Hi there, Just after your thoughts and idea's on shower's in caravans. I curretly have a van which is 16 years old and has the standard compact all in one shower, sink and toilet room. We find this a little small with having young children and therefore have never used the shower. We would like a new caravan with a seperate shower but at the moment the model we would like a Bailey Pageant Provence is out out of our price range. We have been looking at a Swift Challenger which is only a few years old, but only has a compact washroom however it does seem a little more spacious than our current one. Anyway enough of the ramble are the newer compact washrooms better and how may of you use them to shower, more so if you have young children, how do u manage? Your Comments much appreciated! Thanks.
Standard compact shower rooms and seperate showers
- Thread starter TheTravelMan
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Andrew, We have 3 children aged 5 and two year old twins. Our van has a shower toilet and sink all in one room. Because the twins only have baths at home we tend to use the family bathrooms when sites have them. I have stood the little ones in the shower tray and hosed them down with the shower and the 5 yr old will use a shower.We are working on getting the twins used to a shower this winter so that next year it will be easier in the van. Hope this helps. Denise
Hi Andrew
We had an old caravan the sort where you open the door, and have to step into the shower tray to use the loo. I had one shower (shower curtain clings to you and god help you if you drop the soap!!), - never bothered again. The tiny bathroom was the only thing I disliked about that van.
We have a newer model now with an end bathroom and to us, it's luxury. It has a proper shower cubicle and the hot water really is sufficient for a decent shower and you can also rinse your hair off, use conditioner and rinse that off too without the fear of the water running cold. The loo is fine (don't want to go into too much detail there!!). The wardrobe is also in the bathroom and that's handy too. There's plenty of shelving to put toiletries on and the basin has a nice cupboard under that, provinding more storage.
There is also a good light in the bathroom, a skylight and a light inside the shower cubicle.
Myself and daughter utilise the shower all the time. Husband tends to use the site facilities.
I can't comment on the models you are interested in as I don't know anything about them.
I think you have to have a serious think about what you need from a caravan and what you can do without. For us, it was L shaped seating, a decent bathroom and a full oven and anything else was a bonus.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Regards.
Lisa
We had an old caravan the sort where you open the door, and have to step into the shower tray to use the loo. I had one shower (shower curtain clings to you and god help you if you drop the soap!!), - never bothered again. The tiny bathroom was the only thing I disliked about that van.
We have a newer model now with an end bathroom and to us, it's luxury. It has a proper shower cubicle and the hot water really is sufficient for a decent shower and you can also rinse your hair off, use conditioner and rinse that off too without the fear of the water running cold. The loo is fine (don't want to go into too much detail there!!). The wardrobe is also in the bathroom and that's handy too. There's plenty of shelving to put toiletries on and the basin has a nice cupboard under that, provinding more storage.
There is also a good light in the bathroom, a skylight and a light inside the shower cubicle.
Myself and daughter utilise the shower all the time. Husband tends to use the site facilities.
I can't comment on the models you are interested in as I don't know anything about them.
I think you have to have a serious think about what you need from a caravan and what you can do without. For us, it was L shaped seating, a decent bathroom and a full oven and anything else was a bonus.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Regards.
Lisa
I hope this isn't a daft question, but do these seperate shower cubicles have any blown air heating vent into them or are they just chilly in winter?
Thanks everyone for your comments so far, varied as they are as you say everyone to their own. I'll give this more thought and another look around some caravans. End bathroom idea not an option as we prefer the end sitting / bed area. hence my reason for a bailey provence as this has seperate shower cubicle but as a side washroom. My kids are 5 and 6 and we still need to help shower them at the mo. Thanks again.
Depends on the model, Chrissylizzie. We had a Bailey Wyoming which came with a blown heating duct into the rear washroom area. That doesn't mean that all caravans come with the same luxury but if they don't, they are missing a trick or two.I hope this isn't a daft question, but do these seperate shower cubicles have any blown air heating vent into them or are they just chilly in winter?
