Bailey Unicorn Barcelona

The Bailey Unicorn Barcelona is just about as big as you can get, as stable on the road as you can get – and, as caravans go, it’s relatively expensive.

Unicorns have opening skylights, arching high into the roof line and giving the lounges a sort of conservatory appeal. Nowhere in the five-model range is that advantage more apparent than in the Barcelona, simply because this is the longest in the range, and, somehow, the skylight makes it look even larger than its predecessor.
The Barcelona shares Bailey’s flagship status with the new Cartagena model just launched. They’re the most expensive, the biggest and the heaviest Baileys. But let’s just dissect those facts for a moment. Price is relative. At £21,995 it’s less expensive than caravans most people would consider to be its rivals. At 7.89m it’s pretty much on max length – and so comparable with most rivals. But at just 1686kg, it’s lighter than those around it. So the new Barcelona, slimmed by 70kg for 2013, stands up well in its sector, on paper, in terms of weight, length and price. But how is this big beast in terms of liveability? We had four days at Woodland Waters Caravan Park in Lincolnshire to find out…

Showering

The shower is smaller than those in 2012 models, but still large enough to give you good showering space. Two sides are flat; the other two (the plastic sliding doors) are curved. It’s the two flat sides that are the interesting bit. These are lined with glass-reinforced plastic. They look just like the walls elsewhere in the Barcelona, except that they are shiny – and waterproof, which means there’s no need for plastic lining. And that makes a contribution to the saving in weight of 70kg overall compared with 2012 models.
There’s a “linen cabinet” – a fabric bag suspended on hooks inside a top-opening cabinet, designed for stuff that’s destined for a washing machine. There’s a shaving mirror on a pantograph, so you can put it at any angle that suits you.
There’s a tall cupboard on the offside corner and another under the sink. This new cupboard design is 100% better than the drawers in this position in previous models in which we found that stuff migrated down the back on tow. This new cupboard will keep its contents where you put them.
The washbasin, though, is smaller than those in previous Barcelonas; something that we think may be regarded a retrograde step. But any criticism should be seen in the light of the whole, and practicality is here in no small measure, especially in terms of towel accommodation. There are four hooks – that’s a towel for each person the Barcelona is designed to accommodate; not many caravans can match that. And beneath these hooks is the heated towel rail that’s part of the hot water-based Alde heating system.
 

Sleeping

Barcelonas have fixed beds (which gives them strong couple-appeal). But they also have settees long enough to make single beds – and that puts these models firmly in the category of family caravans, too. You can of course make a second double bed in the lounge. Base construction here has changed for 2013; you now pull out the base from under the offside settee. On test we found it slid out smoothly. We also discovered that, if you pull it out only slightly, you can create one wider single bed, by dropping the backrest down alongside the settee base.
 

Storage

You’d expect a 7.87m caravan with a fixed bed to excel on storage, and you’d be right. Factor in the good space under those lengthy settees and you get the picture that lower storage is brilliant. There’s an exterior hatch to the under-bed space – and a plastic tray, so that you can slide in wet or grassy objects without them coming into contact with other stuff under here.
There’s a full complement of top lockers, plus three drawers in the dresser to the right of the door. Above and below the full-size fridge with separate freezer are more cupboards. The filing system, for a Barcelona owner, would present no challenges – except, perhaps in the wardrobe, where there is a change for 2013. The hanging rail is longer, extending over a shelf area to the right. But when the rail is full of garments, reaching for items on these shelves wouldn’t be as easy as some will wish for. But the three cavernous shelf spaces below the full hanging depth probably makes up for the slight shortcoming elsewhere.
 

Dining

A small table pulls out from the deep windowsill. There are three drawers here, in the time-honoured fashion, but they, too, are integral with the sill. The table comes out under the sill, which means it’s at a slightly lower level. That means you can’t use the sill and table as one – so the effective table area is only just deep enough for two place settings. But we’re being ultra critical here, as befits the task of caravan testers…
For meals for four, the big table comes out. It’s white granite look – and stows under the double bed, in a cradle built into the framework of the bed base. When we tested this prototype we initially found that getting the table in and out of its under-bed framework was difficult, because you had to crawl into the bed to do the task. To Bailey’s great credit, when we told them that we had uncovered a problem, within a day we had received emailed images of a new design, placing the table within much easier reach of the side of the bed.
 

Lounging

As I write this I have my feet up on a settee, laptop on – err lap, and my back against the fore-end firm bolster that makes a right angle with the side backrest. Fine for laptopping. But for relaxing, this front bolster doesn’t cut the mustard. It’s too low; it merely supports your lower back and gets nowhere near your shoulders. And it’s at right angles with the side, rather than being curved, so you can’t nestle into the corner. During our test we experimented with the four (delightfully huge and firm) scatter cushions but no combination seemed to achieve corner relaxing comfort compared with most other caravans in its class. Significantly, corner-nestling comfort is inferior to that in the 2012 Barcelona.

 
Kitchen

There’s a Unicorn symbol beautifully etched into a mirror at the back of a wall cabinet that’s fitted with gleaming acrylic structures with fitments for three bottles and – wait for it – EIGHT glasses. It’s refined and superbly stylish. It’s also your first clue to the fact that this kitchen is designed to cater for lots of people. The lounge is long enough – just about – for eight to dine. And the kitchen, in terms of both surface and cabinet space, is well up to the task of culinary excellence for four and more.
The surface is on two levels – that’s a new feature for 2013. The sink is in a raised section, with working surface behind it; that’s where you’d put the removable drainer. Underneath, in a curved cabinet you find three shelves, one of them fitted for cutlery. But these shelves don’t go back as far as the depth of the cabinet, which may puzzle you – until you go outside and look on the offside.
The back of this cabinet is the gas bottle compartment. There’s space for two 6kg propane or 7kg butane cylinders, or one of those plus a 10kg BP Light.

 
Towing

The Barcelona is 70kg lighter for 2013; weight has been trimmed in many areas including the sides, which now have an outer skin of glass-reinforced plastic, replacing aluminium. Its reduced weight means that more vehicles can tow it. And its twin-axle geometry, enhanced by AL-KO’s electronic braking stability control system, means that the Barcelona is among Britain’s most inherently stable caravans. Its test tow, behind our trusty Kia Sorento, demonstrated, yet again, that long caravans are easy to tow; in many cases, easier than short single-axle models. One to pick if you’re planning long journeys and are looking for easy-tow characteristics.    
 
 

The Bailey Unicorn Barcelona is big, light for its length, with Alde heating, a capacious, capable kitchen and loads of storage space. Just make sure the corner-lounging shape suits you. And enjoy that brilliant skylight!