Check Out the 2025 Cardinal Fifth-Wheel RV, Dubbed the 'Ultimate Luxury RV Experience'

Cardinal is one of the oldest fifth wheel brands in North America, launching their first product in the late '90s and later being incorporated by Forest River. Cardinal became Forest River's first full-profile luxury fifth wheel brand, and it lives up to its "luxury" reputation to this day.

Cardinal fifth wheel RVs are gorgeous fifth-wheelers that cover all the basic needs for parties as large as 10 people, while also pampering them in RV luxury. The "get" here is that we're talking about affordable luxury, which makes these towables a suitable choice for all types of campers. At least, that's what Forest River claims.

The 2025 Cardinal 402BEDS proves that these aren't just empty words. Here is a fifth wheel RV that offers two large bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom (the full kind, you won't find any half-baths onboard), a comfy lounge slash living room, and a kitchen that would make a regular city apartment kitchen turn green with envy. Moreover, this RV is primed for extended stays.

The Cardinal lineup includes several noteworthy layouts, and the 402BEDS is one of the most outstanding, as the short video tour below will show. Designed for traveling parties of four (though it could sleep six people with an optional sofa instead of the recliner theater seats in the living room), it uses four slide-outs in total to expand at camp into a genuine home.

The RV measures 42.3 feet (13 meters) in total length and rides on dual axles. Cargo carrying capacity is 2,447 lbs (1,110 kg), with a maximum permissible weight of 14,800 lbs (6,713 kg) – and you get countless interior and exterior storage options to pack everything you need with you.

The layout is much like what you'd find in a proper brick-and-mortar home, with one bedroom at each end, each with its own bathroom, and the daytime, communal living spaces between them.

Entrance is done directly into the living room, or, in case of an emergency, you can opt to go through the back door, which gives into the secondary full bath. You can use it as a mudroom, too, so you keep from dragging mud through the entire place.

The dinette and the theater seats sit on a slide-out, which means that you still have access to the kitchen and both bathrooms with the slides closed. An oversize panoramic window with zebra blinds ensures you make the most of the view where you're parked and lets in natural light.

The reclining seats face an entertainment center with a 40- or 50-inch smart TV on a swiveling arm, placed above a 5,000 BTU electric fireplace. Right next to it is the kitchen, divided into three different blocks and featuring a large pantry behind a wall, in addition to a standard pull-out pantry. You also get a kitchen island with a countertop extension, and a coffee station that can also fit a bunch of smaller appliances, like a toaster.

The main bedroom is at the front of the RV, up three steps and down a small hallway that also leads to the bathroom. It's big and well appointed, with a king-size bed on struts, so you get storage underneath, a large chest of drawers, and a wardrobe behind barn doors with prep for a washer and dryer.

The main bathroom is larger than the one at the rear, which means that it has a bit more storage options, as well as a walk-in shower, a foot-flush toilet, and a sink with vanity.

The secondary bedroom also features a king bed and has its own ensuite, with another walk-in shower, a toilet, and a sink with storage-integrating vanity. In short, this RV offers not just sleeping for four people but also the kind of privacy traveling couples need but probably wouldn't get with other RVs.

Features include AC, another 35,000 BTU furnace, heated holding tanks, heated and closed underbelly, insulation throughout, and a couple of power awnings with LED lights. Their exact size is to be determined as of this writing. The 402BEDS comes with a 60-gallon (227-liter) tank of freshwater, 76 gallons (287 liters) for gray and just as much for black.

Optionally, Cardinal offers a Climate Package, an Expedition Package, and extras that can boost autonomy and comfort, such as a 200W solar array on the roof with a 30-amp controller and more AC units.

"Cardinal brings affordable luxury back to camping!" Forest River proudly declares on its official page. Pricing for a 402BEDS generally depends on options and whatever deal you cut with your local dealer, but a 2025 unit can ask as little as $53,000 or as much as the one toured below, $62,999. This one is specced higher, with three AC units and the solar array, as well as the recliner seats over the non-reclining sofa option. It's the one dubbed "the ultimate luxury RV experience."

For those of you who aren't in the market for an RV right now, though, this one serves as a good example of what Cardinal means by affordable luxury and total comfort.