Elddis Odyssey 524
Image
Key Features
Model Year
2011
Product Class
Single Axle
Price from (£)
£17349
Berths
4
Full Review
IF you want an offside dining area in a four-berth layout, this new caravan model, with an end washroom, is one to consider especially if you have a young family; showering and dressing children in this caravan’s amazingly spacious washroom is just so easy.
Elddis crams a lot into this short length and manages to keep the MRO to 1339kg. And the designers have given you something really luxurious – that full-width washroom. That’s where we’ll start your guided tour.
Step inside and prepare to be impressed by a rectangular shower of at least the size of the one you probably have at home.
The washbasin, set into a gleaming, dark-grey surface, tops a useful-sized cupboard. On the offside, across the corner, is a huge wardrobe with three large drawers beneath.
Clothing storage doesn’t come much better than this, especially as putting the wardrobe inside the washroom means that this is a true dressing room.
A long towel rail attached to the door is far more useful than the small towel loop usually found in washrooms – so more praise gathered here, too.
Next stop, the kitchen – surely the hub of family holiday lifestyle. The 524 delivers amply... at surface level. Cupboard space, though, doesn’t match the surface. Put simply, there are no kitchen cupboards.
You do get two large drawers but, apart from the fridge, food storage would be a challenge. Enter a couple of plastic under-bed storage boxes that would fit under the side dining area seats, perhaps. There’s usually a way around practical problems...
There is one area, though, where no compromise is needed; it’s at floor level. Elddis has chosen a carpet the colour of the darkest imaginable chocolate. No need for a shoes-off rule in order to preserve this carpet.
Which brings us on to examine the rest of the décor. Seat bases are clothed in a Champagne-shade plain durable chenille-type fabric. From now on, the detail gets far more interesting.
The seat back fabric has bold stripes varying from pale cream through fawn to black. The same fabric covers four squashy bolster ends for the settees.
And there’s yet more to catch your eye. Two fluffy-texture black scatter cushions seem to entice you to sink into settee comfort here; two more add pattern interest.
Storage (kitchen apart) comes well up to standard for four people. Seven head lockers, plus one (fitted) above the kitchen and two more (smaller) over the front, give you ample places to stow stuff.
But only one of the seven lockers gets a shelf. We know we can’t have it all in caravans, in the interest of weight reduction – but if just two or three of those lockers were to have shelves, their capacity would be doubled.
That’s because, if you pile clothing into head lockers above half depth, the moment you open the lockers, the contents make a swift exit onto the seating below.
One more minor gripe (only one): this caravan has only one roof light (at the front). Which means the central area, with kitchen on one side and two-seater dining area on the other, is rather dim.
But look more closely and you’ll see the reason is in fact an asset. Instead of a mini roof light (which would have made it much lighter), you get an Omnivent extractor.
Some say they’re a waste of weight – and daylight. But some others (all of them keen cooks) say extractor fans are really important. Which camp you fall into depends on how you use the caravan.
For us? The extractor wins every time and if we needed extra light as daylight begins to fade, we’d buy a small table lamp for the side dining area.
Verdict:
Luxury touches are the 524’s defining features. Lighting features will win your praise – four LED spotlights set around the roof light in the front, plus subtle LED strips under the pelmets all around the lounge. There’s a touch of classic pattern amid all the rest of the features which scream out the word ‘modern.’ In total, the Odyssey range is designed to appeal to most tastes, and we think it succeeds.
Elddis crams a lot into this short length and manages to keep the MRO to 1339kg. And the designers have given you something really luxurious – that full-width washroom. That’s where we’ll start your guided tour.
Step inside and prepare to be impressed by a rectangular shower of at least the size of the one you probably have at home.
The washbasin, set into a gleaming, dark-grey surface, tops a useful-sized cupboard. On the offside, across the corner, is a huge wardrobe with three large drawers beneath.
Clothing storage doesn’t come much better than this, especially as putting the wardrobe inside the washroom means that this is a true dressing room.
A long towel rail attached to the door is far more useful than the small towel loop usually found in washrooms – so more praise gathered here, too.
Next stop, the kitchen – surely the hub of family holiday lifestyle. The 524 delivers amply... at surface level. Cupboard space, though, doesn’t match the surface. Put simply, there are no kitchen cupboards.
You do get two large drawers but, apart from the fridge, food storage would be a challenge. Enter a couple of plastic under-bed storage boxes that would fit under the side dining area seats, perhaps. There’s usually a way around practical problems...
There is one area, though, where no compromise is needed; it’s at floor level. Elddis has chosen a carpet the colour of the darkest imaginable chocolate. No need for a shoes-off rule in order to preserve this carpet.
Which brings us on to examine the rest of the décor. Seat bases are clothed in a Champagne-shade plain durable chenille-type fabric. From now on, the detail gets far more interesting.
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The seat back fabric has bold stripes varying from pale cream through fawn to black. The same fabric covers four squashy bolster ends for the settees.
And there’s yet more to catch your eye. Two fluffy-texture black scatter cushions seem to entice you to sink into settee comfort here; two more add pattern interest.
Storage (kitchen apart) comes well up to standard for four people. Seven head lockers, plus one (fitted) above the kitchen and two more (smaller) over the front, give you ample places to stow stuff.
But only one of the seven lockers gets a shelf. We know we can’t have it all in caravans, in the interest of weight reduction – but if just two or three of those lockers were to have shelves, their capacity would be doubled.
That’s because, if you pile clothing into head lockers above half depth, the moment you open the lockers, the contents make a swift exit onto the seating below.
One more minor gripe (only one): this caravan has only one roof light (at the front). Which means the central area, with kitchen on one side and two-seater dining area on the other, is rather dim.
But look more closely and you’ll see the reason is in fact an asset. Instead of a mini roof light (which would have made it much lighter), you get an Omnivent extractor.
Some say they’re a waste of weight – and daylight. But some others (all of them keen cooks) say extractor fans are really important. Which camp you fall into depends on how you use the caravan.
For us? The extractor wins every time and if we needed extra light as daylight begins to fade, we’d buy a small table lamp for the side dining area.
Verdict:
Luxury touches are the 524’s defining features. Lighting features will win your praise – four LED spotlights set around the roof light in the front, plus subtle LED strips under the pelmets all around the lounge. There’s a touch of classic pattern amid all the rest of the features which scream out the word ‘modern.’ In total, the Odyssey range is designed to appeal to most tastes, and we think it succeeds.
