The great mattress debate!

Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

The great mattress debate!

We stay at our own AirBNB ourselves as much as we can-- its our vacation house. This year before we opened it up, we furnished it with brand new stuff to include all bedding and mattresses. We chose to go with memory foam because a) we have platform beds and b) we have a steep staircase that won't accommodate a queen or king mattress and boxspring without removing the railing for the upstairs bedroom. We both love the mattresses and have generally gotten great feedback on them from guests. 

 

There are a few guests who have complained that they want us to replace them with traditional spring mattresses. Its a little frustrating because we spent a good deal of time and energy finding what we thought were really nice mattresses. I understand that the way people sleep is very personal, and you can't please everyone. But curious to hear what others think. Is a spring mattress necessary? We do advertise that the mattresses are memory foam. We also offer a feather topper for those who like a very pillow top type of feel. Is it even worth trying to adjust this? Is it reasonable for a guest to expect that they have their preferred type of mattress?

18 Replies 18

@Branka-and-Silvia0  HAH! I totally get that! It came with the house 🙂

I've gone with sleep number beds throughout my properties.  They work very well with platform beds, so you only need the mattress.  They are adjustable and are very light, so making the bed doesn't break your back.  We put memory foam toppers on them for a bit of softness, but some guests have preferred to take them off.  We've had tons of compliments over the last 8 years and only 3 complaints I can remember.

Geneva19
Level 2
Seattle, WA

I see this is an old post, but I googled airbnb soft mattresses. No, you can't please everybody, but I'm curious why airbnb hosts more and more seem to be doing the opposite of hotels. Hotels have beds on the more firm side. Our last stay had such soft beds that all the adults didn't sleep well and had back pain for the entire trip. We didn't say anything because yes, you can't please everyone. But, I'm looking for an airbnb for my next trip, asking before I book if the beds are hard or soft and they are ALL soft! I give up. I'm just staying in a hotel, even though I need a kitchenette for my sensitive stomach, I'll just eat a lot of cold food instead of not sleeping and having back pain. I just find it strange that most airbnb's go the opposite direction of hotel beds. I don't ever hear anyone complaining about hard hotel beds.

@Geneva19  My guest bed isn't soft, and I highly doubt all 5.6 million Airbnbs around the world have soft mattresses. 🙂  It just might seem that way because the ones you've stayed at have.  My guests have made many comments on how comfortable the bed is. What it actually is, is a 4" thick slab of high quality firm foam, with a softer high quality 2" foam on top of that, and a nice mattress pad. 

 

If a guest liked a really firm mattress, they could just remove the 2" topper, but no one has seemed to find that necessary.  

 

In fact, before I had that room set up for paying guests, I just had the firm foam on the bed without a topper. Some friends came to visit and found the bed foam so firm, they referred to that bed as "The plank".