The great bed size debate

[Laura2592]

I recently started an Instagram for our cottage and have been following a few other hosts who also have one for their Airbnb. Yesterday there was a post where a host decried the lack of "king-size beds in rooms that would fit them" and a exhortation to ALL HOSTS to put in king-size beds (and then a description of the bedding they use themselves.)

So this got me to thinking. We recently replaced a bed but kept it a queen. Both our bedrooms have queen sized beds. We have queen beds in our own home. Arguably we could have king in our cottage upstairs but made a conscious decision to buy the same size beds everywhere in order to make it easier to change out linens.  I figure that anyone who insists on a king will pass our place by and perhaps look for a hotel where they can pick exactly the bed size they want. We tried to get the most comfortable mattresses we could find first and bed size was a distant second in consideration after that.  People seem to really think the beds are comfy and no one has said boo about the size. 

So what say you, fellow hosts? Does size matter? Do you think there should be more king-sized beds in listings? Or is far down on the list of considerations?

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592   I guess I've been out of the States for a long time, because it really does my head in seeing the extreme and bizarre contortions that Americans (and to some extent the British) go through to avoid simply using the simple, easy, universal metric system.

Americans had a revolution, only to turn around and find bizarre ways of appropriating monarchic terms in measurements of everyday objects, when a number will do. I mean really, what do you want to know about a bed - whether it fits the dimensions of your body, or where your access to it places you in a non-existent royal lineage? (Oh, if I can get this mattress through my doorway I must be the King Of California. Right.)

When the DMV asks for your height, you don't say "Queen." (Unless maybe you're a character in "Pose.") You give them a measurement that is the distance from your head to your feet. Your height when you're standing, your length when you're unconscious. And you probably have a pretty good idea of your width too, as well as that of your partner(s), and how much extra space you need to accommodate your bedtime routines. You do 5 seconds of arithmetic and there you go, a number of centimeters that suits your needs. A simple, elegant, indisputable number. 

This can not possibly be improved upon by referring to your mattress as an inbred monarch.

So here's a suggestion for American hosts: get ahead of the curve, join the rest of the world and the 21st century (which, let's admit, is not shaping up to be an American one) and just describe your beds by their numeric dimensions. In the metric system, too - inches are only for porn titles. And take all this Queen and King garbage and throw it in the dustbin of embarrassments from our persistent past, like Swimsuit Competitions and Jell-O and racism.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  Whenever Americans who have homes here in my Mexican town send me measurements for their sewing projects, so I can give an estimate, its always in inches and feet, even though Mexico uses the metric system, as does the entire rest of the world aside from Liberia and Myanmar.

So I have to convert all their measurements, because I think in metric and the fabric I buy is all measured in metric. 

When I've asked some to send me metric measurements, they tell me they don't understand metric. It's only the most dead simple, logical system of measurement, which is why it's used worldwide. They could learn it in 5 minutes, if they cared to.

[Anonymous]

@Sarah977  I learned the metric system in a very non-fancy elementary school in a part of America that doesn't produce many Nobel laureates. And it came up again in middle school, and again in high school (Chemistry would be impossible without it). I don't get the resistance. But I guess it only becomes intuitive when it's ingrained in everyday life. 

Admittedly, when I first came to Europe I sought out American recipes when I was baking, because that's what I understood. Where I grew up, the only people who had scales in their kitchens were crack dealers. Now it drives me crazy to see a measurement like "2/3 cup flour" - if you know anything about flour you know how many factors can drastically change how much material mass will fit into two-thirds of a cup, even with just a shake. 

But ok, to the rest of the world it's no big shocker that we Americans have let our false sense of superiority embolden our embrace of some big honking dumb ideas. 

