Hi Vivian, When my wife Ade was finally diagnosed with MS in 1994 I wound my business back and we spent the next couple of decades travelling because we knew we would not be able to do it later in life. I can't tell you how many hundreds of beds we have slept in over the 30 years since we turned our lives around.
But I can tell you, the bed is the heart of any accommodation! If a guest gets a good nights sleep they will remember that and may be forgiving if other aspects of the stay perhaps lacked for them. But if they roll around on an uncomfortable hand me down with a cheap poor quality mattress there is no way they will reward you for it.
Vivian if it costs a little bit extra search out a mattress manufacturer in your area.....there must be plenty in CA and have a mattress made to the specs you want, ie: length, width, definitely a spring mattress rather than a memory foam and use a 50mm topper.
It might cost you a couple of grand but believe me it is worth it.
And keep to softer rather than firmer! Firm means the average guest will roll from one side to the other a lot during the night leading to a poor nights sleep!
If guests tell me they require a firmer bed I have a sheet of 4mm ribbed polythene I can slip in between the mattress and the topper which satisfies them on those rare occasions it is required.
I had my guest bed specially made. Although a Queen bed in width, I had an extra foot built into the length of it. A 2.5m NBA basketballer could sleep in this bed and not touch the end of it with his feet!
It has electric motors in it to raise the head, feet and has a separate massage function to each side. I supply 6 pillows.....2 soft, 2 medium and 2 firm, and almost every guest in their review makes mention of how fantastic the bed is.
This bed has paid for itself many times over and I know is responsible for a good percentage of my bookings.
The only area you can skimp on is bed linens. From my experience guests don't care if they are sleeping on 1800 thread count cotton Sateen, or 250 thread count poly-cotton linens. As long as they are ironed properly with ironing creases visible on both top sheet and pillows, they are happy!
And I stay away from white because white never stays 'white' for long. After about 10 washes they start to loose that crisp new look that some guests expect. White is a lot less forgiving than light pastel colours.
Make your bed your centerpiece Vivian, it will reward you.
Cheers........Rob
Hi Vivian, When my wife Ade was finally diagnosed with MS in 1994 I wound my business back and we spent the next couple of decades travelling because we knew we would not be able to do it later in life. I can't tell you how many hundreds of beds we have slept in over the 30 years since we turned our lives around.
But I can tell you, the bed is the heart of any accommodation! If a guest gets a good nights sleep they will remember that and may be forgiving if other aspects of the stay perhaps lacked for them. But if they roll around on an uncomfortable hand me down with a cheap poor quality mattress there is no way they will reward you for it.
Vivian if it costs a little bit extra search out a mattress manufacturer in your area.....there must be plenty in CA and have a mattress made to the specs you want, ie: length, width, definitely a spring mattress rather than a memory foam and use a 50mm topper.
It might cost you a couple of grand but believe me it is worth it.
And keep to softer rather than firmer! Firm means the average guest will roll from one side to the other a lot during the night leading to a poor nights sleep!
If guests tell me they require a firmer bed I have a sheet of 4mm ribbed polythene I can slip in between the mattress and the topper which satisfies them on those rare occasions it is required.
I had my guest bed specially made. Although a Queen bed in width, I had an extra foot built into the length of it. A 2.5m NBA basketballer could sleep in this bed and not touch the end of it with his feet!
It has electric motors in it to raise the head, feet and has a separate massage function to each side. I supply 6 pillows.....2 soft, 2 medium and 2 firm, and almost every guest in their review makes mention of how fantastic the bed is.
This bed has paid for itself many times over and I know is responsible for a good percentage of my bookings.
The only area you can skimp on is bed linens. From my experience guests don't care if they are sleeping on 1800 thread count cotton Sateen, or 250 thread count poly-cotton linens. As long as they are ironed properly with ironing creases visible on both top sheet and pillows, they are happy!
And I stay away from white because white never stays 'white' for long. After about 10 washes they start to loose that crisp new look that some guests expect. White is a lot less forgiving than light pastel colours.
Make your bed your centerpiece Vivian, it will reward you.
Cheers........Rob
Hi Bree, If you are prepared to search, there will be companies in your area that are prepared to tailor make a bed to your specs.
This is what I started out with......
It was an old secondhand double electric bed that I widened to Queen size and lengthened to 8ft 6 inches and this is the company that made my mattress for me.....
https://www.makinmattresses.com.au/makin-mattresses-store-adelaide/
I then made the bed frame, the headboard and the foot and what you saw in the post above is what I ended up with.
When I say a good bed is money in the bank, this is what I mean. This is just a few of my recent reviews......
Bree there are at least 200 of my reviews that make mention of the bed and how it added to their stay.
I still say the bed is the single most important aspect of a short term rental property and when you have experienced something special, as a guest, it sort of ruins you for anything in stays that come after!
We......and I guess most guests, judge a listing by the best bed they ever slept in........ and that is what I cash in on!
Cheers.......Rob
