Full review

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Morelo Palace 88 G A-class motorhome

How big or expensive does an A-class have to be to become a liner? That’s a good question, because we reckon even the smallest Morelo Home (7.81m long, 3.32m tall) looks pretty liner-like, even if it’s not granted the Liner suffix by its maker.

Step up from the Home, past the Loft, and you get to the regal-sounding Palace – now, surely, we’re in liner territory? After all, loaded with tasty options for the Caravan Salon, it weighed in with a €340,590 price tag! But Morelo announced the new 88 G layout, describing it as “decidedly compact.” All things are relative when your range-topper is 12m long, sits on an 18-tonne chassis, and costs north of €700,000! 

The specification

The reason for Morelo’s seemingly inappropriate classification of the new Palace 88 G becomes more understandable in context. It is over half a metre shorter than the existing 90 G, resulting in an extra 180kg of payload. More significantly, it is the smallest Morelo to offer a garage for a car, with room for a petrol-engined Smart (but not the electric version) under the rear bedroom. Crucially, it is less than 9m in length, which the company says allows it to fit on more standard-sized campsite pitches – it’s a similar length to a tag-axle Kon-Tiki or Auto-Trail Frontier.

You can drive it on a C1 licence, as it has a 7,490kg gross weight. The chassis is the usual staple of an Iveco Daily, up-spec’d to 210PS with the eight-speed automatic gearbox. The maximum gross train weight is 10,700kg, giving you plenty of capacity for towing.   

The layout

So, this is a more manageable Morelo, but it is still every bit as luxurious. It has the same 38mm RTM insulation and 420mm-deep double floor (containing super-sized water tanks – 360 litres fresh and 250 litres each for grey and black). There’s the same wide entrance door with PIN code lock and the 5.5kW Alde central heating includes a heated floor.

Where this Palace differs from its larger sister models is in having cupboards around the cab roof (so no drop-down bed) and a shorter lounge without the bar layout option. Still, with the high-backed captain’s chairs swivelled and the table in its unextended form, there’s plenty of room for two people to relax – and, as the Morelo is so high, you look out over the top of most neighbouring units.  

The kitchen

The kitchen is a tad more modest, too, but it includes a 177-litre fridge/freezer, Corian-style worktops with an integral sink, a microwave with grill and the sort of premium finish that goes with the price tag. Of course, there’s an optional shelf for your Nespresso machine.  

At the rear

At the rear, the 88 G is completely redesigned. Here, there’s a central washstand backing onto (and hiding from view) the raised island bed (a whopping 2.08m by 1.63m). You can reach the multi-zone mattress and its adjustable bed head sections via steps on either side of the basin, while the full-width washroom also includes a domestic-sized shower with real glass doors and a ceramic marine-style toilet. On the reverse side of the washstand wall, the Palace 88 G is the first model to offer a 40in TV in the bedroom!

So, you won’t be roughing it if you go for this, ahem, ‘compact’ Palace, while it allows you to get a car conveniently on board without the hassle of a trailer.