Many RV models offer floor plans with bunk beds or dedicated bunk rooms, which means there’s room for more — more sleeping berths, more lounging area, more overall comfort while traveling.
By Bruce W. Smith
May/June 2025
As the warmer weather of summer quickly approaches, many families with active lifestyles love to sneak away to enjoy the outdoors and camping. And some may start itching to find a suitable RV to facilitate those travel needs.
While nearly all of today’s motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth-wheels, and toy haulers have convertible dinettes and sofas to provide sleeping space for kids and guests, those accommodations are not always comfortable — nor do they give everyone the privacy they wish they had. That’s where bunkhouse-style RVs come into the picture.
“Larger families often trade up for a bigger floor plan that has a bunkhouse, because they value the added living space an enclosed bunkhouse delivers, along with other features like an outside kitchen and a private main bedroom,” said Keegan Showalter, brand manager for Forest River, which has more than 70 RV brands under its corporate umbrella.
As is true of nearly every other RV manufacturer, floor plans with bunkhouses are a staple of Forest River’s inventory. While the addition of a dedicated bunk room adds to the sleeping comfort and privacy features of the RV, it also offers a good place to keep pets. “If that’s on your agenda, consider bunkhouse models with carpetless flooring,” Showalter said. “This makes cleanup easy and is helpful when the space is used as a storage room for bikes and other camping gear.”
Representatives of other RV manufacturers that feature bunks in some of their floor plans said it’s also prudent for RV buyers to consider the future growth of the camping family, in both physical size and number of campers. Across the board, the consensus is it’s a better investment to go bigger early on than to realize a couple years later that the model you purchased no longer fits the family.
This article highlights a variety of RVs that have nice bunkhouse features and span a fairly wide range of prices and models. Study the floor plans while envisioning your family lounging comfortably at a beautiful campsite far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Thor Motor Coach Pasadena 38XL
THOR MOTOR COACH PASADENA 38XL
(MSRP: $347,060)
If you are looking for a nice Super C motorhome with bunk beds for guests or additional family members to stay a few nights, the two-bedroom, 1½-bath Pasadena 38XL has a nice floor plan. It’s built on the Cummins-powered Freightliner S2RV chassis with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 32,700 pounds. This model sleeps two guests on 27-inch-by-74-inch hallway bunks midship across from the half bath, and a third in the 52-inch-by-80-inch bunk above the cockpit. For additional sleeping space, there’s the Tilt-A-View king-size bed in back, plus a 78-inch-wide convertible dinette in the street-side slideout. When the hall bunks in this luxurious coach are not needed, the space easily converts to a big closet.
BRINKLEY MODEL Z 3610
Brinkley Model Z 3610
(MSRP: $129,291)
Brinkley RV, a privately owned manufacturer of upscale towable RVs, takes care of camping families in the 41-foot-9-inch Model Z 3610 fiver, which features a mid-bunk room/bonus room floor plan.
“Families love this model because it provides additional sleeping room for four people in the midship slide, and the room easily doubles as a private office space when needed,” Brinkley RV’s Nicole Rogers noted.
Brinkley Model Z 3610
In addition to the front bedroom, which is offered with a standard king or optional queen bed, this second bedroom contains large built-in drawers and overhead cabinets, which provide lots of storage, along with a pullout desk right in front of the TV. The beds consist of a 32-inch-by-72-inch flip-down bunk over a 48-inch-by-72-inch sofa bed, with a 32-inch-by-72-inch trundle bed hidden underneath. Having the small midship bedroom is a great design for larger families.
Forest River Sandpiper 3880BH
FOREST RIVER SANDPIPER 3880BH
(MSRP: $99,000)
Fifth-wheels with a bunkhouse don’t get much bigger or nicer than the 16,260-pound-GVWR Sandpiper 3880BH. This big boy is a 1½-bath, 42-footer with a bunkhouse that features a single 54-inch-by-74-inch bunk above the built-in cabinets, a pair of 28-inch-by-74-inch bunks against the back wall, and a matching flip-down bunk above a sofa bed on the street side. The half bath is conveniently located in the bunk room just inside the barn-style entry door.
Forest River Sandpiper 3880BH
This unit has a ton of storage: two hidden pantries, a big wardrobe in the king bedroom, and pass-through storage underneath. The residential-sized fridge and kitchen appliances help feed a crowd, as does the huge outdoor kitchen at the rear. Year-round comfort comes from two 15,000-Btu air conditioners, a 40,000-Btu furnace, and a 5,000-Btu electric fireplace in the living room.
Northwood Manufacturing Nash Camp 29S
NORTHWOOD MANUFACTURING NASH CAMP 29S
(MSRP: $56,816)
Young families should love the full-featured, four-season-ready 32-foot Nash Camp 29S travel trailer. It has dedicated sleeping areas for everyone: a queen bed in the front for mom and dad, plus double-over-double full-size 54-inch-by-75-inch beds for the kids in the rear bunkhouse. The larger bunk beds make comfortable sleeping for both kids and adults.
