all sourced mainly from local supermarkets for less than £100.
• Lounge: Photo Frames with holiday photos,
• Bedrooms: New Curtains, New Bedside Laps,
• Kitchen: Plastic Glasses, Washing up bowl
• Bathroom: New mats
Our Atlas Mirage 2003 has a gas fire and electric heaters in the bedrooms and hallway which was fine for most Spring and Autumn visits. We would think seriously about a caravan equipped with central heating and/or double glazing if you intend to have extended holidays in the winter or buy on a park which opens for 12 months. You can in fact now buy a brand new caravan with double glazing and central heating for the same price that our caravan would have cost us to buy.
Caravan Extras
In hindsight we should have ordered an external storage box to keep plastic chairs, beach kit and other paraphernalia. There is no real storage area in a static caravan apart from a small cupboard containing the boiler, so you really need to think about this. We did not add this extra on from the park inventory believing we could by a cheaper plastic box from B&Q at a later stage. Unfortunately park rules do not allow this to maintain the look of pitches and safety standards so you have to pay the £499 for their storage box. We never got round to sorting it out and so some gear got left under the van.
It would be wise to consider purchasing a veranda for your caravan. A good properly installed caravan veranda effectively gives you an extra outdoor room and a place to sit and eat el fresco. As with storage boxes veranda have to be installed by park authorised contractor and we would consider a quote for having this work completed.
