Hello everyone, Myself and my husband spent the weekend looking at caravans and seem to have settled on the Swift Conqueror 630, (fixed bed, End bathroom) does anyone have any views on this van good or bad?? It will be our first owned caravan having been lucky enough to borrow friends one's previously, but have decided to take the plunge ourselves... any feedback gratefully recieved, Cheers Michelle & Richard
New Caravan Advice
- Thread starter Richard_374422129
- Start date
Hi Michelle & Richard. If you like it, go for it. You might have some people telling you otherwise but we have always bought Sterling and had no problems what so ever. We are waiting for the Swift Challenger 540 which is a fixed bed with side toilet/shower. It was a bit of a debate going from an end bathroom but space restricted us from getting a longer van. Anyway, don't spend that much time in the bathroom lol. We usually buy Sterling (same group) but didn't like the colour scheme hence went for the Swift. Always found them to be good quality and modern. Happy caravanning. Helen.
I agree with Helen.
You spend more time in bed than in the bathroom.
Personally,we only use the bathroom for washing and toilet(number ones only)lol,and all the sites we go on have the shower facilities.
We are selling our Ace Award Morningstar with a huge end bathroom and buying a Lunar Zenith with fixed bed.
The washroom is adequate for our needs and no more making up beds at night either.
Its all down to personal preference i suppose.
You spend more time in bed than in the bathroom.
Personally,we only use the bathroom for washing and toilet(number ones only)lol,and all the sites we go on have the shower facilities.
We are selling our Ace Award Morningstar with a huge end bathroom and buying a Lunar Zenith with fixed bed.
The washroom is adequate for our needs and no more making up beds at night either.
Its all down to personal preference i suppose.
While I have to admit that you spend more time in bed than in the bathroom, I personally prefer to have a large bathroom. I am not a fan of fixed beds (either the recent craze for a fixed double or fixed bunks). They go against the long standing concept of maximizing the utility of the space within a caravan by having seats and tables for day use doubling up as beds at night. I laugh at the excuse given about no longer having to make up beds at night. What work is there in this? The best bedding for a caravan are sleeping bags. With this making a bed consists of taking the sleeping bag and pillow out from under the seat! I think that for an adult couple the best arrangement is to have long front seats that can be used as singles with out conversion, coupled with a dinette that can be converted to bunks for the kids.
A large end bathroom also runs somewhat counter to the traditional caravan, but can and is really useful. Gives the larger person more room for function and can act as a changing room. Also if you rally or use CLs a self contained fully functional bathroom is a necessity.
All in all I favour the utility of a decent sized end bathroom over fixed beds which end up wasting space during the day.
A large end bathroom also runs somewhat counter to the traditional caravan, but can and is really useful. Gives the larger person more room for function and can act as a changing room. Also if you rally or use CLs a self contained fully functional bathroom is a necessity.
All in all I favour the utility of a decent sized end bathroom over fixed beds which end up wasting space during the day.
Ah, but a fixed double bed is so much better than having the hassle of moving cushions about if you want to snuggle up together 
john and wendy, you are getting into dangerous territory there. I asked a question about that sort of thing. The moderator deleted it and told me it was inappropriateAh, but a fixed double bed is so much better than having the hassle of moving cushions about if you want to snuggle up together
.Sleeping bags, and single beds for adult couples - no thanks!!! We have a fixed bed, with lovely cotton sheets, pillow cases and duvet cover, and a down duvet and pillows. It's lovely for 'snuggling'! We have seating for up to six at the front and can't imagine why we'd want any more. If we have friends around we tend to sit out in the awning. We use the loo in our van, but the shower has never been used in ten years - so we'd end up with more wasted space if we had a rear bathroom.
Give me a fixed double bed any time.
Give me a fixed double bed any time.
It all comes down to choice doesn't it?
With our kids all grown and no longer caravanning with us, we wanted comfort and a bit of luxury! The 2008 Swift Challenger 540 suited us perfectly and we are enjoying as many trips away as we can fit in.
I agree with Val, lovely sheets and a comfy duvet it's better than a top class hotel lol!
William, I won't upset the moderators but it would be interesting to see how many couples ditch the bedmaking duties in favour of using the two singles and sleeping bags. Hubby used to disappear off with the dog and come back just as I finished transforming the bed in our old van!
Wendy
With our kids all grown and no longer caravanning with us, we wanted comfort and a bit of luxury! The 2008 Swift Challenger 540 suited us perfectly and we are enjoying as many trips away as we can fit in.
