Bailey Olympus 540-5

Its layout is versatile for families or occasional holidays with grandchildren.

THE triple front outside locker arrangement of Bailey’s Olympus, Pegasus and Unicorn ranges creates storage that keeps you organised.

One side compartment for the loo chemicals, the other for your mains cable, perhaps. The advantage here is that these items are confined in a small locker, rather than loose to roll around a compartment that stretches across the width of the caravan.

Gas lives in its own housing and, because the lid of this front-central locker lifts right up, lifting cylinders in and out is not arduous.

Something else is unusual about this front locker – the handle. Turn the key and you can lift one side of the handle. You then rotate it to open the hatch. It’s a lot less fiddly than undoing locks on each side of traditional gas compartments. For a caravan of only 5.67m body length there’s a lot of seating and a lot of storage.

Like the similarly-laid out Bailey Pegasus Ancona, the 540-5 feels a much larger caravan than its dimensions suggest.

SHOWERING

The amazing part, though, is the shower room. It spans the nearside rear corner; its wall is angled so that there’s sufficient floor space by the door and on your route to the fixed bunks.

There’s a separate shower in here, enough space for family dressing, and a large, deep rectangular washbasin. This really is a superbly-designed washroom for a family, giving much more space than those we find amidships, on the offside.

SLEEPING

The family attraction of this layout is obvious, but it’s also a cracking choice for a couple who occasionally take grandchildren with them; the bunks are their domain and, when the kids aren’t with you, bunks are great storage areas.

The main difference between the Ancona and the Olympus 540-5 is that the Olympus version of this layout has two fixed bunks, and a single making from the dining area on the nearside just forward of the door. The Ancona has a triple bunk stack, so accommodates one more person (the other differences are all about specification and price – the Ancona costs £17,195.)

Importantly, the Olympus 540-5’s fixed bunks have much more headroom than those in the Ancona, so the 540-5 is suitable for bigger kids! The key point here is that the 540-5 will last you longer, whereas the Ancona will result in a return to your caravan dealer to choose a new layout as the kids in your family start to grow taller and quickly run out of headroom.

DINING

A feature that the Ancona and the 540-5 share is the generous width of the dining area. It’s 77cm wide and there is enough space for two children to sit at each side here. If you choose the U-shaped lounge, seven can dine here.

KITCHEN

The kitchen’s generous in dimensions too, with a cabinet between the fridge and the oven. An extra shelf below the metal basket would have doubled capacity, though. Even so, you’re unlikely to run out of kitchen storage space if you use the large cupboard that sits between the dining area and the lounge.

Your television will sit on top of it (there’s a power point and aerial socket here), and if you turn it around, it can be watched from either the dining area or the lounge.

The height of the microwave, above this surface, follows the current trend of slightly lower positioning, making it easier for people of smaller stature to use without spillages or accidents.

LOUNGING

Olympus offers you the choice between parallel or U-shaped seating options. The parallel layout will cost you £286 more and gives you the advantage of two drawers and a small table that pulls out above them. We’d go for the U-shape every time because it gives you so much extra space for lounging in comfort.

You have a large freestanding table (stored in the kitchen cabinet) to use here, and you also have the smaller table on the nearside. The 540-5 has more storage capacity than many caravans of its size.

Lift the lower bunk up and you’ll find enough space for an awning in here, although you’d need to be careful not to create a noseweight that’s too light by loading a heavy awning aft of the axle. Storage under the front seating areas is accessed from the tops, rather than front hatches.

Ten head-height lockers take care of lightweight items, and five sections of the upper kitchen storage cabinetry provide plenty of space.

STORAGE

For a caravan of its length, 10 top lockers, five lower lockers, two cabinets and one more in the shower room is great.

TOWING

The 540’s tow test was uneventful, in a positive way. Plainly well balanced – and with ATC for added stability.

It’s a practical and versatile layout, it’s equipped with ATC and the quality levels are high for the money.