Full review

There’s something rather sporty about the look of the lightweight Altea range. Inside and out, styling is almost minimalist in its simplicity. Yet the new Altea Trent model gives caravan buyers a feature that puts this model into the luxury class – if only in terms of layout.
This is the lowest-priced, smallest island bed layout caravan in Britain. And it has a lot going for it.
There’s more than the new Trent layout that appears for the first time in the five-model Altea range. For 2013, Alteas have Truma’s new-style room heater, with matt grey and black front – and controls that are raised, to make them easier to handle. Blown air is delivered to two outlets in the lounge and, importantly, also into the shower-toilet compartment, although there is no heat outlet in the bedroom. In their standard form, heaters fitted to Alteas are powered only on gas; the addition of mains operation cones as part of a package of options that costs £495. For this you also get an AL-KO hitch head stabiliser and a wheel cover (to prevent sunlight from damaging your tyre walls).
For 2013, Slovenian manufacturer Adria has given its British-import caravans names of rivers. That suddenly makes these caravans much more easy to remember – Trent, as a model name, means so much more than 532UP!
 

Showering

British caravanners who are used to separate showers – and, let’s face it, the great majority of caravans in the UK have this facility – will probably say that the
Trent’s showering arrangements are primitive. And, by comparison, they’d be right. But when you consider what you’re getting in total for your money in the Trent you can forgive this new model for sharing its shower with the toilet and washbasin space.
There’s another feature of the shower room where sharing is involved. The shower rose is also the basin tap; you pick it up from its rest by the basin an extend the hose until it reaches a metal clip high on the wall; now you can have         your shower…
A smart, neat white plastic unit under the basin gives you a central cupboard flanked by four shelves, each plenty large enough for a couple of shampoo bottles.    Above the basin, in the corner, at first glance you’d think there’s another cabinet. But this is in fact a tall light fitting, stylishly reaching all the way from the basin to the ceiling. A lower aperture which, again, looks like a cupboard, opens to reveal the light switch; now that’s what we call smart.
On the forward wall of the shower room is another cupboard unit – this time it really is a cupboard, containing two shelves, with two open shelves alongside.   In total, accommodation in this room is brilliant, making the best use of space.
The loo is the Thetford swivel sort, with manual flush.
The walls aren’t plastic-lined (as most British-made caravans’ showers have plastic walls, that’s worthy of comparative comment). Does that matter at the Trent’s price? Indeed, does it matter that you have to dry out the shower tray after every used unlike using a separate shower? We think not, for this is a lightweight, basic caravan and you have to forgive it some things when it’s inevitably compared to others that cost more.

 
Sleeping

Nothing to forgive here. The island bed is large, with minimal corner rounding. Wardrobes are on each side of the bed, with two drawers beneath. These units are narrow – but that’s not an issue. For in the living area you find more storage for clothes, in the form of a cabinet with four shelf spaces, just forward of the shower room.
A double bed makes up across the lounge; slats roll out from under a white shelf that spans the distance between the two settees. We suspect, though, that this double bed won’t get much use, in Trent ownership, for this caravan’s chief appeal will be  to couples.

Storage

Three top cabinets link the two wardrobes. Two more are in the lounge. Factor in the clothes storage cabinet that’s also in the lounge and we think there’s enough space here.
And there’s more. Where there’s a fixed bed there’s a brilliant storage opportunity. And in the Trent it comes with an unusual access design. The Trent’s mattress is in two sections, joined together with fabric. This enables you to lift each side of the mattress towards the centre, separately; then you lift each half of the slatted base. Two hinges support the bases but we found they needed a helping hand to keep them up while you reach inside.
 

Dining

Quick snacks, coffees and drinks can go on a short, wide table that hinges up at the front of the lounge and rests on a hinged leg attached to the bulkhead. This table folds down, flat to the wall, when you make up the double bed.
Mealtimes need the free-standing table. It’s stored in a narrow cabinet in the bedroom. But there’s a problem.The freestanding table is not as wide as the short, hinge-up table. Indeed, it’s not wide enough to enable people sitting opposite each other to both have the table near enough to make eating comfortable; there’s too much space between the table and the seating. It’s so narrow that there’s only just enough space for place settings to be opposite one another; you need to stagger them, otherwise dinner plates will touch. Feeding four here would be difficult. This reinforces the fact that the Trent is primarily designed for couples; dinner for four here would be a struggle. Enter an awning with a larger table, though!
 

Lounging

Put your feet up and relax… The settees aren’t long enough to lie on but they are lovely and comfortable when you put your feet up and your back against the cushions.
Styling is simple in the lounge, as everywhere else in the Trent. There’s no window on the offside but the one-piece front window lets in large amounts of daylight. There’s no roof light – another pointer to the difference in style expectancy between British-built caravans and those which have their origins in mainland Europe. There’s no window in the door, either – and some will say that, with the door closed, the Trent looks a little dark. But keep in mind its price and what this caravan achieves in terms of layout in its length, and you can forgive a little lack of daylight.
 

Kitchen

The oven and grill is one unit. What you lose on full oven and grill facility you gain in storage space; there is a large cabinet under the oven-grill. Top cooking is on three burners. There’s no microwave. But the right hand top cabinet is clearly designed for you to install one; there’s a mains socket inside it. The other top cabinet has two shelf spaces. But there are no fittings for tableware; again, by comparison with British-made caravans, racks for plates and mugs are something we come to expect.
Two drawers and a drop-down door cupboard are between the oven-grill and the fridge. A third drawer is opposite, under the clothing cupboard. This is the ideal place for a cutlery tray – and more, for this drawer is usefully deep.
Surface space to the left of the sink is just about enough for making meals for two but cooking for four would be a challenge. Again, this emphasises the Trent’s chief appeal to couples.
 

Towing

Exact weights haven’t yet been announced but the Trent is expected to have an MTPLM of around 1300kg, putting it within range of a vast number of vehicles. But there’s no hitch-head stabiliser, although this feature is part of the £495 option pack.
Our review Trent was the prototype, which did have a hitch-head stabiliser fitted – and, predictably, the Trent was smooth and stable behind our Kia Sorento.