I agree with Val, lovely sheets and a comfy duvet it's better than a top class hotel lol!
William, I won't upset the moderators but it would be interesting to see how many couples ditch the bedmaking duties in favour of using the two singles and sleeping bags. Hubby used to disappear off with the dog and come back just as I finished transforming the bed in our old van!
Wendy
By the word "work" at night making beds up i meant moving the cushions etc.. to the other side.Moving table to either on top of the cooker or outside in the awning,getting the bedding out from under the seats,pulling out the slats,repositioning the cushions etc..to form the mattress,putting on sheet and tucking in,put quilt and pillows on.Job done.
Mind you....after that lot i was usually too tired for anything after...lol.
No, i do agree with you William,a fixed bed does take up valuable space.Just being lazy i suppose.
Mind you....after that lot i was usually too tired for anything after...lol.
No, i do agree with you William,a fixed bed does take up valuable space.Just being lazy i suppose.
If you can't be lazy when you're on holiday...I bet you don't miss that routine now you have a fixed bed lol!
It's worth sacrificing a little bit of living space for the luxury of just climbing into bed whenever you feel like it mmmmmm bliss
Just to be different ... we had a fixed bed van which we did enjoy BUT didn't like the amount of space the bed took up.
Have moved back to a 'van with make up beds. Love being back with sleeping bags ... they just say caravanning to me!
We no doubt will have another fixed bed van in the future (probably a Senator California) but will miss our sleeping bags!
Have moved back to a 'van with make up beds. Love being back with sleeping bags ... they just say caravanning to me!
We no doubt will have another fixed bed van in the future (probably a Senator California) but will miss our sleeping bags!
Like Fab weve gone back to a 2 birth van from the last 2 fixed bed vans.
We use single douvets and a matress topper each no making the bed up jst roll out and in the morning just roll up.
This is the first end bathroom weve had and we both love it, somewhere to get changed without pulling the blinds ect. and we used the shower for the first time in 12 years of owning a van over easter.
There are pros and cons for all layouts, and different priorities as well. for us this layout works (for now) who knows what layout well have in the future.
Kevin
We use single douvets and a matress topper each no making the bed up jst roll out and in the morning just roll up.
This is the first end bathroom weve had and we both love it, somewhere to get changed without pulling the blinds ect. and we used the shower for the first time in 12 years of owning a van over easter.
There are pros and cons for all layouts, and different priorities as well. for us this layout works (for now) who knows what layout well have in the future.
Kevin
We have a fixed bed and would not change back again. The ability to 'pop off' for a doze after lunch is too attractive.
However, we did check carefully the bed size, especially the width. Too many manufacturer's seem to think that 4ft 2 inches or eevn 4ft is fine and then narrow it down to 3ft odd . To my mind that is not a double. If you buy a domestic double it is 4 ft 6 inches wide minimum.
Ours is actually 4 ft 8 inches wide with a small cut off and although this means the adjacent washroom is narrower, it suits us fine. We sleep 8 hours per day and wash only twice so sleep has priority. There is a large dinette area at the other end so plenty of lounging space, and all in a 6 meter van.
However, we did check carefully the bed size, especially the width. Too many manufacturer's seem to think that 4ft 2 inches or eevn 4ft is fine and then narrow it down to 3ft odd . To my mind that is not a double. If you buy a domestic double it is 4 ft 6 inches wide minimum.
Ours is actually 4 ft 8 inches wide with a small cut off and although this means the adjacent washroom is narrower, it suits us fine. We sleep 8 hours per day and wash only twice so sleep has priority. There is a large dinette area at the other end so plenty of lounging space, and all in a 6 meter van.
Don't want to get into the pro's and cons of particular vans or layouts, but hope you have a suitably big towcar for a big van.
Fixed bed vans tend to have quite a lot of storage space particularly under the bed and it is all too easy to get the overall weight up above the plated limit.
Not preaching - fell into the trap myself.
Fixed bed vans tend to have quite a lot of storage space particularly under the bed and it is all too easy to get the overall weight up above the plated limit.
Not preaching - fell into the trap myself.
Wow I knew I liked this site, thank you for all your comments, they have been heeded, the good news is no one has said any bad comments about the caravan in question apart from consider layout carefully, we have a Merc E320 but as its a saloon we are considering changing to an Estate so possibly a bigger Engine too for better Towing... so much to think about lol
Michelle
We are on our third fixed bed van with end washroom and would never change back,we have seating at the front for 6 when friends call and no hassle of making up the bed great.
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