Full review

Bailey’s third generation of Unicorns have a striking new exterior look, with bright white GRP exteriors, redesigned front and rear panels and curved rear corners replacing the more angular styling of previous models.

All eight Unicorn models continue into 2015; the Barcelona, the best-selling model in the twin-axle Unicorn range, was ours for a day to evaluate…

We were at Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park, at Bishop Sutton in Somerset. It’s a pretty park with manicured foliage and hard standing, full-facility pitches but the Barcelona gets the whole of the front lawn by the entrance for this review. It’s soon clear to us that its new, eye-catching lines are attracting attention as caravanners drive in and out of the park.
 
Inside, the change story continues, with a new kitchen and shower design. Two of the most significant additions to the Barcelona for 2015 are the inclusion of a 40-litre inboard water tank and a DAB radio. The water tank is in the front offside corner. The radio is mounted into shelving that runs each side of the opening, high-arching front window.

The battery is housed under the caravan floor, close to the rear axle. Raising the carpet that runs alongside the bed reveals a section of flooring that you can lift by means of a substantial ring-pull handle. The reason the battery has been moved closer to the axles is to improve tow stability.

The mains hook-up is on the offside, not within a locker, so it’s now quicker and easier to use. On the nearside, an exterior mains socket and a satellite TV connection point are similarly designed, again, not within a locker. It’s one of a number of refinements that give the new generation of Barcelona enhanced appeal.

Another of those refinements is a design feature of sheer brilliance. There’s a dedicated shoe cabinet alongside the door. A hatch opens into the storage area under the front offside settee. The floor area is fitted with a plastic tray, to confine any mud or grass that may be on your shoes. This feature makes the Barcelona one of only a very few caravans in which you don’t need to keep your shoes in the doorway!

Major changes for 2015 have happened in the shower room…
 

Showering

The Barcelona’s shower room runs the full width of the caravan, as it has done since the model was launched in 2011. For 2015, the shower is larger than the previous model. It’s square, 68cm x 80cm, and has a shelf running across the rear wall. The shower door is a simple single-piece unit. There are four towel hooks, two alongside the shower and two more on the door.

Two cabinets, one under the basin and a second on the offside wall, give ample storage opportunities. And Bailey has kept its linen bag feature for 2015, suspended on hooks within a cabinet to the right of the basin.

The Alde heated towel rail has been replaced for 2015 by a radiator; Bailey tells us it’s more efficient at space heating than the towel rail although we have to say we’ve always found the towel rails to be efficient at heating the little room in the previous two Barcelona models.
 

Sleeping

The double bed has a deep (19cm), sprung mattress. There’s double bed opportunity in the lounge, too; a slatted base can be rolled out from under the two drawers. Significantly, the settee single beds are slightly longer, at 1.78m, than those in previous models, the result of a redesign of the windowsill area. This enhances the Barcelona’s appeal as a true four-berth caravan.

 
Storage

The under-bed area is the Barcelona’s greatest storage asset. The slatted, metal-framed base is supported on gas-filled struts. And, for 2015, there’s a curved area in the wooden bed surround, plenty large enough for you to insert your hands to raise the bed easily. This is an improvement on previous models in which you had to lift the mattress in order to get hold of the base frame. The spare wheel is mounted under the caravan; you wind it down from under the bed.

A plastic tray enables you to slide items in from the exterior hatch; ideal for water containers. The identical plastic tray, and exterior aperture, under the nearside settee, means that Barcelonas now give you two places in which you can slide in waste and fresh water tanks.

Four top lockers are in the bedroom and there are four more over the lounge.

The wardrobe is on the offside, and contains four shelf spaces; amply sufficient for all shoe and garment needs. The rail width is 80cm although a short length of that reaches over the top shelf area.
 

Dining

Caravan Buyer readers will be familiar with our adverse comments about awkward table extraction from under beds and settees; the previous Barcelona had this problem, but not the first model. Now, though, for 2015, the table appears against the wall to the rear of the wardrobe, in a recess, held in place by a channel at the base and a clip at the top. It’s really easy to extract and replace. And while we’re commenting on this area, it’s worth noting that there’s a mains socket and a mirror here, making it the ideal hair grooming area.

For mealtimes when you don’t need the major table, you can pull out an extension to the deep windowsill. At 32cm, it’s just about large enough for two plates, and when you factor in the windowsill, at 52cm deep, this makes a credible dining space.
 

Lounging

You’d hardly notice that the settees are slightly longer than those in the previous model; they are certainly long enough for three to sit along each side. You will notice, though, that the armrests are large and sculpted. The front two armrests hide a superbly designed feature; plastic-lined storage compartments that are completely hidden from view. They’re ideal for books, wallets and other small items. Magazines are catered for by a pocket made of leather-effect fabric, with an elasticated gusset.

The backrests are slightly angled, to increase comfort.

Fabrics for 2015 adhere to the cream, pale fawn and mauve theme that has characterised Barcelonas since their inception. This time, the only significant pattern is in the curtains (it’s very subtle) and in two of the four cushions. The seating fabric’s prominent weave gives it interest without dominating the lounge. The whole look is essentially modern.

Up above, lower sectors of the (nicely soft-close!) lockers are gloss finish bordered by a metal stripe. Colour co-ordination is impressive; the cream and brown shades in the woodwork are precisely matched by cream beneath the lockers and dark brown panels above; small spotlights are set into these panels, and also the moulding that integrates the arched front window and the rooflight.

A total of seven little spotlights focus light down on the lounge and a row of LED lights runs along each side of the roof moulding. Four more spotlights are under the lockers.
 

Kitchen

The 2015 Barcelona’s kitchen is totally different to that of its predecessor. The surface is all on one level, rather than having a raised section for the sink, which is now in the centre of the kitchen rather than on the front end of it. A hinged extension creates extra space when you need it; that won’t be very often, because the dresser on the nearside gives you a surface that’s 1.03m long and 60cm deep.

In total, the new Barcelona’s kitchen surface space must be regarded as up among the best in terms of size. That goes for the storage opportunities, too. There is a cabinet and cutlery drawer in the main part of the kitchen, plus three shelves in a unit alongside it; the rear part of this cabinet forms the housing for gas cylinders, placed close to the axle for optimum stability.

The dresser has a lower cabinet plus two drawers and a cabinet with a hinge-down door, and two wall cabinets. And then there’s the 190-litre fridge with separate freezer. This is a capacious kitchen by any standards. Barcelonas have always been caravans for keen cooks; this new model is the best yet in the culinary department.
 

Towing

Unicorns are equipped with AL-KO’s electronic stability control device, ATC. When you add in the enhanced stability of twin-axle geometry and, now, the siting of the battery close to the axles as well as the gas housing, on paper, the Barcelona’s towing credentials must be regarded as excellent.

We’ve towed the previous two Barcelonas many thousands of miles. That’s our own 2011 model, plus the 2013-4 Barcelona which we had on long-term test loan for 14 months. In all sorts of conditions including high winds, these two Barcelonas proved exceptionally stable and easy to tow. We’ve yet to take the 2015 version out on the road (ours was a pre-release model); we have every confidence that it will be just as outstanding as its predecessors.

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