Vango Maritsa 500 Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Vango Maritsa 500

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Vango > Maritsa 500 Reviews

Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:
Bedroom inners:
Living area groundsheet:
Pitching Style:

Yes
5 (more 5 berth tents)
33.65 KG
Ł400.00
3
Fully Sewn-in
Fly first

Average User Rating:

8.19/10 from 21 reviews

Viewed: 68385 times

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21 Reviews of the Maritsa 500 Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2 3

By: KateB1975 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 9 from 10

We bought our Maritsa 500 in 2011, but I wanted to wait until we had used it a few times before I left a review, just to be sure I didn't miss anything!

We did a lot of research and looked at hundreds of tents before we made our purchase. We both liked the Maritsa 500 from day one - we loved the idea of a separate porch as we thought it would be a massive bonus when the weather was bad - and as we knew initially we would be camping in this country, that was a dead cert!

We have now used the tent for a few weekends away and two longer holidays and we absolutely love it :-) So pleased with our choice, it really is a fantastic tent.

We use the porch for our kitchen stand, cooker etc. But this still leaves us plenty of room in there. The main attraction for me with the porch was having an area to take off wet shoes and coats, and dry off a wet dog, before going into the living area. I would definitely not be without one now, and that will be a requirement for any future tent we may buy.

The first time we put the tent up we followed Vango's pitching video - it took ages and was hard work! I then came on here for some advice, came across the Gary Cross pitching method and that was it - problem solved. It takes us about an hour to get the tent up, pegged and guyed, inner tents in, carpet down and ready to go! I then spend about half an hour turning it into home sweet home :-)

There are only 2 of us, plus our dog, so we unzip the partition between one of the double sleeping pods and the single, and have a lovely big master bedroom which comfortably accommodates our triple height airbed. We then use the other bedroom for storage. We have also had our teenage niece with us on a couple of occasions, so she uses the other double pod then and her clothes etc. Go in there with her - our bag goes on our bed during the day and in the main living area at night.

There are loads of storage pockets which are great for keys, wallets, phone chargers etc. We have never used the wardrobe pole so I can't comment on that.

The main living area is a good size, plenty of windows so even on days when we have been confined to the tent due to the weather, it feels light and airy. We make sure we have all the vents open and have never really suffered with condensation apart from May bank holiday this year when it got down to -4 degrees centigrade at night, so when we put the heater on in the morning we got a few drips.

The tent feels lovely and sturdy when it's windy. On our last holiday we endured a 5 hour torrential downpour one night - we had one leak, in the porch through one of the EHU entry points - and that was it! I was amazed because the rain was absolutely horrendous, so I really expected to find a few leaks but we were absolutely over the moon at how well the tent stood up to the weather.

I think the only negative thing that we have found is the sloping front door, which allows water in when it is opened in the rain - but to be fair, I am being extremely picky and this is a problem in any tent with a sloping front door. At least in the Maritsa, the water is coming in to the porch so you can just mop it up - it isn't going on your carpet or into your main living area.

All in all, we love our tent and would not hesitate to recommend it :-)

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By: Classers Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 9 from 10

We have used this tent in this country and abroad. There are three of us (one little one!) so we unzip the central sleeping area for all three of us and use the other side for our clothes.

We found it great for the 'little' age group as we could use the bit directly outside the sleeping area as her play area when it was wet. We could also contain her if needed! Worked great. And its also nice to have her in with us at night at the moment whilst she is young, but that we can adapt for her to have her own space later on.

We have the awning too which we have found really useful when camping and it rains for cooking etc.

We have just used the tent in really extreme rain and storms with high winds. Generally the tent stood up to the weather, but we did get a little water creeping in at the back, which I think was due to the back poles rubbing on the canvas in the wind. As I said, it was really extreme weather though and this has not happened at other times when it has rained.

Overall we love this tent and would not hesitate to recommend it.