Hillside Leisure UK Ltd

Choosing Hillside Leisure to buy our first ever Camper Van was the best decision we’ve ever made. Love our Van Bertie and brilliant after service .... thanks Hillside

Just completed the purchase of my 2nd vehicle from hillside in 5 years, I don't think I would have owned a vw camper from anywhere else, the van is perfect in every way, I'm particularly pleased with the cabinets inside, well built, practical and beautiful to look atNever any hassle even when I managed to break my leisure battery, a quick replacement and a lesson on battery maintenance!! Thankyou all

Warning regarding Hillside practices and deposits.Taken a little while to get round to placing as I was pretty furious and needed time to calm.In Sept 2021 I ordered a 4motion highline based camper from Hillside with upgrades (though difficult sales experience - see below). I ordered a pretty top spec van and placed £6000 deposit.I needed to chase a number of times to get a delivery update … they never came automatically. The last was in Dec 2022 saying VW build expected between week 10 - 16 of 2023.After nearly 18 months, due to delays from VW (not Hillsides fault) for the base vehicle Hillside suddenly gave three options ..1. Pay an extra 13k with no delivery date / further price rise guarantee (partly understandable … though this increased price was as if I was just ordering)2. Receive the 6k back (with no offer of any interest or even say a £100 gesture for having it in their account for 17 months).3. Buy a stock vehicle for todays walk in price (no offer of even a slight discount for the fact that we had a vehicle on order for 1.5 years). If we'd wanted a stock van, we would have ordered one originally.This was the first time they have given an option of withdrawing without losing a deposit.They also failed to note that we only had 2 weeks to let them know or by default we are tied in to either paying an additional 13k or losing the deposit. Fortunately I knew that there was a clause buried in the Ts&Cs. There was a delay in them responding to a query (about 4motions they had in stock) as they were away at the NEC leaving (funnily selling some 4motion stock) leaving only a couple of days to decide.Given that this is the second new van that between myself and my partner would have had from hillside (she bought one a few years previous), you would have thought they would have been a bit more friendly and tried to keep our custom by at least offering to do some deal even on the forecourt one … as we would have been likely to order in future. If they had even offered a £1000 reduction on the forecourt price (off 70k odd) that would have been something.Note, in their Ts and Cs that can at any time say they need an extra amount for any supplier prices. They are under no obligation to warn until the last moment.Also Hillside are happy sitting on money for a long time with no get out until they deem it appropriate. In future I would query this as the deposit seems to guarantee nothing.I would observe that one of the sales team seems to at least show some contrition and understanding of customers, however the head of sales (Thomas whom I think might be an owner) seems to be so keen on profit chasing that he seems to consider (once an order is placed) a customer lucky to receive any ongoing attention from Hillside.Definitely wouldn’t recommend. It’s clear they were only interested in maxing immediate profit. Until they also change the current head of sales its clear that they will also never be interested in decent customer facing relations after an order is taken. I posted a review before saying about how difficult it was getting straight answers when originally trying to order.I do feel sad about this as the vans themselves are well built and feel good quality. I can't go through this again though with they way the sales team is.Review following initial sales contact 2021.Good quality campers (my partner has had one from here before). However the sales guy seems not to want to supply information. We have to keep chasing to get information. The information supplied is not consistent from the person who deals with email sales. We have given our final spec and asked for specific things and he needed chasing more than once for the price. He has promised to follow up with Adrian about some contradictory information but a week after he said Adrian would get back into the office, still no information. Am beginning to doubt whether we want a camper from here. For a £60k camper, if the sales is sloppy what will after service be like?

Having caravanned for over 25 years we decided that it was time for us to look for a campervan. So around 6 years ago we travelled far and wide looking at many conversions, but Hubby really wanted a VW Crafter. We did find a couple but were disappointed in the layout and the build spec. Then Hubby went to the Caravan and Motorhome Show at the NEC, spotted the Hillside Leisure stand and was hooked. A few days later we were off to Derby.Phil is walking wounded and really needed a sink in the bathroom. Hillside listened to him and said ‘leave it with us’. That same week we got a call to say ‘we have fitted a sink in the bathroom on the demonstrator if we wanted to go down and have a look’. Wonderful.In 2019 we finally got our dream campervan. It is as though Hillside had us in mind when they designed the Hopton. Well thought out layout with plenty of room and an exceptional build quality. I have cooked with Induction at home for many years, so it was thumbs up when I saw the induction Hob. A decent size fridge, plenty of storage space in the pull out drawers and overhead cupboards. A secret pull out worktop under the fridge. The bathroom/wet room is very well thought out. There are sockets near the side and the back doors. We like to cook outside and we can even if a gale is blowing. The blown air heating is exceptional, so that the van is toasty even in WinterAll the Hillside Crew are wonderful, they are so friendly but still very business-like. You really need to go and have a look around the Hopton. The Open Days are recommended.

