motorhome review – Laika Kreos 7009

Detailed Review

This motorhome review of the Laika Kreos first appeared in the May issue of Which Motorhome.
You can download the full magazine by clicking HERE

Laika launched their all-new Kreos A-class last summer and it’s gone straight to the top of the class, taking our Luxury Coachbuilt of the Year class win for 2012.
After five days touring in Italy – in thick snow and on mountain roads – the winning 7009 proves just how good it is…


LAIKA KREOS 7009

I’m heading south towards the Tuscan coast in a Kreos 7009 demonstrator. Ignore the £76,100 starting price, the spec here is as you’d want it, complete with Alde heating and twin cab doors – and a total of almost £86k.

Underneath is an Al-Ko chassis, on top of which is genuine double floor with a typical depth of 240mm right across the vehicle. Access is possible by lifting an aluminium skirt on either side, or by raising one of the two floor hatches, which triggers internal illumination. Not only is there an Alde radiator in the basement, but fresh and waste water tanks (generous at 120 litres apiece) in a heated between-the-floors location.



The only downside of the Alde system is that it does seem to take longer to heat a cold motorhome. Once warm, though, it’s silent and creates a much more ‘natural’ heat. The noisy Truma blower in the cab went unused and seemed unnecessary as the Alde pipework extends into the cab and under the cab seats.

Those cab chairs are superb Agutis with height and tilt adjustment and luxuriously soft, suede-like Lucca trim. There are five other fabric options, plus two leather choices, but this pale colour appeared surprisingly practical and entirely complementary to the Kreos’ dark woodwork.

The lighting is just about perfect. Choose mood lighting, feature lighting, blue lights, reading lights, swivel-on-a-bendy-arm lights, find-your-way-in-the-night lights. Daylight's in no short supply through the massive windscreen and twin Heki sunroofs (over the lounge and bedroom). Only the position of the toilet room light switch seems inconvenient.



The soft-closing upper locker door in the kitchen glides shut, unlike some soft-close fittings in rival vehicles. Down below there’s a Corian worktop with inset sink cover, which reverses to become a chopping board or slots into place above your cutlery for safety when travelling, or to make a little more worktop on site.

The Kreos shower cubicle is on the UK nearside, with the toilet compartment opposite. Open the toilet door and you can shut both loo and shower off from the lounge/kitchen in front, while sliding doors close off the ablutions area from the bedroom. Now you have a private washing/changing room with a fresh set of clothes just an arm’s reach away in the wide-but-shallow wardrobe beneath the offside bed.



You’ll have no complaints about sleeping comfort in this Kreos. Two easy steps take you up to the rear bedroom where both single beds have Alde heating alongside. But if it’s a double bed you want, the drop-down bed actually whirrs down electrically to a commendable 1.15m above the floor.

All-in-all, Laika have taken a popular A-class layout and added innovative ideas, some of them admittedly gimmicky, others simply very desirable. Mix in a hefty dose of Italian style and a reassuringly impressive standard of build and you have a worthy award winner.

This motorhome review of the Laika Kreos first appeared in the May issue of Which Motorhome.
You can download the full magazine by clicking HERE