Full review

This new six-berth tourer, the Elddis Avanté 586, features bunks and significant storage space, especially in its star-performing wardrobe.

Family caravanning gets a triple bonus for 2019 in a new six-berth layout from the Erwin Hymer Group. A 586 six-berth layout arrives in three of the company's ranges: the Xplore, Elddis Avanté and Compass Casita.

These models have bunks at the rear on the nearside, plus two bunks to create from the offside dining area amidships. What makes this layout special is the washroom is longitudinally oriented, on the offside. Between this and the bunks sits a capacious wardrobe (more of which later).

We chose the Avanté version of the 586 layout for this review because this model appears in 12 different guises, thanks to the dealer special network. Added equipment and unique fabrics give buyers a huge choice.

The standard caravan, though, is our focus for this review – and it has many brilliant features. Among them are its colour palette, of soft fawns and pale, almost white stone colour, teamed with pale cabinetry. Top lockers are edged with matt fawn, precisely matching the top sections of the seat backs.

The pale colours seem to make the caravan look larger than it is. And the carpet's deep, shadow pile looks delightfully high-end, sumptuous domestic quality. The work surfaces and tables are finished in stone-effect – the whole scheme looks simply lovely. All that goes for all eight Avantés, of course.

It's the position of the washroom, though, that sets the 586 apart from all others.

Showering

The washroom is 1.8m long, with the shower cubicle 63cm x 80cm at the rear. The toilet and washbasin area is just over a metre long and 80cm wide, which doesn't sound much but, take it from us, there is genuinely enough space for washing, towelling after a shower and changing clothes in the little room.

The shower is the 'halo' Ecocamel type, and with a small but important feature – a soap dish mounted on the riser bar. There's also a ledge, slightly above the main shower tray base, which gives plenty of room for shampoo-type stuff.

The washbasin sits up on top of its cabinet, in on-trend domestic fashion; this cabinet, plus a wall cabinet, gives ample accommodation for all the washing necessities. Two towel hooks are high up on the wall; we think another two would be needed; these are easy to buy and fix.

Sleeping

Two bunks, 1.82m long and 60cm wide, with a fixed ladder, in their own cosy area, and each has a bright light – this is a perfect microcosm of a 'bedroom'.

The dining area transforms into two more beds, each 1.8m long and 65cm wide; the table forms the base of the lower one and the upper bunk base folds out from its position against the wall.

And for mum and dad? Single beds 1.7m long (fine for one-night journey stopovers when you may just want to roll out sleeping bags and kip) or a double bed that measures 2.06m x 1.3m.

The centre base section is formed by slats which pull out from under the drawers at the front. When you turn the seat upholstery over, so that the knee rolls lie against the walls, this makes a remarkably flat mattress.

Storage

With six aboard, storage is always going to be a key issue. The 586 acquits itself well. Here's how. There's a great space under the base bunk.

There are no self-supporting hinges but the lid is light, to raise and hold up, while you delve inside. The wardrobe is a star performer, giving you 86cm of hanging width. Half of jacket-length, the rest is full length. Under the half-length hanging space are three shelves; these, together with the base of the full-depth hanging space, will swallow everyone's shoes.

The spaces under the offside dining seats are a bonus of this layout; again, the tops aren't on self-supporting hinges but, once you remove the upholstery, they're easy to get into. Then there's the space under the lounge seating, with front-access, full-length drop-down doors.

And the top-locker count? That's five – and three of them have shelves. Two drawers at the front plus a locker beneath them complete the storage story (except for the kitchen, of course).

Enoughfor six? For sure!

Dining

With two dining areas plus a coffee-and-snack table to pull out from above the drawers, the 586 earns another A rating. Two people get their own dining table and the lounge is long enough for six to eat together if you use the pull-out table as well as the freestanding one, housed in the cabinet that divides the lounge from the dining area.

Families will work out the dining arrangement that best suits them; it might be that mum and dad take over the side dining area for a little bit of peace and quiet.

Lounging

Television time – and whether everyone's watching in the lounge in the evening, or the bunk occupants are in their Peppa Pig fan zone in the mornings before they get up, there's an ideal place for your TV. It's on top of the tall cabinet that houses the table (connections are here) so you can turn the TV around to face either end of the caravan. There is a second set of TV ports in the lounge, so, if you want to, you could have two TVs!

The 586 has a total of five mains sockets – one for each of the TV areas, two in the kitchen and a fifth set into the base of the rear dining area seat, so charging needs are well catered for.

Seating is comfortably firm in both the lounge and the dining area and the front corners are good to nestle into if mum and dad get chance for any feet-up to relax time.

Kitchen

The aspect of the kitchen that will catch your eyes first is actually style, but this is far from a style-over-substance situation. The top locker design is stunning, with the mirrored Russell Hobbs microwave set flush into the pale matt top lockers with a subtle horizontal grain.

The rock-effect surface, with matching sink cover, adds to the quality look. Far more important, of course, is kitchen size and, with the glass cooker top down, there's a 1.48m stretch of surface space.

When the cooker is in use, there's 93cm of space. That is fine, we reckon, especially when you consider there's a table nearby to use when food is being put onto plates. The sink is a generous 39cm in diameter; washing up items – even pans – here would be easy.

And storage? There are three drawers, one 39cm wide (ideal for cutlery) and two 20cm wide, plus a cabinet of the same width that's 50cm deep.

There are also two top lockers and three shelf spaces in the cabinet that hides away the table – it's not an enormous amount of space but it is, in our opinion, enough, especially when you consider not all the top lockers are likely to be occupied by clothing and other bits and bobs; those over the dining table would make ideal extra kitchen storage spaces.

Towing

We're delighted to see Avantés come with AL-KO's automatic electronic stability system as standard; for the uninitiated, this detects the first flick of a snaking motion and automatically applies small amounts of caravan braking to correct it – a real asset.

Think of it as a hidden little box of tricks there to help keep you safe! At just 1460kg MTPLM, this model must rank among lightweight six-berths, so it's one to consider if your car is medium-sized.

Verdict

Whether you go for the Avanté, the same-spec, Compass Casita version of the 586 with different décor, or the lighter weight, lower price (£16,999 plus £595 delivery) Xplore 586, you'll be getting a cracking family caravan, well designed in terms of layout practicalities, with generous storage, and flexible dining and lounging arrangements.

And if you want your Avanté 586 with a little exclusivity, there are many dealer special versions on offer, all with different fabric schemes and good-value packages of extra equipment – shop around!