I had a couple of problems - a possible leak on the LPG system (must have been a minor one as we toured in our Hopton for months before we suspected a leak) and the large pan drawer was not sliding in or out smoothly. I can't fault Hillside for how they helped sort these problems out.We picked up our van at the start of June and to date have travelled 1100 miles in the UK and stayed at 12 different sites for periods of between 1 and 5 days. I was expecting some teething problems but bar these 2 things (LPG and drawer) we have no complaints about the van - the base vehicle (VW Crafter) is a dream to drive with the 8 speed auto gearbox, if you drive with a light right foot you can get 44mpg on a motorway journey. We just travelled up to York - a 3.5hr drive up the M6/M62 and got 41mpg. The van is very well laid out internally, the cabinetry is well done and the controls/features of the heating, cooking and lighting systems etc are great: we absolutely love the van.

Bought our Hopton during 2nd COVID lockdown to replace our Birchover. We can now review it after our long (continental) trip this summer (and shorter UK trips last year). Good-sized toilet/shower, sliding door providing easy access. Comfortable beds (we just add matrass toppers from home) which are cleverly designed to stretch under the work top and fridge, making them long enough for most people (I am a little over 6’). Although you can make up a large double, we find two singles work well as easier to slip to the loo (even with my bed widened to 3’ using the cushions). I can also slip my e-bike between the beds for travel. Opted for microwave (instead of oven) and air con, which as Hillside predicted worked fine even on French 6 amp sites (a relief with temps of 40 some days). The 12 volt and mains electrics work well with easy-to-use control panels. Large cold fridge. Haven’t used the blow heater for camping but worked well when I tested it at home. Water heater (using electrics on the lower setting for French 10 amp sites) gave about 5 mins of hot water for the shower (haven’t tried it yet on the gas). Van is beautifully finished with two-tone leather and lots of wood-effect cupboards and has a high quality feel. The Crafter is smooth, quiet and stable on the road. I enjoy driving it. Everything is working 20 months on - just a couple of minor things to report when it has its first habitacle service. We both really like this van and have nothing bad to say about it. I liked our Birchover with its pop-up roof but have to admit that (as my wife thought) the Hopton makes more sense for us at our age (68): it is a small motorhome. The only (obvious) downside is that it just has the two travel seats (sacrificed to allow for the long beds and shower room). For those who want to use their van for daily use or to camp with children the Birchover would obviously be better. The van is a little wider than the Birchover but still OK on country lanes and at (only) 5.9 metres is easy to manoeuver without the (worrying) rear overhang that many motorhomes have. Happy to sacrifice the garage to avoid that. When we looked at other motorhomes (even larger ones) we often found the raised sleeping space above the garage quite claustrophobic. The Hopton with its height provides a pleasant sleeping space. We had no difficulty parking it in supermarket car parks etc (just look out for height restrictions, particularly common in southern French car parks to prevent overnight camping). Good all-round visibility, although (optional) reversing camera very handy, as are the electric step and awning. The 177 ps engine has masses of power when overtaking (although in truth 150 probably ample). Personally I prefer the automatic gearbox to the manual we had in the Birchover (particularly on hilly winding roads and in town). We have always had good experiences with Hillside: with Ron when we bought the Birchover and Kelly and Thomas with the Hopton. They all seem straight forward and down to earth. Special thanks to Kelly for handling the order (and part exchange) during lockdown, sending us samples of materials by post (we live in the South) and keeping us informed (with photos) as things progressed (the main delay being VW producing the van after lockdown). And thanks to 6’4 Thomas for testing the length of the beds out for us (owing to lockdown we bought the van without seeing one but our only real concern was the length of the beds – we knew Hillside and VW quality would be good).Paul and Susan

Just wanted to share our experience of Hillside's after sales. We have never had any serious reason to contact, once we could not get the gas to stay lit on the cooker, but once they explained what I was doing wrong, after a good laugh all round, all was good. When we leave a message, we always get a callback, might not be straight away but we understand that they are busy. The after sales dept. have always been very friendly, helpful and soon sort us out. Thank You Hillside

Got my campervan from Hillside Leisure 12 years ago and have been very happy with it. Today it needed a new leisure battery, which they fitted quickly and efficiently. Also the electrician Gary gave me lots of help and advice - much appreciated !

We bought our VW Campervan a couple of months ago from Hillside after meeting them at a show at the NEC. GREAT decision. We've used the van a lot since then and absolutely love it. I had to pop back in today because the waste water pipe was leaking - definitely due to us driving over something I think. Although this was highly likely to be our fault, and I did offer to pay. Hillside effected an excellent repair, and made me drinks whilst I waited. There were a couple of other minor niggles which they sorted out straight away too. They're a great company and everyone is very friendly and helpful. I even had a great chat with some other Birchfield owners in the waiting area - excellent supportive community of owners too. Thanks so much.