Bedding options and storage for Nuevo EK

Hello, I am brand-new to this forum. I don’t yet have a Nuevo but that is what my heart desires and we will be looking to purchase one within the next 12 months. I like the spec and the length and having looked at so many, I am convinced this is the one for us.  By the time we purchase it in 2020 We will be going for at least a 2018 model subject to their being one available - we will be patient and ready.  We currently have an Auto Cruise Vista which is less than 5 m in length but seems to have tardis like proportions and so much storage. I am curious/a little concerned maybe about a few thing in the Nuevo and I think I need more information from others to help me.  

Sleep is important to me and we currently have a memory foam mattress topper in our Autocruise (she is called Esther) which rolls up and fits very well in the overcab locker (which of course we wouldn’t have in the Nuevo). The bed in Esther is a small double and is a few inches narrower than the transverse bed in the Nuevo and about a foot shorter as well.  Our memory foam mattress came from Raskelf (or duvalay I think they are known now).  I think we will be using the bed mainly as a transverse double bed as my husband is 6ft 4.  I hope someone could help with my questions....

Is it necessary to have a foam mattress topper? (I imagine it is better to have one)
Can you get them in sizes to fit the double bed?
Does it store under the settee ok and still have room for duvet and pillows (I’m just not sure about duvalays though I have yet to see one in the flesh).
Would it be better to get 2x single memory foam toppers for ease of storage and in case we use as 2 single beds? (I am thinking this is the best option already)
If we did get to single mattress toppers - do they fit side by side ok when you out them on the transverse double?

I would be very grateful to hear of people’s experiences.  We are going to our nearest Motorhome showroom again next week to investigate again - I know we are a little premature as we won’t buy it until next year but I am planning ahead.

I thank you in advance for any input you can give me to help.  Nothing is more valuable than others experiences in these matters.

I found this quite useful regarding duvalays (beware it does go on a bit!).
I ended up getting a single 2.5cm duvalay topper and find it great. Anything thicker could prove a bit bulky IMO.
I also spoke to a very helpful/knowledgeable lady at Duvalay who knew pretty much all the info I needed.

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Greetings from Salisbury.

We love our Nuevo, albeit a slightly older (2009) model.  We have plenty of storage for bedding (duvet, pillows, sheet, under-blanket and also silver screens) over the cab, which is great.  Not sure whether the newer low profile ones have this, but it is great because you can put the bed down before you get all the bedding out.  One thing we were sure of when deciding what van to get - you go to bed every night, so make sure it is easy.

If there is any chance (now or in the future) that you might prefer single beds, ie for access to the loo, get a van that allows this sensibly (which might well rule out the Nuevo).

The bed in our Nuevo is an irregular shape because (for some strange reason) the bench seat on the passenger side is wider than the one on the driver's side - so you might need a strange shaped topper.

Hi, yes agree with Dbvwt ,2 singles @2.5cm , go under the seat with our double duvet , we then put our pillows in a zip up bag and they live in the shower room when on the road behind the drivers seat when on site (don't bother with the Duvalay zip bags the zips are weak) Anything else on the Nuevo please ask ,great little van!       Regards     Paul

Although my van will be quite a bit older than yours, I think the side settees and under bed cupboards are much the same. 
We always use the transverse double bed, although it's easy to turn the passenger seat around for single beds, it's quite a faff regarding the drivers seat as the steering wheel and handbrake get in the way.
It's quite comfy without a mattress topper, but we bought one anyway. It rolls up and easily fits in the nearside bed locker along with a quilt, four pillows and a fitted sheet.
This is the topper we bought.
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Why not go for the Nuevo ES , then you'll have the overcab to store your Duvalays.

We began our motorhoming life with an AC Vista too. It was very compact as you say, but seemed to have lots of storage. I never really took to the rear door though. Our drive at the time was short and it just fitted on. When we p/ex it two years later after we’d moved house we got our money back. I have fond memories of it and it started us on 20 years of camping

Our lockers are a different size to those in the Nuevo, but just to say we use Duvulays and find them invaluable.

We have a Broadway EK and use 2 single home- made Duvalay clones. I like the concept very much and they are very comfortable in use but I don’t like the polyester fabric used for the bedding.

To free up the underbed locker for storage of something else we have the memory foam toppers ( Argos/ double size, cut in half so exactly the correct size) on the settees permanently under fitted seat covers which we had made when we decided we really could not live with the ghastly upholstery pattern.

The duvets ,down ones, are in their place in the duvalay cover and during the day are rolled into 2 cushion covers, as are our pillows. They stay out all the time as cushions.

