A British-made caravan costing over £40,000? An exciting new entry into that prestigious category is the new twin-axle Coachman Lusso, which costs £40,455 plus £545 delivery. A true luxury touring caravan.

Seasonal-pitch caravans are increasingly popular, and many have a price tag well north of £30,000. Along with self-levelling, Alde heating and an eight-foot width, the Lusso includes roof-mounted Wi-Fi and a safe.

There are other extra touches, too, as we discovered when we took a sneak peak at the Coachman factory in Hull.

Pitch and set-up

Towing this eight-footer should not be too daunting – Al-Ko’s ATC trailer control system and an AKS 3004 stabiliser both come as standard. As with all Coachman models this year, you also get Al-Ko’s automatic adjustment (AAA) brake.

Setting up on site should be easy, not just because of the self-levelling system. Two large exterior locker doors – on the front nearside and the rear offside – make retrieving your kit much simpler.

Lounge

The C-shaped lounge is like that found in an up-market motorhome

With its C-shaped settee and telescopic pedestal table, the lounge is more like one you’d find in an upmarket motorhome. The table, with space for at least six, can be moved in all directions. The sprung upholstery includes higher backrests with corner headrests. The wide front sill hosts a wireless phone charger and two USBs.

Two speakers in the corners link to the stereo built into the locker, and there are TV sockets above the small locker by the door, away from the main lounge.

Plenty of daylight gets in, thanks to the large sunroof and standard Heki. Four spotlights, two LEDs in the sunroof and ambient lighting stretching right to the front keep things nicely lit at night.

Kitchen

Smart kitchen has separate oven and grill with microwave above, and a Dometic fridge

The workspace in the L-shaped kitchen is vast, even with the large sink, and matched by an equally big window. You still get an extractor fan, over the dual-fuel four-burner hob. The kitchen is well lit with ambient and focused light, including on the drawers.

There’s a separate oven and grill, and a microwave, and on the nearside, one of Dometic’s new two-way opening fridges.

Washroom

Washroom features include a huge shower cabinet, large mirror and Alde radiator

The washroom is well lit, although you only get a roof vent in the middle, not in the huge shower cabinet. That shower looks just like on you would find at home, with subtle lighting and plenty of storage.

The salad-bowl-style basin, in front of a large mirror, has a swan-neck tap. There’s also an Alde radiator to the left by the toilet.

Beds

You can have a partition for the central area of the interior if you choose to

The bed up front is made up by lowering the table and using two of the backrests to fill in the gap. It’s well over 2m long, so you don’t need to worry about removing scatter cushions or corner backrests.

Our test model didn’t have a partition across the middle, which made the van feel like a stylish studio apartment. You can have one as a no-cost option, but it would be a plastic concertina partition.

The comfortable rear bed has a backlit headboard, spotlights and raised bedside tables. The small dresser in the nearside rear corner is below another large, well-lit mirror. Next to that is a socket for a hairdryer and a second socket for a TV.

Storage

Wardrobe is capacious and adaptable, making up for relative lack of storage up front

You’ll probably make quite a lot of use of that external locker door on the nearside corner, because the nearside underseat area has no internal access flaps. You can lift the slats, but you have to remove some cushions first. Coachman has chosen this corner as the location for the safe.

The area under the settees at the front is difficult to get at because of the table, although there is a small locker in the front sill. Part of the space under the offside settee is taken up with electrics.

You do get two large overhead lockers in the lounge, but people sleeping here might prefer to store clothes in the wardrobe. Along with that big wardrobe, dresser and bedside tables, back here you get four roof lockers, and the area under the bed.

Storage in the kitchen is adequate, with a large cupboard under the work surface, partly taken up with baskets. Next to that is a column of drawers and a large overhead locker.

Storage in the washroom is more limited, with one cupboard above the toilet and one below the basin.

Verdict

A caravan costing more than £40,000 isn’t going to be for everyone, but for those who like a really comfortable interior and tend to stay mainly on one site, the Coachman Lusso is a very compelling proposition. The lounge is a hugely sociable area, while the washroom and rear bedroom both feel like a true home from home.

  • Thumbs up Fantastic sociable lounge, huge kitchen, comfortable rear bedroom.
  • Thumbs down Access to underseat storage could be better.

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