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Adria Adiva 552 LT

Key Features

Model Year 2010
Class Single Axle
Price From (£) 16,857
Internal Length (m) 5.34
Shipping Length (m) 7.43
MRO (kg) 1290
MTPLM (kg) 1,500
Max Width (m) 2.29
External Height (m) 2.61
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Full review

IF, to you, caravanning is about turning heads as you travel, buy an Adria Adiva 552LT.

That’s because its amazing two-tone grey exterior is quite simply like nothing else on the caravan market.

There’s no white on the sides except for a fleck that accentuates the sweeping grey lines. The windows are jet-black and irregularly shaped to enhance the look of movement in the lines.

Only on the rear and front do you get any quantity of conventional-caravan white – and then it’s enhanced by stunning black grab handles and more unusual graphics.

Adria’s reputation for daring to be different seems to be embodied in this Adiva’s new look for 2010.

Step inside and the wow-factor goes on. So does the distinctively different appeal. Firstly, there aren’t many caravans which have a semi-circular dining area right in the centre.

Name a Bailey Ardennes and Swift’s new Charisma 545 – and that’s about your lot. Secondly, this Adiva has two fixed single beds – in the front of the caravan; another aspect to set it apart from the pack. Anything lacking? Well yes. And you’ll either love it or hate it for this – there is no conventional lounge.

That’s the continental style, though – reflecting the fact that on the continent the better weather encourages caravanners to do their lounging in sun-loungers outside!

The curved, comfortable dining area seats three (or four at a pinch) at the oval table opposite the kitchen – and that’s the best bit about this caravan. It’s a true dining kitchen, if you want to call it that.

The kitchen gives you a food preparation surface to the left of the fixed-drainer sink and a further, slightly lower surface over which the cook will have to fight with the television watchers for space.

The monopod table slides easily towards the centre of the caravan to enable you to slide around it to sit down. But in this position it makes the corridor somewhat narrow.

The advantage, though, is that the table is there to give you food prep space – you can simply serve food straight onto the plates on the table because it’s so near to the kitchen.

Adiva caravan interior Adria Adiva caravan interior

Cooking equipment is a full oven and grill, plus four burners. There’s no microwave, which some will miss in a caravan of this price by comparison with British-made alternatives.

There is, though, ample kitchen storage space, in the form of a great sweeping curve of four cabinets at head height plus three deep drawers and a drop-down-front cupboard between the Thetford fridge and oven. A further drawer is above the heater to the left of the fridge.

That sweeping curve of cabinetry above the kitchen is mirrored in shape by a reverse-curve locker run above the dining table.

The centre locker has three bottle clips and three glass clips; Adria is catering in precise numbers for the ideal number of occupants of the 552LT; in practical terms, this is a three-berth caravan.

It’s listed as a four-berth but its central dining area bed is only 1.15metres wide, or three feet nine inches, which is not as wide as a standard double bed at four feet six inches.

Lighting is a feature, in more ways than one, of the two 2010 Advia models (the alternative has a fixed double bed instead of the twin beds).

All lighting is 12-volt. Above the table is an elliptical fitting into which is mounted three tungsten circular lights plus eight tiny LED bulbs.

And there’s more. At each corner of the semi-circular seating are curved frosted plastic sections which cleverly disguise lights, reaching from the base of the lockers right down to behind the seating.

The bedroom has two spotlights plus subdued lighting in the form of LEDs disguised behind a matt-metal-effect pelmet that runs along the tops of all three windows.

It’s the windows though, that are the other lighting aspect of the Adiva. And, like the absence of the conventional lounge, it’s something you’ll either love or hate.

If you love your privacy and you don’t mind looking out onto a seemingly dull day even when it’s bright, then you’ll love the Adiva. If the gloom’s not for you, neither is the Adiva. But love it or hate it, the dark window feature is a design item that’s part of the superb styling of this caravan creation.

The washroom, though is where the wow-factor style seems to stop. It’s functional, it has ample storage space in the form of shelves and cupboards. But no style. The shower’s on the offside, the loo’s on the nearside with the washbasin unit in the centre.

A solid sliding door partitions it off from the rest of the caravan. And it’s beside this door that you’ll notice another distinguishing feature. There’s a superbly capacious five-shelf cupboard just forward of the washroom – great for storing sweaters, t-shirts and shoes.

The wardrobes are a clever feature, too – they’re half length, and sit above the end of each bed, his-and-hers style, but the rails run transversely, which makes it difficult to get items at the back out.

This is a quality caravan through and through. Adria’s build quality is legendary, of course – and its interior woodwork matches that high standard.

Upholstery is suede-effect melded with a two-shades of cream pattern. Surfaces are shiny dark brown granite effect with just a hint of a sparkle. Windows get voile panels (as if you need extra privacy with those windows so dark but they look great anyway!).

On each side of each window is a fawn panel and loop, topped by another section of the two-shades-of-fawn-striped voile. Everything about the furnishings is quality, including the two huge roll-style bolsters on the beds.

Anything we didn’t like? Apart from those windows that polarise opinion, we have to point out that the shower, although it’s separate from the rest of the rear room, isn’t plastic-lined; It’s wall-boarded on three sides, which makes us think Adria assumes everyone uses campsite showers most of the time.

Can anyone make that assumption about a caravan of this luxury standard and this price? Judge for yourself.

There are lots of features to like about this model, though, such as the Omni-step that pulls out from under the door.

Sometimes it’s the little things that count as much as the bigger picture – and the bigger picture in this instance is of a fantastic-looking caravan, sleekly shaped and stunningly adorned in those greys… No point in spending nearly £17,000 and not being noticed!

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