Elddis Avante 505
Image
Key Features
Model Year
2010
Product Class
Single Axle
Price from (£)
£14499
Berths
5
Full Review
THE first impression as you step inside this five-metre-long, five-berth layout is of more space than its size would suggest.
Second: a light and airy aspect. Third – and most importantly – two clearly separate family areas.
That, in a nutshell, is what the Avanté 505 is all about. There’s a lot of style detail to notice – but back to that later.
The layout gives you a dining-area double bed with bunk above at the rear and two long singles (or a double bed) at the front. Nothing new there; most manufacturers have this twin-lounge configuration in their ranges, give or take a metre or less in length.
It has been a best-seller for at least a couple of generations of caravanners. And, although this traditional family layout has been upstaged by the aura that shines around anything with triple bunks, that spotlight does nothing to detract from the 505’s tried-and-trusted way of catering for a family.
The big plus here is the amount of floor space. And adaptability. Turn right as you enter the caravan and you are in the dining room. Or is it the playroom? Or the bedroom?
Turn left and a long corridor leads you to the lounge ahead. And everywhere you look the light and airy aspect that first impresses you is evident. There are two clear reasons for this.
Most importantly, the rear area has three windows so, even though the rooflights at the rear and in the centre are small, ample daylight floods in. The second reason is the use of pale fawn as the dominant colour in the fabric. There are much more important factors about the 505 than soft furnishings, however.
We’ll start in the kitchen. Lovely big fixed-drainer sink, three burners above a smart dark mirror-fronted Spinflo oven and grill – and, crucially, bearing in mind the caravan is designed to cater for five, there is just about enough surface to the right of the drainer.
The 505 also manages to cram in a reasonable-sized cupboard between oven and Thetford fridge.
Storage elsewhere gathers praise the more you examine the 505. The rear end has six head lockers plus two large corner shelf units. Seven more lockers surround the lounge, although those at the front are very small and the side ones don’t have shelves within them.
We’ve been enjoying Avanté ambience for a few hours now – and we haven’t yet ventured into the keeping-clean department. The shower shares its room with the toilet. And the bi-fold plastic partition that confines the shower splashes fits really snugly into its channel.
There’s more in the little room to notice; even though it has the usual towel loop, there is also a rail running the width of the shower roof – perfect for hanging more towels to dry.
Space-saving design comes in the form of a tip-up washbasin over the loo. They’re not to everyone’s liking, but do put up with it, because this is otherwise a great washroom. You have to compromise somewhere in order to accommodate five in a caravan of this length, and we’d rather see compromises in washbasin design than in kitchen surface – which is where this Avanté scores highly.
There’s something else we like.. It’s the colour of the carpet. No pretty-looking pale fawn here: The carpet is dark, charcoal grey, which is practical in the extreme.
It’s a flat-weave, which means the pile won’t flatten in a year or two under the patter of tiny (and big) feet. Almost full marks, Elddis, for a lightweight, easy-to-tow family holiday environment.
Read more new caravan reviews by clicking here.
Second: a light and airy aspect. Third – and most importantly – two clearly separate family areas.
That, in a nutshell, is what the Avanté 505 is all about. There’s a lot of style detail to notice – but back to that later.
The layout gives you a dining-area double bed with bunk above at the rear and two long singles (or a double bed) at the front. Nothing new there; most manufacturers have this twin-lounge configuration in their ranges, give or take a metre or less in length.
It has been a best-seller for at least a couple of generations of caravanners. And, although this traditional family layout has been upstaged by the aura that shines around anything with triple bunks, that spotlight does nothing to detract from the 505’s tried-and-trusted way of catering for a family.
The big plus here is the amount of floor space. And adaptability. Turn right as you enter the caravan and you are in the dining room. Or is it the playroom? Or the bedroom?
Turn left and a long corridor leads you to the lounge ahead. And everywhere you look the light and airy aspect that first impresses you is evident. There are two clear reasons for this.
Most importantly, the rear area has three windows so, even though the rooflights at the rear and in the centre are small, ample daylight floods in. The second reason is the use of pale fawn as the dominant colour in the fabric. There are much more important factors about the 505 than soft furnishings, however.
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We’ll start in the kitchen. Lovely big fixed-drainer sink, three burners above a smart dark mirror-fronted Spinflo oven and grill – and, crucially, bearing in mind the caravan is designed to cater for five, there is just about enough surface to the right of the drainer.
The 505 also manages to cram in a reasonable-sized cupboard between oven and Thetford fridge.
Storage elsewhere gathers praise the more you examine the 505. The rear end has six head lockers plus two large corner shelf units. Seven more lockers surround the lounge, although those at the front are very small and the side ones don’t have shelves within them.
We’ve been enjoying Avanté ambience for a few hours now – and we haven’t yet ventured into the keeping-clean department. The shower shares its room with the toilet. And the bi-fold plastic partition that confines the shower splashes fits really snugly into its channel.
There’s more in the little room to notice; even though it has the usual towel loop, there is also a rail running the width of the shower roof – perfect for hanging more towels to dry.
Space-saving design comes in the form of a tip-up washbasin over the loo. They’re not to everyone’s liking, but do put up with it, because this is otherwise a great washroom. You have to compromise somewhere in order to accommodate five in a caravan of this length, and we’d rather see compromises in washbasin design than in kitchen surface – which is where this Avanté scores highly.
There’s something else we like.. It’s the colour of the carpet. No pretty-looking pale fawn here: The carpet is dark, charcoal grey, which is practical in the extreme.
It’s a flat-weave, which means the pile won’t flatten in a year or two under the patter of tiny (and big) feet. Almost full marks, Elddis, for a lightweight, easy-to-tow family holiday environment.
Read more new caravan reviews by clicking here.
- This new caravan review was first published in the May 2010 issue of Go Caravan magazine.
