Firm offers life under the stars with all the comforts of home

Driving into the desert and sleeping under the stars is a common past time for many adventurous souls in the UAE.

But even those who prefer more comfortable surroundings, in a clean bed and air-conditioning, can now join in the fun as the first luxury recreational vehicle (RV) showroom opened yesterday in Dubai.

The Gulf Coast RVs showroom, located on Sheikh Zayed Road, sells a range of RVs, starting at a small caravan sleeping two people to a luxury self-driven portable home.

Khaled Salmeen, the president and chief executive of Gulf Coast RVs, stumbled upon the idea to sell RVs when he could not find a showroom to buy one himself.

"I liked to go outdoors with my kids. I had lived in the United States for some years and I decided to get an RV but there was nobody selling them so I thought obviously there's a market gap," he said. "I then started talking to manufacturers. Over a period of time I developed a range of products that fit with little infrastructure."

Gulf Coast has seven types of RVs that come with a range of different specifications and bedrooms. All the RVs are manufactured in the US. They start at Dh80,000 (US$ 21,784) for an RV that sleeps up to six and can be towed by a car as small as a Toyota Camry, said Mr Salmeen. All the RVs have built-in showers and toilets.

The vehicles can be bought with a personal loan, starting from payments of about Dh1,500 per month, up to more than Dh5,000 for a RV that costs more than Dh360,000.

"There is no need for the 20 per cent deposit [you would need for a car] as long as you have a personal loan. You do not have to worry about a downpayment for these homes," said Mr Salmeen.

Gulf Coast is also going to begin talks with car rental companies to provide them with RVs so customers can take a vehicle for a long weekend or rent for a few months.

The highest specification RV sleeps seven people, all on beds, has five TVs, four DVDs, satellite navigation, three exterior cameras and a surround-sound system throughout the vehicle.

Gulf Coast is aiming to attract buyers from all over the Gulf and sold two RVs to Saudi visitors before the showroom had even opened.

The showroom also hopes to sell to customers using RVs for holy pilgrimages. "We are now starting to look at talking to those operators of Hajj and Umrah, for the pilgrimage, because they will probably need permits to operate in the [holy] areas," said Mr Salmeen.

Gulf Coast is also launching a support workshop and a marina-style berthing area for anyone that does not have the space to park an RV at home.

But customers might have to plan ahead for their desert trips and holidays because the highest specification vehicles can take up to three months to be delivered.

"Within a month and half I can have anything available. If you are a very special order, it might go up to three months," he said.

rjones@thenational.ae

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