Northwood Manufacturing Nash Camp 29S
Northwood Manufacturing’s 10,700-pound-GVWR tow-behind also has a spacious living area for all to congregate in, as well as a super-efficient, full-featured kitchen. A full tub in the bath is also a bonus for an active family. In my view, the Nash Camp is nicely appointed while balancing price consciousness and Northwood quality.
northwoodmfg.com
Winnebago Vista 31B
WINNEBAGO VISTA 31B
(MSRP: $214,022)
The popularity of Winnebago’s entry-level Vista 31B Class A motorhome stems from its compact size (31 feet 2 inches) and a floor plan that incorporates a set of 30-inch-by-73-inch bunks, located opposite the curbside half bath and next to the rear bedroom entrance.
Winnebago Vista 31B
This floor plan has been around for a number of years. Between the bunk beds, the rear queen bed, the convertible dinette, and the opposing sofa bed, the coach can accommodate up to seven weary heads. The 31B is the middle size of five models (if counting the special-edition Vista NPF) and the only one with bunk beds. It is built on the Ford F-53 7.3-liter gas chassis with a six-speed automatic transmission, making it easy to drive.
Gulf Stream Kingsport 228SB
GULF STREAM KINGSPORT 228SB
(MSRP: $32,987)
Pete Nottoli, Gulf Stream Coach’s product manager for Kingsport Lite trailers, says the 228SB is “a great unit that hits so many different RVers. Whether a couple wants to go out and have extra storage or use that extra bunk space for a desk area, or a family that wants to go out and have the kids sleep in a hidden bunk room, this 23-footer could be used in many different ways.”
Gulf Stream Kingsport 228SB
The clever bunk room design of this 5,730-pound-GVWR camper allows the twin 28-inch-by-76-inch beds behind the entertainment center in the slideout to hinge upward against the inner wall. Then, bulky items such as bicycles and camping gear can be loaded from the inside via the folding doors, or from the outside using the big cargo door. The unit also features a front queen bed and a rear galley.
KZ RECREATIONAL VEHICLES DURANGO D348BHF
KZ Recreational Vehicles Durango D348BHF
(MSRP: $122,410)
KZ Recreational Vehicles’ 42-foot 2025 KZ Durango D348BHF, the largest of KZ’s fifth-wheel offerings, features a rear bunkhouse with opposing slideouts to maximize floor space. The folding bunks in the door-side slideout share the outside wall with a big exterior kitchen, while the street-side slideout holds a sofa bed and a fourth folding bunk above.
KZ Recreational Vehicles Durango D348BHF
This beefy unit (14,995 pounds GVWR) has a separate full bath for the bunk room. The bunk room also contains a sizable entertainment center, so this area can double as a private space to watch movies, play video games, or just hang out. Another sofa bed midship, plus a king bed in the front bedroom (a queen bed is optional), gives family members plenty of places to stretch out.
TIFFIN BYWAY 38 BL
Tiffin Byway 38 BL
(MSRP: $362,137)
Popular motor coach floor plans remain as RV staples year after year. A great example is the 2025 Tiffin Byway 38 BL, a beautiful 39-foot-6-inch Class A motorhome built on the equally popular Freightliner XCS chassis powered by a 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engine. The triple-slideout 38BL has a GVWR of 29,800 pounds and can sleep seven. According to Tiffin literature, this coach maneuvers easily through city streets or campgrounds, and is offered with a wide variety of interior decor and exterior paint selections.
Tiffin Byway 38 BL
A pair of 28-inch-by-70-inch bunk beds are positioned in the curbside slideout, with an optional drop-down bunk available above the cockpit. In the rear bedroom, the head of the 72-inch-by-80-inch king bed is encased in a street-side slideout, and a full bath stretches across the very back of the coach. The kitchen is equipped with stainless-steel appliances and a large sink to provide you with everything you need for a delicious meal on the road. Its panoramic galley window floods the interior with natural light, which adds to the comfort level on those long road trips.
Be “Bed Wise” and Comfortable
Shoppers looking for a bunkhouse RV will want to keep in mind that not all bunk beds are created the same. The mattresses vary significantly in size (and comfort) when it comes to widths and lengths. Choosing the right combination is critical to sleeping comfort.
The typical “standard” RV bunk bed mattress can vary from 28 to 35 inches wide and from 74 inches to 80 inches long. The rather narrow size of this mattress is fine for smaller kids, but not necessarily that comfortable for a teenager or adult.
Twin-bed bunks typically measure 38 or 39 inches wide, with a standard length of 75 inches; the XL versions stretch out to 80 inches in some floor plans. The additional couple inches of width over the standard bunk bed makes a twin-size bunk more accommodating for a teenager or smaller adult.
Some RV manufacturers offer bunk mattresses in a three-quarter size, measuring 48 inches by 75 inches. These can sleep two smaller kids or an adult.
The most spacious bunks are found in RVs designed with double-over-double bunks, which use double, or full-size, mattresses that are typically 53 inches to 55 inches wide and 75 inches long. These double beds are the most comfortable size for sleeping adults. So, shop carefully before buying your bunkhouse RV.