Thanks Lol good to know.Depends on the model, Chrissylizzie. We had a Bailey Wyoming which came with a blown heating duct into the rear washroom area. That doesn't mean that all caravans come with the same luxury but if they don't, they are missing a trick or two.
Hi, Chrissylizzie.
Our new Coachman has an end bathroom, and I can get it more than warm enough whatever the weather outside. On the opposite side of the bathroom to the shower cubicle there is a blown air inlet in the floor. The room has a mini-Hiki rooflight, which I open one notch to prevent condensation. On site, we use the shower every day, and never use the site showers no matter how good and clean they are.
In cold weather, gas is more efficient than electric for the blown air.
My wife feels the cold, but I can get the room too hot, even for her.
In a word - LUXURY.
Albert
Our new Coachman has an end bathroom, and I can get it more than warm enough whatever the weather outside. On the opposite side of the bathroom to the shower cubicle there is a blown air inlet in the floor. The room has a mini-Hiki rooflight, which I open one notch to prevent condensation. On site, we use the shower every day, and never use the site showers no matter how good and clean they are.
In cold weather, gas is more efficient than electric for the blown air.
My wife feels the cold, but I can get the room too hot, even for her.
In a word - LUXURY.
Albert
G
Guest
As has been already said, it is a matter of personal choice. The separate shower room is fine if it is big enough. I personally found that the cylindrical versions were too small to do anything in, and if you dropped the soap???
I also reckoned it was space we would use twice a day, and so could use it for something more useful, like extra lounging area, or a bigger fixed bed.
I also reckoned it was space we would use twice a day, and so could use it for something more useful, like extra lounging area, or a bigger fixed bed.
G
Guest
Your answer to what you want/need may lie with the children factor.
What site will you use, if they are not fully serviced, you have to tote all the water!
We caravan a lot with our grand children, and living space we find is preferable to bathroom space and we have a 7+ metre caravan.
Like scotch lad says, for a few minutes a day use you can end up with a lot of wasted space.
What site will you use, if they are not fully serviced, you have to tote all the water!
We caravan a lot with our grand children, and living space we find is preferable to bathroom space and we have a 7+ metre caravan.
Like scotch lad says, for a few minutes a day use you can end up with a lot of wasted space.
Hi Albert
We too liked the Coachman, so I hope you have many happy holidays in it. If my husband could EVER get a room too warm for me he would think he was dreaming!!!
We too liked the Coachman, so I hope you have many happy holidays in it. If my husband could EVER get a room too warm for me he would think he was dreaming!!!
Hi Tony
We have looked at all makes before deciding on a Lunar. The two Coachmans we liked were the VIP 520 and the Pastiche 520. The colour of the VIP range was particularly nice, although the outside graphics were rather too much blue, but generally a nice caravan.
We have looked at all makes before deciding on a Lunar. The two Coachmans we liked were the VIP 520 and the Pastiche 520. The colour of the VIP range was particularly nice, although the outside graphics were rather too much blue, but generally a nice caravan.
Thanks Chrissylizzie, I have since looked on the internet at the Coachman 520/4 models, we are looking for a caravan which will meet the needs of our disabled family, our adult son has to be lifted into the shower and from the diagrams it appears that they all have circular shower cubicles - apart from the Amara which has a square cubicle. In the new year we now plan to visit a Coachman dealer to have a proper look and hopefully a large show where we can really compare the new models on offer, or maybe there will be a used model which meets our specific needs. thanks again Tony
Hi Tony
The Amara is the entry level Coachman and in our opinion it just looked a little basic - I think it was the shape of the cupboard edges, but compared to many makes I think it was a sound caravan. The only slight doubt we had about the washroom, and I can't remember if the Amara was the same, but in the VIP and Pastiche, the toilet was very close to the washbasin and we felt it could be a little irritating if you constantly 'backed' into the toilet when using the wash basin. I take your point about the shape of the shower. There is so much to consider when choosing a new van so I hope you find something suitable. Would be pleased to hear how you get on.