At night I lay the duvalay out so that the bottom bit, made from a single duvet cover so plenty to tuck in and double thickness, is underneath, the duvet itself is securely held in place on top and we sleep well.

Welcome to the forum Brunothedog 

I'm only 6ft2in but the bed in the double configuration is plenty big enough. If you decided to use it as singles, there is enough wriggle room to accommodate a taller person by moving the driver seat forward and in filling using the supplied bench arm rest.

Can't comment on a duvalay or foam mattress, we just use a mattress topper (aldi version) with fitted sheet and a duvet. 4 and a bit years on and it's plenty comfortable enough for us. The pillows go in a plastic storage box and the duvet and topper go into vacuum storage bags. The lot are stored under the nearside bench with our two chairs and a few other bits and pieces. Making the bed up (start to finish) takes us about 3 minutes and about double that to pack it all away in the morning.

Good luck with your search.

Hi Brunothedog Welcome on board !! My wife and myself have had a few campervans, and camping experience over the years. Like you, a good sleep is very important, and we have in the past 4 or 5 years found Duvalays  to be best. We now have a Stanton Motorhome, similar in size to a Nuevo. Our good sleep has required duvalays of 4cm as they are comfortable over the cushions when the bed is made up. They are singles and are quite long, as we are both 6 footish. Because of this, we always have the bed as a double, across the van. For storage, we roll the Duvalays up separately loosely, and put them under the near side settee locker. The cushions, sheet and quilt also go in ! Although it seems too much, they fit in fine, as a lot of the bulk is air, which compresses down when the top of the settee is gently closed. Hope this gulps 
By coincidence, we are just putting up for sale, the two single Duvalays which he had from our previous van, a Toyota Hiace Campervan Coversion. We also have a brand new Maypole 9422 Full Motorhome Cover, which is suitable for vans 5.7 - 6.1m, which is the Nuevo size. The cover is an unwanted gift. It may be a bit early for these for sale items, but if you want, I can send details of them, price and photos, if you want 1st refusal.
Hope you enjoy your Autosleeper as much as we do. Regards Mike

Wow thanks everybody for your very valuable replies already.  I don’t know how to reply individually but thank you - I think I might use the quote button but anyway, I’ll figure that out.
So yes - a memory foam mattress topper for sure.  I watched the YouTube video (thank you dbvwt) - this is like what we have now but we don’t have a fancy bag.  When I meant duvalay, I meant those things with the built in duvet which I’m not too sure about. What I don’t want though is to store them in the shower.  Not that I’ll be using the shower a lot but I can’t bear ‘stuff’ out and want to know that everything will fit.  The new Nuevo’s don’t seem to have a locker overcab like our vista which fits everything in and room to spare. They have a big sunroof instead.  So by the sounds of it, pillows, duvet and mattress toppers do fit into the near side locker which is good (I just had to google what nearside meant - husband would despair!).  I thought the nearside locker was the one which was accessed from the outside - in that case where you keep the electric hook up cable, levelling blocks, water hose etc?  Do,they fit in the small outside storage locker?

I’ve just looked and our local motorhome showroom doesn’t have any Nuevo’s in at the moment.  I’m so keen to put my mind at rest with all of this stuff even though I know it’s a bit premature.  I want to armed with everything so we can be ready to buy - they don’t seem to hang around long when they go up for sale.  I feel sure I will have more questions and I thank you all so much for your lovely and quick replies.

Virtually no over cab storage on later nuevos  due to front opening skylight

Hi Brunothedog
As you’ll see from another thread we do have a minor gripe with our Nuevo EK in the area of storage. It’s been quite an exercise changing from a fixed bed Chausson with an with enormous garage to the Nuevo.

We had a mattress topper on the fixed bed in the previous van and I didn’t want to let it go because it was so comfortable so... I cut it in half, then made two home-made ‘Duvalays’ each with a double duvet cover, half the mattress topper and a single duvet.  We never set up the bed as a double, just use the bench seats as singles.  We store one ‘Duvalay’ rolled up under the offside bench seat, along with the pillows, and the other folded in half under the nearside.  We also manage to squeeze a small table and 2 small Outwell chairs plus walking boots, 2 rucksacks, Thule Rainblocker sides and a clothes airer under the nearside. The electric cable, water hose, ramps, chocks and a collapsible watering can go in the wet locker accessible only from the outside.

We were then left with no storage for the outside lounger chairs and a jigsaw board so we decided to sacrifice the wardrobe which works very well.  Marie Kondo principles were applied to our clothes which all fit in one overhead locker each, no need to hang anything.

It was a challenge working all of this out but we have absolutely no regrets.  We love the Nuevo to bits!

I think the Nuevo is a shorter version of the Broadway - ?

