2023 Elddis Crusader Tempest caravan

Does someone at Elddis have a sense of humour? There’s a line in William Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

(K)night vision

Well, sleep is very much what the Elddis Crusader Tempest caravan is focused on. A new model for the 2023 season, it takes its pace at the top of a family of five Crusader caravans – but it’s a tourer where sleeping accommodation is very much to the fore. That’s thanks to an unusual arrangement at the back that sees a French bed alongside two bunks. Ideal for parents who want to keep a close eye on their children at night, perhaps?

Family values are at play elsewhere, too. Elddis is now part of the Erwin Hymer Group UK operation, but has taken lots of cues from its flagship Buccaneer models to upgrade its Crusader range, giving all five models an 8ft (2.45m) wide body, while Tempest borrows from a particularly unique family-friendly floorplan first seen in the Avanté 868. But don’t forget there’s also the new-for-2023 668 from Compass Camino sister range that mirrors Crusader.

The Tempest name may be resurrected, but all else is bang up to date here. It’s 8ft-wide body means a more spacious interior throughout. It’s at the back where Elddis’ designers have taken advantage to best affect – with that French double bed along the offside and two fixed bunks on the nearside, separated by a full-height wardrobe on the rear wall.

We take a look inside the all-new 2023 Elddis Crusader Tempest caravan:

Bodywork features coloured sides, white end panels and trim details, and a more traditional three-window front with sunroof overhead. The latter is fixed, but there’s an opening, full-length rooflight extending through the lounge and into the kitchen area. Beyond that, the kitchen also has en electric roof vent.

The standing area on the drawbar cover will come in handy when it comes to cleaning etc.

Locker hatches both ends along both sides mean it’s especially easy to get at any clobber you want to put under either settee or the low-level beds. Other noteworthy exterior features are the chromed grab handles, underslung spare wheel and mud flaps.

There’s stable door access to a floorplan like no other (outside the EHG UK group, that is). Upfront is familiar enough. The twin settee front lounge has chunky bolster cushions either end, while the central chest of drawers with its pull-out tabletop is conventional. For meal times, there’s also a free-standing table.

The kitchen sits along the nearside mid-‘van, where a full Thetford cooker – boasting three gas rings, an electric hotplate, separate oven and grill – is set to the right.

A rectangular sink in a matching black enamel finish is to the immediate left of the hob. It’s served by a swan neck tap.

Four drawers have easy-to-use catches, with two double lockers overhead – one with racking for plates and mugs. There’s also a pan locker beneath the cooker.

Completing the practicalities are a worktop extension, two mains sockets and an acrylic splash panel.

Directly across the corridor from the kitchen is a Dometic fridge/freezer, dual-hinged (so you can open it from either side) with a Russell Hobbs microwave oven set above it – at a height that most users will find just about okay.

The wardrobe to the left of the fridge offers full-height storage and plenty of space, despite the presence of the header tank for the Alde central heating system. There are also two drawers and a floor locker under the wardrobe.

Washroom facilities are split between a full plastic-lined shower cubicle with sliding double door access directly over the wheel arch. Its water-efficient Ecocamel showerhead is on a riser bar.

Complementing this is a generous toilet room, whose door (which has a couple of handy hooks) can also be used to give en-suite privacy to the bedroom. There’s also a sliding door to shut off the facilities from the bedroom.

The toilet room has an oval-esque countertop basin, with a click-clack plughole. A radiator/towel warmer in grey helps offset the creams and off-whites in here.

There’s also a swivel-bowl toilet, with generous space around it.

Storage is covered off by a high-level shelved locker and a mirror-doored unit, also shelved. There’s no window, but there’s a rooflight overhead, plus a second rooflight in the corridor area between the toilet room and the shower cubicle.

There’s also a second wardrobe, with two hanging rails, between the beds at the back of the Elddis Crusader Tempest caravan. A ladder for the upper bunk is permanently attached, and both bunks have opening windows with concertina blinds, as well as push-button reading lights.

For the French bed, there are corner ledges for placing cups of water, spectacles etc, while roof lockers line two sides.

The Crusader Tempest will indeed sleep six. As well as those permanent beds at the back it’s a fairly routine task to make a double from the settees.

Check out the overall specification for yourselves, suffice to say it’s pretty good in a mid-market premium kind of way.

Plus, the wide range of safety and security features on the Elddis Crusader Tempest, which include Al-Ko ATC, two Al-Ko Secure wheel locks, a Tracker Thatcham Cat 7 tracking system with first 12 months’ subscription, and PIR alarm will attract a healthy discount on your caravan insurance.

There are alternative wide-bodied, twin axle six-berths available, of course. But none with a floorplan like this.

To find out more about insuring an Elddis Crusader caravan or your current caravan visit our caravan insurance discounts page.

Verdict: One for a large family to fill

Plus: Spacious interior with lots of fixed beds, generally well equipped

Minus: No toilet room window

In-a-nutshell: Set to storm up the charts

Alternatives: Bailey Pegasus Grande SE Turin/Palermo, Coachman Acadia 660 Xtra (five-berth), Swift Sprite Quattro FB/EW