Full review

With a 50-litre water tank, a built-in step, headrests, and an enormous bedroom, the 2018 Adria Alpina Missouri has spec and luxury in spades.

There are two caravans on the UK market called Missouri, one built in America, the other in Slovenia. Both are awesome in their styling and individuality. Both are quality-build, Alde-heated, spacious, luxurious options. Both have double beds.

But there the similarity stops.

For one has a price tag of £78,495 and the other is a mere £28,995. That's the one made in Slovenia. The £78,495 Missouri is an Airstream, distributed in the UK by the Swift Group.

This one, though, made by Adria, has all our attention right now.

The Adria Alpina Missouri is one of two flagship models in Adria's portfolio; the other is the Colorado, which has the same dimensions but with a different bedroom layout (twin beds).

The Missouri has a new bedroom layout for 2018; its double bed moves around by 45º, to follow current caravan fashion for transverse island beds; the previous Missouri had its bed headboard against the rear wall of the caravan.

This change has transformed the Missouri's appeal from nice to stunningly luxurious. That's because the bedroom has now become a beautifully cosy separate area of the layout, divided from the kitchen by a pale grey, quality-fabric curtain.

Will this curtain set a new trend in room dividers? We hope so, for it's much more attractive, in a cosy sort of way, than the usual, rather stark, concertina-pleated fabric dividers.

The other major change for 2018 in the Missouri is the colour of the exterior walls of the shower room, now pale fawn.

That matters hugely, for this shower room is a prominent feature of the caravan, sitting amidships on the offside, a 1.8m-long, 82cm-wide block that struggles to integrate with the rest of the layout.

When we reviewed the first Missouri we described its shower room as 'an intrusive blot on a beautiful canvas'. That was because all its exterior walls were dark brown. Now, though, the 'little room' forms much less of a visual intrusion.

That factor, together with the now much cosier bedroom, has transformed the Missouri into a caravan that has immense appeal. Immense in the literal sense, for this caravan is 2.48m wide and has an overall length of 8.24m. The sense of space, everywhere, is lovely, especially in the lounge. Everywhere, that is, except the 'little room'.

Showering

The shower cubicle, in the fore end of the shower room, measures 66 cm x 80 cm. Even though the wheel arch intrudes, that's fine, because the box-shape creates a large ledge for shampoo containers.

A panel radiator, part of the Alde system, sits on the forward wall, with a small towel rail attached to it; towels hung here will surely dry quickly. There's a larger towel rail running across the roof of the compartment and a third one outside it. Towel provision, in a Missouri, is therefore first class.

The bench-style toilet sits at the rear of the shower room, with a drop-down wash basin integrated into a mirrored cabinet above it.

It's substantially constructed, and generous, at 48cm x 36cm. The floor space, though, is only 59cm x 66cm, much smaller than average for a washroom, and the brown box of the wheel arch takes a chunk out of that area.

For this reason, it's only a C rating in this section.

Sleeping

Sleeping, though, easily earns an A rating. That is partly down to the size of the bedroom. There is no need for a mechanism to retract the bed length for daytime, because the caravan's superior width gives you 34cm of corridor along the foot of the bed. And the bed is 1.9m long, so the Missouri ranks among options for tall caravanners.

The wardrobe, on the aft side of the bed, gives 46cm of hanging width. There's a cabinet beneath ideal for shoes.

There's a lot to like about this bedroom.

We like the twin coat hooks on an upholstered panel in the corner. We also love the bedroom styling, with a gloss cream pelmet above the windows and concave doors on the two spacious over-bedhead lockers. There's something else that makes this bedroom unusual.

The pillow ends of the wooden slatted bed base can be raised, sun lounger-style, for daytime TV-watching. A bracket and connection points are in the offside forward corner of the room, but you'll have to buy an aerial; Adrias don't come with aerials.

The Missouri is of course a four-berth; transforming the lounge into a bed is done by drawing out wooden bases from under the seating.

Storage

Under-bed storage is brilliant. Each side of the bed rises independently and completely vertically, on big spring hinges. There's an exterior hatch, too. The space is vast – this bed is 1.52m wide as well as being long.

The space under the lounge is less easy to access. Its pull-out double bed base sections are heavy to lift, and you have to take off all the upholstery sections, including the corner pieces, before you begin.

But, with so much space under the bed, it would be easy to avoid using the under-settee spaces. Nonetheless, this forces us into awarding the storage a mere C rating.

Dining

Getting the (substantially made, quite heavy) table out from its own cabinet at the fore end of the kitchen takes a little time. You have to rotate the table, bringing the lower end out first.

Once in position in the big lounge, though, this gloss-white topped table looks great. And the extra width of the Missouri means that you can position the table across the lounge, taking up less floor space, when you're not dining; perhaps using it for coffee and cakes.

There's another option for coffee mugs. Hidden behind the front-central backrest is a beautiful, bevel-edged coffee table, measuring 75 cm x 49 cm.

Lounging

Sit back, sink your shoulders into the corner and your head against the headrest; this is caravanning comfort in the extreme. The enormous (98cm x 1.08m) sunroof that arches above most of the lounge ensures a light and airy aspect even on a dull day. We love this lounge!

Kitchen

The surface is 1.61m long. With the glass hob lid and the chopping-board sink cover in place, you can get organised to prepare food here.

A robust white gloss plastic drainer fits over the hob cover for washing-up times. The sink is small by caravan standards, at 28cm x 30cm.

Cooking kit is a grill, oven and three burners, all different sizes, plus a microwave hidden in the forward top kitchen cabinet. There's an extractor fan above the hob.

Two drawers plus a cabinet, all 82cm wide, contain a cutlery tray with four large compartments and space on both sides for other items.

Towing

All Adrias, irrespective of size, have single axles. That raises eyebrows simply because all British-made caravans of comparable size to the Alpinas are, of course, on twin axles.

Yet the long, wide tourers in both the Alpina and Adora ranges behave impressively well on the road, as our past road tests have revealed. Our Missouri test tow mirrored those good experiences.

And the extra width?

We hardly noticed it, especially with our extension mirrors pulled out on their stalks to give maximum view. As you'd expect at this price, ATC is present to curb the first sign of instability.

Verdict

Fantastic bedroom. Brilliant lounge. Practical kitchen. Water tank (50 litres!). Alde heating. Quality, substantial furniture. ATC…

The Missouri has a lot going for it. Including the neatest sound system in any caravan: a small brushed steel panel above the kitchen pairs with an iPhone (via Bluetooth) to give you touch control of your music through the Missouri's speakers.

Provided you don't mind upholstery upheavals to get into the under-lounge storage areas and you can put up with a washroom that's a little tight on space, the Missouri is definitely a tourer to consider if you're looking for the luxury of loads of space.