Welcome to the hotel California, a hotel on wheels, a vehicle that has lots of history, a vehicle you remember as a child (or a youth in some people's case!) something you can reminisce about, a vehicle you used to dream about owning, a Volkswagen camper van. The California is the modern day version of the nostalgic, hippie-mobile, but is it still as good?

We had the California for a few days in August, when summer is, or should be in full swing, the weather should be scorching and outside life seems like a good idea. Therefore a weekend in Bridlington must be fantastic and good fun, especially in a camper van.

We set off to “Brid” in the rain and had to pack the van in the wind, getting soaked in the process, so surely the weather on the east coast has to be better. 

The California we had was powered by a 2.0 litre BiTDi BlueMotion Technology 180ps diesel engine; it accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 12.4 seconds, has a top speed of 117mph and a CO2 figure of 199g/km.

On arrival at the campsite in Bridlington, we set about getting the van set up. The first thing was to wind out the awning, which has two legs to make it stable. Then you push a button in the cab to raise the “popup” roof, which almost doubles the height of the vehicle, it’s all very easy to operate. Then you remove the orange cable from its storage compartment and plug one end into the sites electric post, and the other into the van, and hey-presto you have full electrics in the van.

The California is very well equipped, including a double ring gas hob, a large fridge, sink with running water (providing you remember to fill up the tank) cupboards for clothes storage, cutlery drawer, pots, pans, cups and saucers, gas bottle for cooking, and a three-pin plug socket, next to a European two-pin socket. But we did learn that you do need to pack everything very carefully, if you don’t then all the pottery, glasses do tend to bang against each other and rattle, after just a short time the noise will drive you crackers, wrapping everything in kitchen towel seemed to cure the problem.

We took an electric grilling machine, named after the bloke who played a ukulele and sang “When I’m cleaning windows”, and with the fridge filled with chicken, burgers, sausage, salad, and other BBQ delights we were ready to get cooking. We plugged the grill into the three-pin socket, and it fired straight up, cooking in no time, none of that waiting for charcoal to light, then burn everything, with the inside still raw. They cooked to perfection on the grill and with paper plates to avoid washing up, it was all very easy. There is a fold-away table in the electric sliding side door, and two fold-away chairs in the tailgate, very well hidden which took some finding. The weather was being kind, so we sat under the awning to eat, very nice; we were beginning to feel like real campers.

The neighbours, who really were proper campers in their well-equipped caravans turned their nose up at our California, and you could almost hear them saying that we were frauds, and not the real thing, just part-time campers, they were right. After our delicious meal, it was over to the shower block to freshen up and get changed for our night out in the site clubhouse. Where we were to be entertained by a local duo, who if went for an audition on Britain’s Got Talent would be lucky to not to get four red crosses, and booed off stage, lucky for them though it was Bridlington and, not Las Vegas. After a couple of pints and hour or two of being entertained, and a good chat with our fellow campers and new found friends, it was bed time.

Now what we should have done was to get the van ready for sleeping before it went dark and not leave it until after dusk meaning that we had to fumble about. But even after a drink, and working under the vans interior lights, it was relatively easy to prepare our beds. First of all you slide the rear seat forward, pull a small strap to recline the back of the bench, the rear parcel shelf has a small mattress on it, and after a few seconds you have a double bed. Get out a couple of sleeping bags, pull down the blinds, and you are ready for bed. To get into the “upstairs” room, you have to climb up through a “hole” in the roof to find another light, and a mattress, and it was very comfortable. The only problem is if you need the loo in the middle of the night. You have to climb back down through the roof, open the door, go to the shower block, come back, open the door again, and climb back through the hole. The night’s sleep was much better than expected and despite the rain pitter-pattering on the roof, and the wind blowing it from side to side, it was comfortable… the couple of pints probably
helped!

The California came with a Wi-Fi internet connection with the WLAN router in the glovebox but it is not cheap at £707 as an option, but it worked well.

The official combined fuel consumption figure is 37.2mpg and driving steady from Huddersfield to Bridlington and back it achieved 37.1mpg, a good result I thought for all the weight it was carrying. It drove really well, and was so easy to handle, a pleasure to be in whether driving, sleeping, eating, cooking, socialising or playing cards.

The cost though will be a bit of a surprise, just under £50,000, which seems a bit steep for a converted Volkswagen Transporter van. But everything about it is quality, a good well thought out package, and so many clever features. But for that sort of money, you could buy a very nice, nearly new mobile home with more room, and a toilet. Although the beauty of the California is the size, as you can park it on your drive, park it in a supermarket parking place, or in any regular car park which you would struggle to do with a coach built camper.

Maybe Bridlington for the night was not the best place to try the California, but a good test all the same and if it’s acceptable on the east coast, it must be brilliant touring around Britain, or even better around Europe in the sunshine. But you do need to be very organised with where you put things, what you take, the least the better.

It was all very enjoyable and good fun in the hotel California.

Martin Ward, Manufacturer Relationship Manager