Cloud 9 Comfort
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Description
PRICE FROM £18,000 (conversion only) PRICE AS TESTED £23,995 (based on 2007 van with 90k miles) OPTIONS FITTED None TYPE APPROVAL None – based on used van BERTHS 2 TRAVEL SEATS (INC DRIVER) 2
Key Features
Model Year
2013
Product Class
Rising Roof
Product Model Base
Volkswagen T5
Price from (£)
£18000
Length (m)
5.30
Berths
2
Belted seats
2
Main Layout
Campervan
Full Review
Cloud 9 Campers has been trading for just a couple of years, but founder, Rob Matthews' connection with motorhoming goes back 25 years, to when he built a camper with his dad.
The Cloud 9 VW camper has taken 18 months develop as Rob sought to perfect his idea of a double bed with a proper mattress that could store vertically in a standard T5 van, then flip down to the horizontal for sleeping. The idea is simple but getting it work in such a confined space has resulted in much head-scratching.Clever bed
It certainly works now, though. In fact, it couldn’t be much easier to use. You simply remove the cushions from the camper’s L-shaped settee and fold down the bed from the offside wall – aided by gas struts.
It takes seconds and the resultant bed is completely flat, with a six-inch thick, one-piece mattress measuring 6ft 1in by
almost 4ft.
It’s quite the most comfortable bed I’ve ever tried in a small campervan, but if this one is too soft for you, Cloud 9 can swap the reflex foam for memory foam or even an orthopaedic mattress.
Seating
So you’ve got sleeping comfort that beats the fixed beds of many much bigger motorhomes, but the Cloud 9 conversion also incorporates an L-settee running in front of the stored bed and across the rear doors.
Facing the sideboard, it will only require the addition of the big, sturdy table for full meals.
Two can enjoy this settee, while a third person could sit in the swivelled cab seat (where there’s another table, which also acts as essential extra kitchen worktop).
This camper is essentially a two-person vehicle, though, as its design precludes the inclusion of belted rear travel seats. A three-berth would be possible, however, with a swivel double passenger cab seat and a roof bed.
Size matters
It’s not possible to incorporate this design within a short-wheelbase T5, but the longer van is still only 5.30m and can easily serve as your only transport.
At present you can only have your Cloud 9 camper built on a pre-owned van, as Rob has yet to get involved in Type Approval.
The quality of the conversion looks impressive, though, and proven, high-quality fittings – such as a Reimo elevating roof and Vöhringer board for the furniture – have been used.
Cloud 9 will even do a partial conversion with prices from £5,000, but the £18k for a conversion like this (including blown-air heating, rising roof, full LED lighting etc) is a better guide to cost – onto which, of course, you must add the price of a Volkswagen panel van.
Read the full review in the May 2013 digital issue of Which Motorhome
Our Verdict
If sleeping comfort and lounge space are important, and having more travel seats is not, then this novel camper warrants a close look.
Advantages
Superb, flat, easy-to-make bed
Comfortable L-shaped settee for lounging
Two good tables
All-LED lighting
Disadvantages
No rear travel seats
No grill
Less storage than classic VW layout
