Full review

The Ancona is a well-established model name in the Bailey Pegasus range. It was first introduced in 2012 as a six-berth, with bunk beds and a side dining area. Its layout was then slightly changed and it became a five-berth. All the time the Ancona was a brilliant family caravan, reasonably light in weight, with enough space for family life without a squash anywhere in the layout, and good value, too.

Now, though, the Ancona evolution has taken a giant step forward. The new Ancona still has bunks. It still has a two-seater dining area. It’s still light in weight for its length. But now, its bunks and its dining area are arranged as one cohesive family room, with a full-width shower room, replacing the slightly triangular one in the earlier Anconas.

The result is an Ancona with a whole new appeal. While its predecessor was a great family caravan, this one is event better. The reason it’s so good is that the bunks and the kids’ dining space form one “room” and it’s effectively separated from the kitchen and lounge, by walls to the rear of the (big, tall) fridge on one side, and the kitchen on the other. There’s a pleated partition across the doorway-width gap between the two but it’s during the daytime, when the partition isn’t in use, that the clear separation is important. The young ones have their own spacious area, complete with a socket for powering media stuff.

Behind the bedroom-playroom is another area of the Ancona that has evolved from smaller (but good) beginnings to something with even more practical family appeal...
 

Showering

The wardrobe is now within the shower room, on the offside. It has full hanging depth and a deep shelf above it. Below the hanging space is a shelf. Good for shoes, perhaps. But when you look more carefully you see that the centre section of this shelf can be removed, to reveal a huge area beneath that’s large enough for all the family’s footwear requirements.

There’s another unusual feature of the Ancona’s shower room. The toilet is mounted against the back wall. It’s a design found only in Baileys (the Pegasus Rimini and Palermo models among them). Floor space in the shower room isn’t enormous but the little room is big enough to use as a dressing room, which is a brilliantly practical element of this caravan.

Sleeping

The bunks are 1.8m long and 60cm wide. The bed that you can make from the dining area is 10cm shorter and slightly wider, at 69cm.

It’s a lovely, cosy bedroom, enclosed by the wide walls and the partition. Settling down to sleep would be no problem here, while parents are enjoying quality lounging time at the front.

And when it comes to transforming the lounge into a double bed, parents will have the task done in under a minute, thanks to a new bed construction system called DreamSleep, introduced uniquely to the new Pegasus range for 2016. Each of the settees is constructed in two sections. The lower portions draw out, to sit one on top of the other in the central section of the bed over the slats that roll out from under the chest of drawers. The result is a totally flat mattress that’s really quick and light to construct. It’s made of foam. And we have to say it might be considered not quite firm enough for some, especially if your preference is for a very firm mattress. But, if you’re considering an Ancona, make the bed up and lie on it, to judge for yourself, and keep in mind that the Ancona is such a brilliant family caravan that, should you decide you want a firmer, deeper mattress, you can always buy a mattress topper.

Storage

Two brilliant aspects of the Ancona’s storage capability are under the bunks and under the nearside settee. Both have exterior hatches. And both have plastic trays so that wet, muddy or damp items can be placed in here without interfering with other items.

Elsewhere the Ancona excels on the topic of storage, too. Because the lounge settee are long, so is the storage area here. And although there are no front apertures, the lids are supported on spring hinges, so accessing the contents is easy.

Both the boxes under dining area are easy to access, too, with slatted lids to raise. In total, this caravan offers a massive 6.58m of lower locker length for storage.

Dining

We love the cosy little dining “room” at the rear. It’s almost out of view from the lounge. Children are pretty much guaranteed to prefer their own dining space, especially when they’re getting their evening meal before mum and dad.

When it’s time for parents’ dinner, there are two options, depending on the amount of table space you prefer. The extending chest-of-drawers top is fine for two simple place settings. But when you need more space, you have to go to the wardrobe…

The main table is stored against the back wall of the wardrobe. That means you have to delve in among the hanging garments to extract it. And if the rail is full, which it’s likely to be with the clothing needs of five on board, you are going to have to remove some of the garments to enable you to reach in to get the table out. We can understand why Bailey’s designers have placed the table here, though; there really is no alternative in the layout.

We quickly decided that it would only take a minute to unhook clothes hangers and lay the garments on the bunks while you’re getting the table in or out. And anyway if you’re using an awning, the table can live in there when it’s not in use in the caravan.

Lounging

Six can sit comfortably in the lounge; the settees are 1.85m long. Pegasus settee construction is unique, with 44cm-high backs which curve to offer both back and shoulder support.

Our review Ancona is furnished with the standard Richmond scheme; if you prefer darker seating , the alternative, called Belvoir, provides this, at a cost of £199. Both have plain, modern appeal.

Kitchen

The Ancona’s tall fridge-freezer has a 133-litre capacity. And if chill space is more useful to you than freezer space, you can remove the freezer compartment and leave it at home.

There are cabinets above, below and alongside the fridge-freezer, plus three lower cabinets. The centre one is 26cm wide, divided into two shelf spaces. The cabinet on the forward end of the kitchen has three shelves, plus a cutlery drawer neatly situated above them. The shelves are only 23cm deep (that’s because the gas housing is on the other side of the unit) but we think the Ancona’s kitchen offers enough storage space for the cooking needs of a family. And there’s an extra bit. A 15cm-wide cabinet alongside the oven contains metal clips for three wine bottles and a shelf above that’s the right dimension for bottled beers… That’s mum and dad’s evening beverages taken care of.

Towing

With an all-up weight figure of 1475kg, the Ancona is suitable for a large number of medium-weight cars. Out on the road, even in the blustery conditions of our tow test day, it didn’t waver once from a perfectly straight line. We were not overtaken by any large vehicles, though, on the dual carriageway stretch, and when that happens there’s always a chance of a slight deflection. Keep in mind that the ATC electronic braking stability system checks signs of a sway before it has chance to develop and you might like to consider ordering your Ancona with that £399 optional extra. As a safety and peace-of-mind feature it’s priceless.