Coachman Laser 620/4

The Coachman Laser 620/4 is a side-dining-area layout. It’s ideal for a couple or a family of four. And with a high level of luxury including Alde heating

This is a caravan designed for keen cooks, for drivers who appreciate the stability enhancement of two axles, and for families and couples who like open-plan, spacious tourers.
The 620 is a long-established layout in Coachman’s Laser portfolio. It’s right at the top of this manufacturer’s tree in terms of equipment. And its layout gives it appeal both to couples and families of four. Couples can make single beds or a double in the lounge and they get a permanent dining area amidships. Families can turn that dining area into two bunks.
Equipment includes a 36-litre water tank, 80-watt roof-mounted solar panel, Alde heating, a keyfob-activated alarm system, a Phantom tracking system, two AL-KO Secure wheel locks, a 175-litre litre fridge with separate freezer, an external cold-water shower, an Avtex television – and seven mains power points.
Daylight was fading and temperature sinking fast as we eased the mighty Laser onto its pitch overlooking a fishing lake at Woodland Waters Holiday Park. Time, then, to reach for the Alde heating switch, and turn on the lights. Suddenly, the Laser takes on a pure white image. That’s not just about white light streaming across the ceiling from above every locker, and down over the kitchen. It’s about that white light accentuating fine light-reflecting threads in the upholstery fabric, which is an extremely pale grey, almost white, with just a prominent weave for interest.
Fabric, thus, is a fundamental part of the appeal of Lasers – and the use of fabric to create style and luxury appeal continues into the shower room…

Showering

Coachman isn’t content to fit its shower room windows with a functional blind. There’s a fabric blind, too, which rises into a triple-fold arrangement when its cord mechanism pulls it up into its daytime position, and descends, to clothe the window in grey and pale purple poppies after dark.
There’s much more, though, about the Laser 620’s shower room to impress you. It’s enormous; we measured the floor space at 1.3m at its deepest point. And there is 86cm of floor space between the shower and the wardrobe. This has to be one of the largest shower rooms in any caravan.
The shower is circular, 65cm in diameter. It’s on the offside, with the toilet is alongside it. The wardrobe, which occupies the whole of the nearside wall, gives you 1.22m of hanging width, three shelves, and two drawers, each 80cm wide and 22cm deep. This suite of garment accommodation will hide away a vast quantity of clothing; if luxury can be defined as not having to cram or plan your clothing stowage, the 620/4 has it.
The big-size theme continues with the washbasin. It’s Belfast-style. And it measures 49cm x 29cm; that’s large enough to facilitate some clothes-washing if you have to!

Sleeping

Families considering buying a 620 will need to know that the bunk dimensions fit the people who are going to sleep here. And that they’ll be comfortable.
Comfort, first; the base bunk’s mattress uses the whole depth of the seating upholstery, as distinct from some lower bunk mattresses which fold out to half thickness. The mattress for the top bunk is thinner; folding foam sections are supplied. The base bunk is 1.85m long – that’s just over six feet – and 74cm wide. The top bunk is slightly narrower, but the same length.
Single beds making up in the lounge are 1.88m long. The base of the double bed (a metal frame with a slatted top) draws out from under the offside settee; it’s a smooth, easy operation.
 

Storage

With all, or most, of the clothing needs of four people taken care of by the wardrobe suite, the seven top lockers are available for
anything else.
Access to the spaces under the dining area is by drawing aside webbing-linked slats; there is no front, or side vertical access, so it’s necessary to remove the upholstery to get a large enough aperture to push and pull sleeping bags and pillows in here.
 

Dining

There are three options in two areas; the 620’s side-dining-area layout offers mealtime versatility. At 78cm in protrusion from the caravan wall, the side dining table is slightly wider than many. And the seating is more comfortable than many, so if this is your dinner venue (rather than putting up the folding table in the lounge), then relaxing comfort here is important.
For us, though, this area was the laptop zone, so we appreciated the proximity of three mains power points. That’s one for the laptop and two more, for charging our phones and iPad. Those office requirements translate easily into the techy needs of a holiday.
 

Lounging

The television easily fits on the 30cm-wide dresser; there’s a shelf underneath and a cabinet to hide away anything that might make the 620 look untidy.
There’s enough length to stretch out if you want to, and four big curved armrests to hold you firmly when you sit up. Lounge comfort in a Laser isn’t just a matter of size of seating and shape of armrests. There’s a noticeable firmness about the upholstery which prompted us to phone Coachman to ask about its construction. “100mm of spring, 25mm of foam in a box section, then a small foam topper quilting between the springs and the fabric,” came the reply. Maybe it’s the type of spring construction, maybe it’s that foam topper; the stuff we can’t see under that awesomely modern near-white fabric impressed us with a greater amount of firmness than in some other caravans. Sit in a Laser and see if you agree with us…
 

Kitchen

If you like cooking, so appreciate plenty of surface and cabinet space, a 620 will answer your needs. It has two surface areas, each 46cm wide. One is to the left of the dual-fuel hob; the other is to the right of the recessed drainer.
Light from 45 LEDs shines down from under the top lockers. There’s an extractor fan to make sure steam is never a problem. Three lower cabinets, three drawers and three top cabinets rival small domestic kitchens in accommodation. The rear lower cabinet is 40cm wide and has two shelves. The central cabinet contains the wheel arch and gas taps, but nonetheless the 80cm width gives you one large shelf space plus a bit of space in front of the wheel arch. And there’s more. The 175-litre fridge, with separate freezer is outside the kitchen, between the dining area and the shower room. This is a kitchen in which culinary creations would be an enjoyable part of your holiday.
 

Towing

Towing, too, would be an especially enjoyable part of your holiday, as we quickly established during the 620’s test tow. Call us biased towards twin-axle geometry if you wish, but the fact is that twin-towing is a more relaxing experience for the driver and the 620’s test tow demonstrated why. Cornering is more predictable. You can manoeuvre with greater accuracy. Stability is inevitably enhanced by having four chunks of rubber on the road rather than two. Going over big campsite speed humps is a less uncomfortable experience than with a single axle. And, for extra stability-security, Lasers are equipped with AL-KO’s electronic anti-snaking device, ATC.

With twin-axle stability, towing’s a pleasure. Cooking’s a pleasure, too, in the big kitchen with ample storage space. The showering-dressing process is a pleasure, too, in spacious surroundings. Bags of equipment, bags of lighting and modern, plain fabrics… When you consider, too, the inclusion of a water tank, Alde heating and a big fridge with separate freezer, you may be beginning to realise that you get real value from £26,395 spent on a 2014 Laser 620/4.