Full review

GENEROUS exterior proportions of the groovy Bürstner Viseo can only mean one thing, of course: generous interior proportions.

And I have to say that this is one of the best laid-out motorhomes I think I’ve ever seen. In an ideal world, I would have liked a bigger end washroom – preferably of the full-width variety – but in order to maintain its ‘budget A-class’ status, money had to be saved somewhere, I suppose.

Elsewhere, though, the Viseo i 715 scores a solid 10 out of 10 on the first-impressions-ometer, especially on the lounge and bedroom fronts.

Conversion noise seems well suppressed. I’m used to A-class drop-down beds creaking and groaning like a haunted house on the move, but the Viseo remained stubbornly – and impressively – muted during our beautifully sun-soaked drive to our chosen site in West Runton.

I did happen upon one slight issue with the Viseo when it came to pitching up, however. Anyone familiar with the Incleboro Fields’ site will know that if you want a great view from your windows (and let’s face it: who doesn’t), you need to stick to the more elevated (but also more sloping) side of the site near the main entrance, rather than the lower, but flatter far side. And so it was with us.

However, the X2/50 Camping Car chassis is noticeably nose-down, even on the flat. Factor in our fabulous (but obviously rather downward sloping) pitch, together with the site warden’s edict that we must reverse onto our pitch, and even our motley collection of levelling ramps failed to offset the Viseo’s rather droop-snoot stance when pitched up.

Other niggles? The roof locker shelves tended to slip off their flimsy plastic moorings and deposit their contents in an untidy heap on the locker floor, while the sliding rear island bed is quite hefty to manoeuvre with a full complement of bedding in situ, too.

Less annoying (but still irksome) are the missing retaining catch for the exterior access door to the under-bed void, the shower-riser-cum-washbasin-tap that can result in a thorough crotch-soaking for the incautious, and the lack of an electric step.

There must be an easier way to prevent water escaping your fresh tank than the practically inaccessible little button on the boiler (which is buried forward of the bed), too, while getting the pleated blinds to slide neatly back into their day positions every morning was akin to pushing water through a letterbox!

None of which mattered to me one single jot, however, when the sun was shining, I had THAT view out of the windows, and was ensconced snugly in my favourite part of the Viseo’s lounge – the corner of the L-shaped settee – with the window open, the sea-breeze ruffling my hair and a glass of Rioja to hand.

These were the many occasions when I discovered that I could forgive the Viseo almost anything.

It was better still, come sun-down. The Viseo’s big kitchen rustled up several superb meals on the occasions when we didn’t decamp to local eateries for dinner.

The selection of games we brought with us remained largely untouched throughout the holiday as we almost always decamped to our own personal home cinema in the bedroom after dinner to watch a DVD or two.

Some people – such as the assistant warden who thought we were heading for home, one morning – feel you can’t go out exploring in a motorhome as big as the Viseo, and while your options are obviously more restricted than they would be with a smaller coachbuilt, we certainly got out and about most days.

The Bürstner Viseo was a long-term test vehicle with Which Motorcaravan. Find out about the magazine by clicking here.