Full review

With the arrival of a revised range of Bailey Pegasus caravans for 2016 came three new models. It’s no surprise that one of these new models is the layout that is fast becoming Britain’s most popular for couples, the transverse island bed.

While the Brindisi adheres to this now-standard layout theme, the model that takes its name from the ancient port on Italy’s eastern coast has some special characteristics that set it apart from other transverse-bed options.

Chief among them is the large size of its fridge-freezer. It’s the new Dometic 133-litre tall, slim unit. The bigger the fridge in a caravan, the longer the interval between having to go shopping for food; a useful plus-point when you’re on holiday.

The upholstery construction is new, too, and unique to the Pegasus range. Seat backs are higher than in other caravans, and contoured, with lower back areas wider than shoulder areas.

Another feature that helps to give the Brindisi a character of its own is the lighting style in the bedroom. A strip of bright LEDs runs along the offside bedroom wall, set slightly behind a feature wooden panel stretching under the window and also under a big upholstered panel, with a TV mounting bracket in the centre. This lighting feature is quite stunning, and creates a lovely warm-looking bedroom ambience.

The Brindisi, in common with the vast majority of transverse island bed models, has its shower room at the rear.
 

Showering

At 70x80cm, the shower is fine for size. Two big chrome towel hooks are exactly in the right position for you to grab your towel while standing in the shower. There’s a wide three-shelf wall cabinet, another cabinet under the sink, two shelves in a unit alongside the washbasin, plus three little shelves and one running all the way across the back above the window. This shower room offers lots of places to put stuff.

When you’ve done all the grooming, the mirror between the towel hooks is long enough for you to inspect your attire from head to feet.

The level of illumination is good here, with one ceiling light plus two LED clusters inside the shower area.

Sleeping

Along with the arrival of the new Pegasus range for 2016 came an invention in mattress construction as well as lounge upholstery. DreamSleep mattresses are made of what manufacturers Belfield Furnishings call “honeycore” foam, designed to react in a similar manner to a pocket sprung mattress, when you lie on it, allowing it to compress while also maintaining comfort. We didn’t sleep in the Brindisi, but we did lie on the mattress briefly; long enough to discover that this new mattress structure really does offer excellent comfort. The mattress is deeper than most in caravans, at 20cm. And these mattresses are designed to prevent moisture retention.

It’s the lounge bed construction that makes the DreamSleep system so very different from all others, though, so we were eager to discover if it really is as easy to transform the lounge into a double bed as the manufacturers tell us….

We remove all four of the tall backrests. These don’t form part of the mattress so we put them under the double bed out of the way. We then raise each of the seating units vertically, to expose the second, under-section beneath, and draw out the slatted centre section of the bed base. We draw the under-section of each seating unit towards the centre. Each is attached to the top section by straps, which draw the top section downwards, upside down. The under-sections lie on top of one another in the centre of the bed. It’s a clever design.

The result is a totally flat mattress. It’s only 11cm deep, though, and in all honesty isn’t the most comfortable lounge bed we’ve encountered. It’s not designed to be sink-into cosy. And the centre section is firmer than the side areas; when you sit up in bed, on the side areas, you feel as if you are sinking into the mattress. The heavier you are, the greater this effect will be. In the Brindisi, though, the lounge bed is likely to get only occasional use, as most buyers of this model will be couples.

The really important plus-points about the DreamSleep invention is that it’s made up in less than a minute, the light weight of its construction makes it really easy to handle, and the mattress is totally flat.

And in the morning? It’s just as quick to turn the bed back into a lounge.

Storage

The Brindisi’s greatest storage asset, the area under its double bed, is also its greatest disappointment. That’s because the table is stored here, resting on ledges on a frame in the centre of the bed area. You have to remove the table to remove or place anything in the space underneath it. And any items placed under the bed on either side of the table would move underneath it when you tow. Storage, Brindisi-style, would take a little more planning than in a caravan where you have complete top access to the double bed area.

The best way to use this under-bed area is from the exterior hatch. A large plastic tray retains any moisture or mud that might come in on the legs of folding chairs.

If we bought a Brindisi we’d buy a couple of plastic storage boxes to sit on either side of the table, to prevent stuff from disappearing beneath the table. And we’d probably make more use of the under-settee storage boxes than we would in a caravan without a table in the double bed space. The settee storage areas don’t have front access; spring hinges support the slatted lids, which is fine.

Dining

The Brindisi’s layout puts it firmly into the two-plus-two category; being used mostly for two and its four-berth capability coming into play only occasionally. That means most meals will be eaten at the centre-front pull-out table. When you need the big table, you have to raise the bed to extract it. Whether you like or loathe this table storage arrangement is a personal thing. As under-bed table storage goes, this is about the best we’ve encountered, because the Brindisi’s bed rises fairly high, and you can stand at the base of the bed where there is plenty of space. The review team doesn’t suffer from any back muscle challenges, though; those who do would find lifting the weight of a table at this arms-stretched angle not a great idea.

Lounging

The new Belfield high-backrest lounge structure is impressively comfortable. We had been looking forward to spending some time assessing this innovation; our review week gave us this opportunity, and we can report that we’re really impressed by the support that the curved backrests provide. Whether sitting upright using a laptop or in more leisurely pose, the shape of the backrests is probably the most supportive we’ve found in any caravan so far.

Kitchen

The Brindisi’s greatest kitchen asset is its enormous fridge, with cabinets above and below it, opposite the kitchen.

Three 40cm-wide shelves in a slightly curved cabinet plus a two-shelf cupboard, and two top lockers, produce enough storage for most buyers’ needs. The eye-height of the microwave won’t suit short-stature buyers, though. But the amount of kitchen surface space is impressive, at just over a metre long when you hinge the 30cm extension into position, and 88cm deep at its deepest point.

Towing

Out on the road the Brindisi felt fine and well balanced but the gusty winds of our test tow day prompted remarks about the importance of budgeting for the £399 option of ATC stability control. More than once during the Brindisi’s road test the caravan’s stability was momentarily deflected by gusts, even though we were keeping the speed down.