However often you have guests staying in your home, whether you regularly host family and friends or just welcome guests for the holidays, offering them a comfortable guest bed to sleep in is a must. But what is the best mattress for a guest room? And how do you ensure that your visitors get the best possible night’s sleep in your home?
The answers to these questions, and others, are what we are going to take a closer look at here.
At a glance: Our Top Choices for the Best Guest Bed
- Nolah – Best overall choice for guest rooms.
- Sweet Zzz – Comfiest mattress for guests.
- SoundAsleep – Best air bed.
- Lucid – Best rollaway guest bed.
- Milliard – Best foldable mattress.
What is the Best Size Bed for a Guest Room?
To offer the best comfort – and to accommodate couples – a Queen size bed is possibly the very best choice for a guest room. If you do not have the space – some guest quarters are small – then a full bed will suffice.
For reference, in the US standard bed sizes break down as follows
- Full: 53” x 75” | 134.5 X 190.5 cm.
- Queen: 60” x 80” | 152.5 X 203 cm.
- King: 76” x 80” | 193 X 203 cm.
To figure out the right size for your guest room, measure the room, taking a moment to find the square footage as well – that’s length x width x height – and determine which bed size will fit comfortably, leaving room for your guests to walk as well as to accommodate night tables, a dresser and perhaps a chair to serve as a makeshift reading nook.
Best Mattress for Guest Bedrooms Reviews
Once you have decided on a bed size for your guest room, you will need to buy a mattress. There are lots of great choices available, as you will discover when you start to shop, but to help you get your mattress shopping off to a great start, here is a look at some of our favorite picks for best affordable mattress for a guest room.
Best Overall Choice for Guest Rooms: Nolah Original 10″ Mattress
The Nolah mattress is an excellent choice for any room, including the guest room. Its crafted from cooling memory foam and available in all bed sizes. We love the snow white Tencel top too! The eco-friendly Tencel cover is hypoallergenic and protects the mattress beneath, extending its useful life. Nolah offers a generous risk-free 120 night sleep trial and a lifetime warranty.
Pros: great lumbar support, can be used with any bed frame, including adjustable bed frames, one of the most affordable ‘mail order’ mattresses on the market, 100% made in the USA, free shipping and return, top pick for side sleepers.
Cons: you may not want to spend this much if you only entertain guests a few times a year, some feel the bed does not sleep as cool as they hoped.
See the current price deal on the Nolah Original 10″ here
Comfiest Mattress for Guest Room: Hannah Hybrid Mattress
Comfort is key if you want your guests to consider you a great host, and the Hannah hybrid mattress from Sweet Zzz is certainly that! Featuring both innerspring coils and memory foam the Hannah hybrid bed offers lots of support and comfort, but the soft Eco-foam layer adds that sleeping on a cloud softness any guest will love. This 14″ premium hybrid guest mattress is handmade, offers superior cooling and comes with a lifetime warranty.
Pros: more durable than some memory foam only mattresses, supportive coil system, one of the best cheap mattress choices available today, a 100-night free trial, made in the US, eco-friendly.
Cons: some sleepers found this mattress a little too soft for their personal preference.
Check out the latest price deal on the Hanna Hybrid Mattress here
Best Air Bed for Guest Rooms: SoundAsleep Dream Series Mattress
If you only entertain overnight guests a few times a year, and want to use your spare room for other things the rest of time, then a high-quality air bed like this one can be an excellent choice. The SoundAsleep Dream Mattress inflates quickly – in under five minutes – boasts a Suregrip bottom to prevent sliding on hardwood floors and has a cushy top to add more of that ‘real bed’ feel. This is thanks to the 40 internal air cools inside.
Available in full, Queen and King sizes, allowing you to get the best fit for the space available.
Pros: a very affordable choice for guest rooms not used often, stores away quickly and easily when not in use, more durable than many other air mattress choices, 1 year limited warranty, stays inflated for days.
Cons: not designed for every day use, warranty doesn’t cover degradation due to every day use, won’t last as long as a standard mattress.
Check current price of this air mattress on Amazon
Best Rollaway Bed: Lucid Memory Foam Rollaway Guest Bed
A rollaway bed may sound like an old-fashioned choice but if you have extremely limited space in your spare room it still may be the best one for you. This is a very basic choice that is only available in twin size, but its’ thicker than many 4″ memory foam mattress is more comfortable than you might expect and for kids’ sleepovers it is a great buy!