You may remember you posted a reply to me about twin beds. Well after much consideration we decided we preferred a good end washroom compromising on still having to make the beds. We went for the 524 model as the extra length would generally just give us more room, but until we actually get the van, we don't know for sure if we made the right decision. Until they make a fixed bed, single axle with good end washroom, we hopefully, will enjoy the Lunar.
Good luck with your search.
The Amara is the entry level Coachman and in our opinion it just looked a little basic - I think it was the shape of the cupboard edges, but compared to many makes I think it was a sound caravan. The only slight doubt we had about the washroom, and I can't remember if the Amara was the same, but in the VIP and Pastiche, the toilet was very close to the washbasin and we felt it could be a little irritating if you constantly 'backed' into the toilet when using the wash basin. I take your point about the shape of the shower. There is so much to consider when choosing a new van so I hope you find something suitable. Would be pleased to hear how you get on.
You may remember you posted a reply to me about twin beds. Well after much consideration we decided we preferred a good end washroom compromising on still having to make the beds. We went for the 524 model as the extra length would generally just give us more room, but until we actually get the van, we don't know for sure if we made the right decision. Until they make a fixed bed, single axle with good end washroom, we hopefully, will enjoy the Lunar.
Good luck with your search.
Have just thought that the largest shower we saw was in a Bailey.Hi Tony
The Amara is the entry level Coachman and in our opinion it just looked a little basic - I think it was the shape of the cupboard edges, but compared to many makes I think it was a sound caravan. The only slight doubt we had about the washroom, and I can't remember if the Amara was the same, but in the VIP and Pastiche, the toilet was very close to the washbasin and we felt it could be a little irritating if you constantly 'backed' into the toilet when using the wash basin. I take your point about the shape of the shower. There is so much to consider when choosing a new van so I hope you find something suitable. Would be pleased to hear how you get on.
You may remember you posted a reply to me about twin beds. Well after much consideration we decided we preferred a good end washroom compromising on still having to make the beds. We went for the 524 model as the extra length would generally just give us more room, but until we actually get the van, we don't know for sure if we made the right decision. Until they make a fixed bed, single axle with good end washroom, we hopefully, will enjoy the Lunar.
Good luck with your search.
I think it was the Pageant but it was square with an extra piece before the shower bit itself. Sadly the walls between the shower room and the rest of the caravan were very flimsy, but if shower size is critical, it might be worth a look.
Regards Chris
G
Guest
Our family DIYer clad the paper boarded washroom walls and door of their compact shower/toilet with a very light weight PVC hygiene wall cladding turning it into a "wet room" doing away with the shower curtain and freeing up the whole space without the need for a big shower enclosure. Not every one wants to rebuild their van but some manufacturers could learn a few things if they look beyond their box.
Have a look for a 1998 Bailey 470/4. This has a great bathroom and the shower is much larger than normal.
We've had both sort of washroom on caravan, the older one had shower and loo in together, with the sink in a seperate place, that was a coachman genius, and the latest one has a seperate shower. There are things to be said for both...if you have children, on the older sort the loo is sited in the shower tray....great for accidents, and easier to keep clean....I used to hose the loo down with the shower head. There is not a great deal of room in a seperate shower cubicle, very cramped, even on a big caravan.Have a look for a 1998 Bailey 470/4. This has a great bathroom and the shower is much larger than normal.
Hi, Chrissylizzie. It's a Coachman Pastiche 460/2.
I really can get the bathroom very warm, using the blown air.
In cold weather, the gas side of the system seems to be more effective than electric. We always open the mini-hiki roof light slightly, and have never experienced condensation problems using this procedure. In fact, we use the cabinet mirror as guide. If this is too warm to steam up, so are all other surfaces in the bathroom.
As I have said, it is sheer luxury; so much so that even the best site facilities feel Spartan by comparison.
I really can get the bathroom very warm, using the blown air.
In cold weather, the gas side of the system seems to be more effective than electric. We always open the mini-hiki roof light slightly, and have never experienced condensation problems using this procedure. In fact, we use the cabinet mirror as guide. If this is too warm to steam up, so are all other surfaces in the bathroom.
As I have said, it is sheer luxury; so much so that even the best site facilities feel Spartan by comparison.
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