Full review

The new Segovia, the first Bailey Unicorn with a family layout, is the winner of our prestigious Caravan of the Year 2018 title.

Bailey's flagship Unicorn range goes into new market territory for 2018 with the introduction of its first ever family layout.

And what a caravan! Impressive in all areas, so impressive that it won our award for Best Layout for Families and then, as the highest-scoring section award winner, took the title of Caravan of the Year 2018.

The twin-axle Segovia has space for family holidays in spades, with a rear bedroom capable of sleeping four. Bunk beds are on the offside; a two-seater dining area converts into two more bunks. This area is separated from the kitchen and lounge by a large, walk-through shower and toilet room – with a feature that makes a major contribution to this caravan's star status.

The washbasin and toilet area, on the offside, can be divided from the corridor by a pleated partition. This has two functions. Firstly, the toilet can be used without having to close the forward door, so people can still walk along the corridor. Secondly, if you keep the partition in place, the corridor area looks nicely neat and tidy, and both the toilet and any hanging towels stay out of sight.

The Segovia arrives on the market at a time of increasing demand for big family caravans in manufacturers' top-spec ranges. Last year, Buccaneer launched the six-berth Galera, for example, which is the first family caravan in that opulent range, and it's selling well.

Now Bailey is out to grab a slice of the luxury family market with Unicorn's first bunk-bed layout. Launched in July and unveiled to the public at October's NEC show, it's proving to be a good seller already. Interestingly, its success is in line with increasing sales for all twin-axle models, Bailey tells us.

Everything about the Segovia is geared to lots of family space and lots of storage. The fridge-freezer is the biggest in any caravan, with a capacity of 190 litres. The lounge is long enough for all six occupants to sit together. The kitchen design creates plenty of surface space. And the luxury of the silent, super-efficient Alde heating system, plus an inboard water tank, means that buyers of this model can look forward to caravanning all year round in comfort.

The Segovia is a three-room caravan. You can close the sliding door on the rear bedroom when the kids go to bed, just as you would at home. That leaves the central shower-toilet element of the layout as a separate room.

Showering A

The showering-washing-dressing area is luxuriously spacious, at 1.27m long; plenty of space for more than one member of a family to do the pampering routine. The wardrobe is aft of the shower, so this is a true dressing room.

The shower compartment measures 80cm by 70cm. Usefully, the wheel arch creates a ledge on which little caravanners can perch while mum or dad directs the shower water.

Opposite, the toilet and washbasin area has two good-sized cabinets, one under the basin and one on the wall – and there's a very neat little refinement: a toothbrush beaker which fits into a recess in the top shelf!

When you close the pleated partition there is only just enough space to use the loo and washbasin. But that's fine. Three towel hooks are on the forward wall directly above the panel radiator, so drying will be efficient here. For perfection, three more towel hooks, on the rear wall of this area, would match towel provision to the number of people that the Segovia is designed to accommodate. And all of the towels can be hidden away when you pull the partition across to conceal the toilet.

Sleeping A

There's a bedroom for up to four in the rear, with a solid door to keep out the light and restrict the amount of sound that reaches this area. The fixed bunks are 1.9m long and 63cm wide, and there's a choice of a 1.9m by 1.4m double bed or two 1.9m-long singles at the front.

Occupants of both sleeping areas can get to the shower and loo without walking through anyone else's bedroom. Family layout perfection? It's certainly pretty close. The Segovia's sleeping configuration is surely a major reason for its early sales success.

Another reason why the Segovia is winning buyers is its amount of storage space. The bedroom has a chest of two drawers and a drop-down-hatch cabinet, plus two big top cabinets. The one on the nearside is just over a metre long and is divided into three sections. The other, across the rear, is 89cm wide and has four compartments. The space under the seats is easy to access even though the wooden tops are not self-supporting.

The storage area under the base bunk has a brilliantly practical design, with an exterior hatch leading into a plastic tray, designed to stow away wet or muddy items. The top of this box is supported on spring hinges and rises vertically, so accessing stuff here is really easy.

The wardrobe is 50cm wide, with three deep shelf spaces beneath – that's everyone's shoes taken care of easily. And there's more footwear provision; in common with some other Unicorn models, the Segovia has a shoe cabinet directly alongside the door. Brilliant!

Forward of the shoe cabinet, there's both exterior and top access into the large under-settee locker. This contains a plastic tray for wet or dirty outdoor items, identical to the one beneath the bunks. Under the offside settee, even though a chunk of space is taken up by the Alde heating unit and the water tank, there is a 70cm-stretch of space.

Overall, storage in the Segovia is top class.

Dining A

Dining has to be rated as top class, too, with a table for two in the rear, plus enough space for everyone to dine together in the lounge. The table is conveniently stored in its own cabinet on the far side of the fridge-freezer.

Lounging A

The kids get their own cosy space, with their own television points hidden away within the top of the chest of drawers at the rear.

from a recess in the side of the cabinet and cables can be fed up through a circular hole to the devices above. Parents get a set of TV points, too. These are on the forward end of the fridge-freezer cabinet. But there is no bracket for a TV, which we find rather strange. (Dealers would easily be able to fit one, though.)

That apart, the lounging arrangements in the Segovia are excellent and comfortable; the three bolster-style backrest sections, rather than one long unit, create sink-into comfort and a look that's more house than caravan. Our review Segovia has the optional Finsbury upholstery scheme, which costs £225 extra.

Kitchen A

Cooking for six demands a lot of a caravan kitchen. Surface space and food storage capability are, of course, key. The Segovia answers those needs amply, with a kitchen that stretches 1.71m when you raise the 23cm by 48cm extension into position, and a family-sized 190-litre fridge-freezer.

Storage comes in the form of two 73cm-wide, 5cm-deep drawers and a drop-down-door cabinet of the same width beneath. Aft of the cooker, a four-shelf cabinet that's 16cm wide is the perfect place for large fizzy drinks bottles. The 89cm-wide cabinet above the kitchen provides more than enough room for tableware.

Towing A

Four chunks of rubber to keep you stable, plus ATC for extra security in high winds – the

Segovia has all of the towing credentials that make for relaxed journeys. And that's exactly

how this caravan's road test went, just as we

had expected.

Verdict

It takes a lot of elements to win Caravan of the Year. A lot of features need to earn a lot of high marks from our judges, including the fundamentals: bedroom layout, washing arrangements, excellent storage capability and the size of the kitchen in relation to the number of people the caravan is designed to accommodate.

The Segovia scores highly with other features, too: a shoe cabinet by the door, two exterior-access lockers with plastic trays, a water tank, and a solid door to close off the bedroom. Very often, spacious caravanning equals family harmony. The Segovia has it all.