Pros: sturdy metal frame, comfortable memory foam mattress, folds completely for easy storage in a closet or cupboard, 10 year warranty, free shipping and returns.
Cons: only available in Twin, Twin XL and Small Single, some may find it expensive for a twin bed.
Check current price of the LUCID Rollaway Bed on Amazon
Best Foldable Mattress: Milliard Tri-Folding Memory Foam Mattress
This simple, but rather stylish mattress looks very much like a small sofa bed, allowing you to create a cozy, comfortable space your guests can enjoy at any time of day or night. The 6″ tri-fold mattress is crafted from durable CertiPUR memory foam and we love the removable jacquard ultra-soft bamboo cover that adds to that daytime sofa look. It’s ventilated to allow for a cool sleeping experience and offers the perfect temporary sleeping accommodation for guests, dorm rooms, kid’s sleepovers, travelling and even camping.
For everyday use consider adding a 2″ mattress topper for a very comfortable and supportive sleep.
Pros: great for use in small guest rooms, the best cheap mattress choice that converts into a sofa we have found, memory foam offers better than expected support, light, easy to fold, easy to store, you won’t feel the folds as you sleep.
Cons: only available in Queen and Twin XL, may not be as durable as some other choices on our list.
Buy the Tri-Fold Foam Folding Mattress and Sofa Bed on Amazon
How to Choose the Perfect Bed For Your Guest Room
So how do you make the right bed choice for your guest room? While it is a personal decision there are certainly some important points you need to keep in mind as you make your choice. These include:
How Much Space Do You Have?
Cramming a king-size bed into a room that really only has space for a queen-size bed will not only make the room look crowded and cluttered but will not offer the best experience for your guests either. After all, who wants to wake up and stub their toe on a wall because there just isn’t room to move!
How Often Do You Host Guests?
If guests only stay overnight in your home on big holidays, then you may not want to make a big investment in a guest bed that will be sitting empty for most of the year. In addition, choosing a less permeant bedding alternative like an air mattress or rollaway bed will allow you to use the space for something else as well, such as a reading room, an extra home office or a gaming room.
What’s Your Budget?
A mattress that costs as much as the one in your own bedroom did may be more of an investment than some people are able, or willing, to make. However, if you host guests often opting for an affordable, but high-quality mattress like the Nolah mattress is likely to pay for itself very quickly (and your guests will love it.)
How To Make Your Guest Bedroom More Comfortable?
You have chosen a great mattress for your guest bedroom, but now how do you make the whole guest bedroom space feel comfortable and inviting? Here are some pointers that will help you do that, becoming a sought-after host or hostess in the process!
1.Make the Bed the Focal Point of the Space
When your guests first enter their room, you want them to know right away that you will be offering them a great night’s sleep and making the bed the focal point of the room is a terrific way to do that.
You can do this by ensuring that you choose great looking linens – you can find some wonderful bed sets for a lot less than you might imagine – and placing the bed as close to center of the room as you can.
Choose a bedding set that offers year-round use. A duvet is an excellent choice as it offers warmth in winter but is cooling in summer, thanks to its down filling.
2. Keep Your Guest Room Decor Neutral
The chances are that over the course of the year you will be entertaining guests of all ages, couples, and singles, young and old and people with quite different tastes in home decor.
To avoid offending anyone’s sensibilities keep your guest room decor neutral and unisex. Choose beiges, whites or soft greys for bedding and keep artwork muted and inoffensive. when in doubt go for a nice still life, everyone likes those!
MooMee Bedding Duvet Cover Set
Click here to see this duvet cover + pillow shams set on Amazon
3. Offer Some Home Comforts
While no one expects you to offer fine hotel level amenities to your guests adding little thoughtful touches.
By this we mean things like matching towel sets, travel size toiletries and a magazine or two will help your guests feel more at home. Adding a sign that reveals your WiFi password is a thoughtful thing to do as well, as everyone does always feel awkward having to ask!
Toysdone Sign
Click here to see this sign on Amazon
4. A Full Length Mirror is the Perfect Accent
If you have the space a leaning floor mirror is an eye-catching addition that will bring both light and style to a guest bedroom. Having a full length mirror available is a luxury your company will definitely appreciate.
5. A Luggage Rack
We’ve all been there- visiting friends and having no-where to rest and pick your clothes from the suitcase but the floor. Even if you’re tight for space, investing in a small, folding luggage rack to accommodate bags is something every guest room needs!