We travel with our two folding Lafuma chairs strapped with luggage straps to the back if the driver’s and passenger’s seats. There is room also for a small folding table and a folding plastic stool. We can use the two single beds with the chairs still in place but, if on an aire and we want to swivel the seats,  then the chairs go behind the swivelled seats.

As has been previously mentioned, why not go for a Nuevo ES. Plenty of storage space for bedding in the overcab bed.

According to the current A/S website you can mix and match the overcab area on Nuevo's. You can have and EK with either the overcab skylight or with the overcab bed pod. Conversely you can have the ES with the same choice. Effectively that means an EK with 2 seats and 4 berths, which is frowned upon as it tempts unbelted passengers, but does provide masses of storage. The sort of reverse of that is an ES with low profile overcab skylight which has 4 seats but just 2 berths and no overcab storage. I've seen both 'odd' options for sale recently on Autotrader.

Yes, we brought our situation on ourselves because we chose the skylight option  Despite the storage challenges we would do the same again.   The feeling of space and light we get from a van that’s a foot shorter than our  last one is amazing.  There are always compromises but part of the fun is working out how things work best!

Brunothedog wrote:I’ve just looked and our local motorhome showroom doesn’t have any Nuevo’s in at the moment.  I’m so keen to put my mind at rest with all of this stuff even though I know it’s a bit premature.  I want to armed with everything so we can be ready to buy - they don’t seem to hang around long when they go up for sale.  I feel sure I will have more questions and I thank you all so much for your lovely and quick replies.

What you are doing is sensible research, better to do your knowledge gathering well ahead of going to see a van in the flesh. Can I suggest you use the search function on here (at the top for general searches or at the bottom of each van type section) as there's loads of information in posts about Neuvos, equipment, using the vehicle, potential issues etc.

Like you I did lengthy research, making lists of must haves nice to have and don't want.  One thing that didn't even figure on that list was a solar panel which fortunately came fitted on the van we eventually bought.  This keeps leisure and vehicle battery topped up with no worries about starting even when left for several weeks.   

We went to our local dealer, said what we wanted and that the Nuevo seemed to fit our criteria.  They gave us first refusal when one came in before it went on general sale.

Thank you once again. Yes some great suggestions and I have started to browse all the topics about the Nuevo on here - what a great forum and what a helpful lot you are!  I don’t really want an ES version - I don’t know what it is but they just don’t appeal to me from an aesthetics point of view.  I know that could be viewed as silly as surely the practicalities of travelling in it are more important but there you go.  Our vista is 4.72 meters in length and while she has the over cab storage , there is not much under seat storage - just one bench seat with enough for duvet and pillows and a few bottles of water.  I think I might be worrying unnecessarily as we always have room to spare in the Vista .  I think the Nuevo seems so much more living space by comparison - what we lose in overcab storage, we gain in kitchen storage and more under seat storage.  It is the compactness that appeals more than anything.  I shall carry on with my research and maybe stalk a few Nuevo users at campsites!

In case you've not had this advice before (and you probably have  ) I'd suggest you don't prise open the wallet for mattress toppers or any other "must have" accessories until you are really sure that you must have them!

That's how lofts and garages get filled up - loads of others on here will be giving a knowing nod of agreement! 

Molly3 wrote:Virtually no over cab storage on later nuevos  due to front opening skylight

Which you don't have to have.

Storage lockers can be ordered as an option. 

Hi , weve got the skylight version, no other choice in 2012, and I have to say although its visually appealing Ive only ever opened it a handful of times (it doesn't open that much) ,if I had the choice probably would go for the locker version ,but as yet I haven't seen one, probably quite rare  .  Best of luck with your deliberations ,just try and see as many as you can before deciding ! Regards    Paul  

You can have the skylight version converted to a cupboard if you ask for it to be done when ordering. We couldn't see the point of the skylight apart from letting the sun burn my hairless pate. Also the little shelves did't look to be of much use to us as they are open and we felt things might fall off when travelling. We now have a very useful cupboard up there but it is quite a stretch to reach into the depths so we have a folding stool to stand on if necessary.

I suppose if you already have the van then AS would do the alteration for you. I don't think it makes much difference to the light you might get through the skylight when on site as you have the windscreen, the rooflight and the windows.

Brunothedog, only you can judge whether you prefer the low profile or the one with cupboards at the front instead; I do believe that you have to see them to judge.
We had the low profile Nuevo and now the low profile Broadway and we found storage in the low profile Nuevo to be no problem whatsoever. We had two single duvalays..one went in the offside locker and the other in the nearside.
We loved the light and airy feeling of the front skylight.