No one buys an RV because it's a record breaker or on that consideration alone. But if said record is one for size, then Kabe will definitely catch your eye for a moment.
It's not the size of the boat but the motion of the ocean and all that, but when it comes to a towable, size does matter, if only to make a difference in all the ways that count. The bigger the space, the more the features and the higher the degree of comfort. On that consideration alone, the 2023 Kabe Imperial Hacienda 1000 TLD is the top of the tops.
Kabe is a Swedish caravan company that goes back to 1958 and specializes in high-quality but low-volume production of caravans. It could be that the name rings a bell with you, and that's because it’s the company behind the one-off Kabe Imperial Tower, the two-level towable landyacht introduced in 2007 as a PR stunt. Built to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary, the Imperial Tower offered 26 square meters (279.8 square feet) of living space, including a private balcony on the second floor – is a phrase you're not likely to see anywhere else in relation to a towable.
It was fully functional and was paraded around trade events throughout Europe, adding a new world record to Kabe's already impressive list, that of the tallest caravan in Europe. In the '70s, Kabe had introduced the Imperial Hacienda line, which, at 11.57 meters (37.9 feet) in total length, was the longest caravan on the old continent.
Photo: Kabe
"Was” but is no more: the 2023 descendant of the Hacienda takes that title away. The 2023 Kabe Imperial Hacienda 1000 TLD, introduced at the end of last year and shown in detail in the video tour below, is officially Europe's longest caravan, measuring 11.60 meters (38 feet) from one end to the other. As such, it offers 22 square meters (236.8 square feet) of living space, which is comparable to many tiny houses we've seen recently. It IS a tiny house, for all intents and purposes.
In the right configuration, the new Imperial Hacienda lives up to the "hacienda” in the name ("ranch” or "estate” in Spanish) and can sleep as many as eight people. They'd all have to share the same bathroom, which is located at the rear of the trailer, which could be slightly inconveniencing, but they'd sleep on comfy beds and have plenty of space to move around.
The Imperial Hacienda shown in the tour below is configured for a family of six. You can see there's some compromising happening in terms of kitchen facilities over sleeping, but the kitchen is still fully equipped, if slightly more compact. There's a large U-shaped sofa with an expandable table in the front, in the dining area, with another L-shaped couch in the living room. That one also has a table, so it can do double duty as dinette and converts into a bed at night by folding out one of the couches.
Photo: Kabe
The kitchen is surprisingly small given the total amount of space available but equipped with everything you need for family meals, from a large fridge and freezer to a two-burner gas and two-burner electric cooktop, plenty of drawers and cubbies (all with soft-close mechanism), a drying rack, an oven, a microwave, and even a small glass cabinet with nearby bottle storage. It's your very own bar on your travel trailer. It's details like this that make the difference between a standard RV and a premium one; in this particular case, the possibility to play bartender by mixing a cocktail at night.
Other details that mark the Imperial Hacienda as a premium trailer, other than pricing (more on that later on), are a heated shoe closet, a drying rack hidden inside one of the cupboards, and the electric headboard in the main bedroom. Kabe also offers a huge amount of storage space, as would benefit an entire family on the road for an extended period.
The bathroom is perhaps the "most standard" area inside the caravan, offering a flushing toilet, a small sink with vanity, a shower room, and even more storage. It's nothing spectacular, but again, it's more than enough to work even for a large family of 8.
Photo: Kabe
The Kabe Imperial Hacienda sits on an AL-KO fully galvanized steep profile chassis with self-adjusting brakes, is insulated, comes with AC and zone underfloor heating, the patented VarioVent ventilation system, the Kabe Premium Sound System as standard, and can be optioned with extras that extend its autonomy at camp or the degree of comfort. These range from the possibility of choosing from several fabric or real leather upholstery options to switching up the layout to best suit your needs. As with everything in life, optionals come at an extra cost.
That last part is yet another thing that marks this record-breaking caravan as a premium product. The 2023 Kabe Imperial Hacienda starts at €127,134, which is approximately $136,500 at the current exchange rate. Here's to hoping the other seven people you plan on sharing it with will chip in on that because that's a lot of money for a lot of (mobile) house.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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