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anonymous , I understand your call for a common world wide measure but I pray it wont happen in whats left of my lifetime, my carpenter self thinks in yards, feet, inches and decimals thereof, the weatherperson in me is attuned to Fahrenheit and my cooking sucks bad so measures in that manner matter little to me thanks to Melodie.   Two years ago I became our chem departments Instrument tech and they think metric and standard at the same time, it hurts my head, thank god for convertors and calculators!!!!!    I'm certain If I was brought up with metric as my measure, I would be down with it but my brain has been sculpted to see things in 1/16" segments.  Back to the beds,,,,  Stay well, JR

[John5097]

@Melodie-And-John0 

This is a good article about imperial vs metric in cabinet making. 

https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/metric-vs-imperial/

Working full time as a trim carpenter its common to have one or two people measure up on scaffolding and one cutting down on the ground and both measuring and communicating 17 and 5/8 makes it faster.

The picture below is one of many simple cabinets I made last year. As basic as it is, when starting from scratch, each door, drawer, the reveal (little gaps), all have to add up to the width of the room, so metric may be an advantage there.

At any rate I'll have to give metics a try, but for general carpentry imperial can be more practical and efficient. Its the one thing my brain really liked when making hundreds of measurements every day. 

Its like of like a little drop down calendar when selecting dates for a reservation or programming key codes.  

[Melodie-And-John0]

Very nice cabinet @John5097,also the article does a great job of describing the benefits of building with imperial.  I rarely get to 32ths, 16ths usually is as fine as my building needs require, 1/100ths would probably hurt my head a bit too much!   Not looking to change much as I'm probably pretty marginal as a finish carpenter as it is!   Be well John, JR   

[John5097]

@Melodie-And-John0 

All the baking, recipe, and food blogs aren't changing anytime soon either, and don't see a big fuss over that.. Just too practical, easy to remember and fun! 

[Dixie7]

😂😂😂 Good read

[Dixie7]

.@Andrew0 Good read, very funny

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous I grew up in the US and never was taught metric.

 But when I moved to Canada, I had to switch over and found it so simple and easy to do. Then wondered how anyone could consider 12 inches to a foot and 36 inches to a yard to make more sense than 10 mm to 1 cm and 100 cms to a meter.

I do have to admit that I still have a hard time with centigrade temperature. 32 degrees just doesn't sound hot to me 🙂

[M199]

How I deal with metric and imperial.  I do both.  Why? When I was a younger person when metric was being introduced to Canada, our elementary school announced that time (i.e.  hours, minutes and seconds) were going to be changed to metric versions.  Happy April Fool's Day!!  We all fell for it🤯

[Lorna170]

Returning to the topic of bed size, I have both American standard King 193cm X 203.5cm and Queen 152.5cm X 203.5cm beds in my properties.  The bed sizes installed are determined by the room sizes.  My small 1938 Cabin cannot accommodate a King size bed in either bedroom, so we have a Queen and a Double (Full) 134.5cm X 190.5cm bed.  That is clearly listed.  For 15 years I have had no comments about the size of the provided beds.  However, since listing with AirBnB and having more young persons renting, I am getting comments that I need bigger beds.  Do they not read?

IMO,  if your bedrooms can accommodate King size beds and still have room to easily move about, you will attract more guests with the larger bed size.  I proved this when I converted a (sleeps eight) house to two Kings and two Queens.  (Originally 1 King, 3 queens)  The number of rentals for that property doubled.   Yes, King beds are horrible to make up and the linens are more expensive, but as long as you or your housekeeper can put in the time, you will get a reward in your pocket because you can now charge more!

[Laura2592]

@Lorna170nice example from experience.

I think we are not in the market for increasing capacity but that is good to know.

[Annette76]

I love a king sized bed. However, my place isn’t big enough. It’s a loft apartment and is set up as a couples retreat. I’m about to do a remodel and this would be the time to rethink the entire layout in order to fit a king. I’m still torn. 

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Laura2592 ,  I think each space lends itself to a certain size just like people.   Seeing as how so much of the housing around these parts is 100+ years old (ours 220+),  bedrooms were generally not very spacious, our largest is only large enough for a Female Monarch (Ha ha @Anonymous ), A male vestigial monarch just wouldn't do!   

We have 7 beds between our 3 listings in 5 sizes and thats a bit crazy to keep straight.   The new Giant Glamper has 2 sizes that are not standard so those can't be bought in your typical store and wont share with any of the other beds.   Stay well, JR