Bailey Orion 530-6

Ideal for families seeking beds for six in a compact lightweight caravan

Exterior

Orions cut a dash with curving body lines both front and aft. They’re aerodynamically efficient and look like the get-up-andtow caravans that they are. You’ll also notice the omission of a front gas locker. That’s because Orions accommodate a 6kg and a 3kg cylinder in a compartment amidships.

There are no exterior lockers, either, although an aperture on the nearside leads into the space under the fixed bed. Close up, you will find a suggestion of twinkling stars bold purple graphics, just to remind you that this is an Orion. The single-piece front window runs almost the entire width of the caravan, giving a pleasantly light aspect to the lounge.

Interior

The 530-6 sleeps its occupants in three distinct areas. There’s the luxury of a permanent double bed; two bunks make up from an offside dining area, and a double can be created in the lounge by pulling forward a series of slats attached to webbing – they’re housed under a ledge that makes a useful place to put books and magazines during the day.

The shower shares a room with the toilet, in the offside corner alongside the bed. A folding plastic partition confines the shower splashes to the shower tray area. Just forward of the little room is a vanity area comprising a small washbasin (measuring 27cm x 20cm), a mirror, a cabinet and two shelves.

There’s no mains socket near this area from which to power a hairdryer; the nearest is in the kitchen, so you’d have to stretch a cable across the centre of the caravan. The basin is large enough for hand washing and teeth cleaning but that’s about all. However, small vanity areas and the singlepiece shower-loo compartment, have to be seen in the context of the brilliance of this layout, sleeping six people in just 5.6m of body length – giving parents the luxury of a double bed.

There’s something else luxurious about Orions – they use the relatively new Whale blown-air heating system which, in our experience over several tests, warms caravans much more rapidly than the more longestablished Truma blown air system. The Whale system is mounted under the caravan, which means there is no need for a heater unit to be accommodated within the caravan’s furniture layout. That, in turn, gives caravan designers greater scope for plenty of originality – of which the 530-6 is an excellent example.

There are two places in which you can eat – one area seating two, the other seating four around the freestanding table that’s stored in its own slim cabinet to the left of the oven. The lounge seating is deep and comfortable. By contrast, the side dining area upholstery is less comfortable, mainly because it’s constructed in two halves, so that it folds out to create the mattress for the lower bunk.

Although we noticed the comparative lack of comfort, this design saves on weight and bulk, because an additional upholstery section doesn’t have to be provided for the bed. Weight savings have been made in the kitchen; the oven and grill are one unit and, because the kitchen is small, there’s no cupboard.

The only storage areas are a small dropdown door area under the oven and a cutlery drawer above it. So buyers of this model would have to store any food items that didn’t find their way into the fridge under one of the bedding lockers. Access to all bedding lockers is top-only – that’s another way in which Bailey has shaved weight off the 530-6.

There are no selfsupporting hinges, which means you have to hold them up while accessing the contents – but, at this weight and this price, things like this are positives rather than negative. Excepting the lack of kitchen lower storage, pretty much everywhere you look in the 530-6 you see brilliance in achieving six berths in such a light weight and short body.

You’d perhaps expect kitchen surface space to be lacking in a caravan so short. But in the 530 you’d be wrong. Two facts combine to create a superb kitchen space. The first is the shape of the hob. It’s triangular, which means there’s a triangular surface space alongside it. The second is the exterior gas bottle compartment, which juts into the caravan on the front side of the kitchen and creates above it, a working surface that’s 38cm wide and 64cm deep. When you place the cover over the sink, that gives you more space; we think this is a very practical kitchen – especially as there is a table opposite to help when you’re placing food on six plates.

Upper kitchen storage comes in the form of one 62cm-wide cabinet that’s fitted for tableware and a second, smaller cabinet, alongside the microwave; that one is deep enough for cereal packets. Two shelves take care of the salt and pepper and other in-use-all-thetime items; these shelves form part of the dividing wall between the bed and the living space. There’s a sliding door at the back of the divider and a space wide enough for a television. You can rotate it either towards the bed or lounge. There’s an aerial point and 12v socket but no mains power point. Low-level storage is generous – there’s space under the four seating areas plus a cavern under the fixed bed.

Accommodation for six at 1380kg MTPLM and £14,695, complete with all you need including a spare wheel and hitch-head stabiliser – brilliant!