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 Topic: Motorhome...or stay in b&bs/sc?!
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10/9/2022 at 7:44pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Joined: 05/11/2013 Diamond Member 
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Definitely horses for courses. It very much depends what you want to do. For touring, staying in each place for just one or two nights, I'm sure you can't beat a motorhome. Our first married-life holiday was spent touring Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent in a campervan borrowed from a friend. A Bedford Dormobile to be precise, and we loved it. However we couldn't afford one of our own so we bought a tent and had some great times with that. Then kids came along and a caravan was more convenient.
When we stopped going abroad and gave up our river-boating, we looked at motorhomes. Apart from the price, which ruled it out anyway, we realised there were other snags. These days we tend to go to one place and stay there for a week or two, and for that a motorhome is not ideal. What do use to go shopping or exploring? If there is no nearby public transport you are stuck. A motorhome has to be packed properly before you move off, and isn't exactly ideal for parking in town or even in a supermarket car park. I am the only driver, and we can only afford to run one vehicle, specially now with the fuel costs, so it's a car and caravan for us without a doubt. It just ticks all the boxes.
We have rented static caravans, and also done B&Bs and Travelodges. It just depends what we want to do at the time. Mostly though it's our caravan. I'm not in the least bothered by towing though as I have done it for a living before now. If money was no object we would have a 5th-wheeler, but that just isn't going to happen. 
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Best Regards,
Colin
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12/9/2022 at 6:15am
Location: Wessex
Outfit: Dethleffs Trend T675
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Joined: 11/7/2015 Gold Member 
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As Colin 21 says, it's definitely horses for courses.
We went down the MH route after being tenters, thanks to an inheritance we had the opportunity to move on from that, we've never looked back. A caravan never appealed because I don't like towing, I was taught how to do it properly and even became a towing instructor, I was/am quite good at it, I just don't enjoy it and if you're not enjoying it, what's the point?
To address a couple of points made here, many medium sized PVCs don't have full washrooms, I have many friends who have such vans and they require a site to have loo/shower blocks as an alternative.
The cost of fuel in the continent is often less than the UK, it's still obscene but that's the current level, but generally, it's cheaper than here. Getting there is another matter, many people use Tesco vouchers to offset the cost of the Channel Tunnel, of course getting there will still cost you.
MHing requires a different mindset than caravanning, we rarely stay anywhere for more than 2/3 days, we chose places with public transport links or are located within walkable/cyclable distance of things to see and do. I've not had a problem parking in supermarket car-parks, usually I park furthest away from the store but parking in these places is another thing which is easier on the continent.
With regards to choosing your ideal MH, don't rush, go to as many dealers and shows as possible to check out the layouts. Lie on the beds, how easy are they to get in and out of - especially in the middle of the night? The washroom you want, is it fully lined, how much room is there in the shower and to dry yourself? Cooking space, does it come with an oven (a few don't)? Just getting around, will you be in each others way? Can you fit it where you want to keep it e.g. on your drive? I WOULD NOT HOWEVER, recommend buying from a show.
The warranty for the motorhome conversion rests with the dealer you bought it from, if you get snags with it, you need to return it to that dealer to get them fixed. Whilst you can get some great deals at shows, the downside is that you could be making some pretty long round trips to get things fixed, this happened to a colleague of mine, he lived in Gloucestershire but had to travel to North Yorkshire to get things fixed under warranty, suddenly, that great deal he got at a show wasn't so great! For this reason, I'm a great advocate of buying locally, fortunately, we have a number of dealers local to us (within 30 miles), so we have a good deal of choice.
Finally, don't buy a MH thinking you'll use it if a nice weekend comes along, you won't. Invariably, when that nice weekend comes along you'll have something else planned and the MH will stay on the drive! We plan trips away and go on them come rain or shine, we've only ever cancelled one trip because of the weather but that was the weekend of a winter storm with 70mph winds so perhaps we can be forgiven.
Hopefully, this will give you food for thought?
We enjoy motorhoming and get away as often as we can, we also managed to get back to France for the first time in 3 years this year, we had a 3 week holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it, I would definitely recommend touring the continent, so far in the many years we've been motorhoming we've visited France (lots), Germany a couple of times, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg, all of which have been very enjoyable.
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12/9/2022 at 8:40am
Location: Staffordshire
Outfit: None Entered
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Joined: 31/3/2015 Gold Member
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I fully endorse all MrWez has said, we have gone through all types and finally found we are happiest with our MH. It has everything we need - fixed bed, bench seats in front, shower room not the biggest but that is our compromise as realistically how much time do you spend in it?
We often mix staying in full facility sites with basic CL's. We are lucky to not be short of room so we can store at home and have a tow car that we sometimes take with us, all depends on where we go, if we find somewhere near a town, we leave car behind and walk/bus it to places. Your dog will love it too, a change of scenery, new sniffs and plenty of walks.
I would suggest perhaps hiring one with a layout you like first, or have a look here - MH layouts, it will give you some of idea of layouts and sizes etc.
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12/9/2022 at 10:53am
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB VW Crafter PVC
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Joined: 19/6/2009 Diamond Member
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The company that did the conversion for my van about 2h's drive away, and yes I had to drive there to have the list of items on the snag list addressed.
It was as expected as the conversion was a very complicated one - the most complicated for them to date apparently.
There were subsequent visits when other faults developed with the TV (damaged cable), electrical fault (circuit design related), water tank (I caused the damage to the under-carriage water tank) and awning (a sensor not functioning properly).
However, Young Conversions were brilliant, and Robbie Young travelled to mine a few times to try and fix/address the issues.
He was quick on the phone when I lost power in my 12V sockets (a fuse blew) recently and needed help to fix it.
Therefore, I am very happy with the products and services from them to date.
The decal/graphic on the bonnet started to lift on one edge a few months after I took delivery of the van.
I could have had it fixed under warranty. However, it would require a day trip to the company that did the graphics near Young Conversions and I decided against it due to work commitments.
Also I could get it replaced locally by a graphics firm just around the corner where I live (they did some vinyl wrapping for my car) which would be more convenient and cheaper as I would not need to take a day off work.
Another good thing about my PVC is that she is just under 6m in length, and can just about squeeze into a normal size parking space (I tend to park as far away from other vehicles as possible out of habit).
I went for a 2h driving lesson in a van similar in size to mine with a HGV instructor so that I could have a feel for what it would be like driving a 6m van, and learnt some tips along the way. I found it to be easier than towing a small leisure trailer with a car to be honest.
Horses for courses and all that.
DK 
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via mobile 09/9/2022 at 8:49pm
