Full review

In a market dominated by caravans with separate showers it’s surprising to find a newcomer with a shared shower-toilet compartment.

There is, though, a very good reason for this departure from trend, for the new Compass Casita achieves a lot in a compact body length — and compromise had to be made somewhere.

The 454 is a caravan for couples. It has, in a compact body length, a luxuriously cosy rear bedroom with a transverse island bed and two triangular dressing tables. Wardrobes of equal size are on each side of the bed, with four drawers beneath.

The main selling point of the Compass Casita 454

The bedroom is undoubtedly this caravan’s USP. All this has been achieved in a short body by combining the shower, washbasin and toilet area into one room, on the offside opposite the kitchen.

There’s no compromise in the lounge area, though; the seating configuration is L-shaped, so there’s plenty of seating and floor space. The lounge has a television wall on the nearside, with connections in the corner.

The clever kitchen

The kitchen is compact and cleverly designed to make the best use of space with the fridge under the sink and a cutlery drawer on the forward end of the kitchen. Kitchen storage is a top locker alongside the microwave and a locker beneath the oven.

Cooking equipment is a hob with three gas burners and an electric hotplate, plus microwave, oven and grill.

Showering

The combined toilet-shower compartment has a key difference from those of bygone days.

The toilet is on a raised section of flooring which is almost level with the wheel arch that runs under the sink, so the shower tray is effectively a rectangular lower section which means water will be confined here and you’ll only have one area to dry after each shower.

An impressive specification for the price

Casitas may be the base model in the Compass range, made by the Erwin Hymer Group in County Durham, but their level of spec is anything but basic.

Al-Ko’s stability system, ATC, is standard; that’s the device that detects, and then corrects, the first sign of instability by automatically activating the caravan brakes, on one side or the other, to bring the caravan back into line.

The 454 layout also appears in the Erwin Hymer Group’s Elddis range, as the Elddis Avanté 454. The equipment level is the same; the difference comes in the fabrics and woodwork.

Compass caravans, like all the caravans made by the Erwin Hymer Group in County Durham, are made using a fully bonded technique called SoLiD, which stands for Strong, Light and Dry. They also have a GRP underskin to provide a water resistant barrier.

Verdict

The name Casita translates as ‘little house’ in Spanish. Perhaps this model, more than any other in the Casita range, exemplifies this name. It’s a top-flight caravan for two; compact, light in weight –and with a luxurious bedroom.