Dual-lounge VW camper opens up most relaxing van camping of the summer (2024)

German camper van manufacturer Hobby took Volkswagen camper van life to new levels of comfort and style when it debuted the Maxia Van in 2022. This year, it's introduced a new floor plan that invites the entire family (and maybe a few campground neighbors) to enjoy the breezy onboard comfort of camper van living ... during the day, at least. Its front and rear lounges offer loads of space for dining, remote work and general relaxation, tying the interior together into one of the best out there for nomadic van lounging.

Originally launched on Hobby's caravans, the Maxia line was inspired directly by Scandinavian hygge, the style of warm, cozy comfort you get while watching the snow fall silently from the warmth of your fireside sofa. Hobby adorns Maxia-badged campers with soft felts, warm wood tones, glowing ambient light and space-enhancing furniture geometry that create a space as inviting as a glowing lodge with smoking chimney at the distant end of a snowshoe hike.

The new 684-cm-long (269-in) Maxia 680 DT floor plan further enhances the onboard hygge by redistributing that same look and feel across a more welcoming, versatile floor plan. In place of the foldaway rear bed, Hobby opens things up with a wraparound rear sofa and a removable swiveling dining table.

That new rear should seat five or more people without giving up full-length carry capabilities. Stow the dining table and rear sofa connector, and you still have an aisle to stow boards and other oblong gear during the drive.

Unlike many convertible dinettes, Maxia's new design doesn't rely on a drop-down dining table to support the center of the bed. Instead it uses fold-down sofa benches that meet in the middle when both are flat and extended. This allows campers to make a single bed while leaving the second sofa in sitting position, a handy alternative when solo camping or when one camper might want to stay up on the sofa while the other gets to bed early.

Each longitudinal bed measures 200 x 86 cm (79 x 34 in), connecting into a 200 x 172-cm (79 x 68-in) oversized double bed when set up at the same time, just like the bed on the original 680 ET floor plan.

With the dining area located at the rear, there's no real reason to have a front dinette, so the Maxia 680 DT loses the two-seat bench behind the driver's seat. The downside here is that owners lose the ability to seat two more passengers while driving, but the larger, more comfortable, more versatile rear lounge seems to more than make up for it for campers who plan to hit the road exclusively as twosomes.

The new DT Maxia still features the front swivel seats, creating a second lounge area that can be used in conjunction with the removable swivel table. This seems a particularly useful setup for a couple of digital nomads who want a little private work space, as one can work from the rear sofa, the other in the front lounge.

In place of the two-seat front bench, Hobby installs a closet and shelving between the driver's seat and the wet bath. The bathroom includes a foldaway sink over the swivel toilet and next to the shower.

The kitchen across the way comes stocked with a dual-burner gas stove/sink unit and a dual-hinged 90-L compressor fridge. The flip-up worktop extension off the angled portion of the kitchen block creates a nearly wraparound work space.

Hobby debuted the Maxia 680 DT at the CMT show earlier this year and launched it for Spring/Summer 2024 (Northern Hemisphere). It's built atop a 3.5-tonne Volkswagen Crafter Trendline BMT with 174-hp 2.0-liter TDI engine and eight-speed automatic transmission.

MSRP is set at €89,750 (approx. US$97,375), but Hobby has been offering the new van at a special introductory price of €69,750 ($75,675). Options include a third bed kit for the cab area, a Thule awning and an LTE/WLAN connectivity suite with Wi-Fi.

Source: Hobby