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The 11 Best Mattresses for a Guest Room

Do you tend to get a lot of out-of-town guests? Old college friends who come in for the weekend? Grown children who call upon their parents from time to time? If so, then you probably want to make sure you have suitably comfortable accommodations. And that starts with getting the best mattress for a guest room.

But with so many mattresses to choose from, how do you ensure the best option for your guests? In this mattress review, we’ll outline some of the top options, based on testing input from the pros at Mattress Advisor. Each mattress was put through their 14-point test and ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 on factors such as value, durability, and overall performance. Keep reading to find out which mattress is the most inviting for your guest bedroom.

Best Mattress for a Guest Room – Our Top Picks

• Best Overall – DreamCloud Original
• Best Affordable – Nectar Original
• Best Twin – Brooklyn Bedding Bowery
• Best Luxury – Saatva Classic
• Best for Back Pain – Bear Mattress Original
• Best Under $1,000 – Nolah Original
• Best for Side Sleepers – Helix Midnight
• Best Hybrid – The WinkBed
• Best for Couples – Brooklyn Bedding Sedona Elite
• Most Comfortable – Layla Original
• Best Air Mattress – SoundAsleep Dream Series

Best Overall – DreamCloud Original

• Material: Hybrid (foam and coils)
• Firmness: Medium-firm (6.5/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.6/5
• Delivery: Within 18-21 business days
• Trial Period: 365 nights
• Warranty: Lifetime

Hybrid mattresses, or mattresses with a springy base and layers of comfort foam on top, are some of the most versatile mattresses available. So it’s no surprise that we landed on the hybrid DreamCloud Original as our best overall for accommodating myriad guests or multiple sleepers. Hybrids are such a beloved mattress class because they often provide a well-balanced combination of comfort and support, and DreamCloud is no exception. We love the DreamCloud for its soft, cashmere cover, point-activated foam, and robust coil system, all of which help make this mattress feel truly luxurious. It sleeps cool, works well for all sleep positions, and comes with both a year-long sleep trial and a lifetime warranty.

Best Affordable – Nectar

• Material: Gel memory foam
• Firmness: Medium-firm (6/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.8/5
• Delivery: 2-5 business days
• Trial Period: 365 nights
• Warranty: Lifetime

Are you stuck on which guest room mattress to get, especially when you’re trying to stick to your budget? The Nectar gel-infused memory foam mattress is under $1,000 and throws in even more value with a lifetime warranty. We love this medium-firm, gel memory foam mattress because it offers ample support for all sleep positions. Its motion isolation capabilities make it a good pick for couples, and it’s responsive enough to work well for restless or combination sleepers.

Best Twin – Brooklyn Bedding Bowery Hybrid

• Material: Hybrid (foam and coils)
• Firmness: Medium (5/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.8/5
• Delivery: 4-8 business days
• Trial Period: 120 nights
• Warranty: 10-year warranty

Looking for quality materials and a low price tag in the form of a twin mattress? Brooklyn Bedding is one of the top mattress companies on the market today, and Bowery Hybrid represents one of the best values in the bed-in-a-box space. The bed’s combination of individually wrapped coils and foam helped it achieve solid test scores for spine alignment, responsiveness, and cooling. We highly recommend a twin-sized Bowery Hybrid to anyone looking to create a humble but luxurious guest bed, without breaking the bank.

Best Luxury Mattress – Saatva Classic

• Material: Hybrid (foam and coils)
• Firmness: Soft (3/10), luxury-firm (6/10) and firm (8/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.9/5
• Free white glove delivery
• Trial Period: 180 nights
• Warranty: Lifetime

Ready to say farewell to the days of blowing up an air mattress for overnight guests, but worried about blowing your guest room makeover budget?

We suggest the Saatva Classic. Saatva delivers a ritzy five-star, resort-quality sleep experience—without paying the luxury hotel prices. If you’re looking to turn your guest room into a desirable destination, the Saatva’s hybrid build also makes it an accommodating option. The durable, breathable innerspring coil system supports the sleeper and elongates the lifespan of the mattress. Meanwhile, the plush comfort layers, including a quilted Euro top, keep guests uber-comfortable. Other luxury perks include multiple options on the firmness scale, eco-friendly materials, and free white-glove setup and delivery.

Best for Back Pain – Bear Original

• Material: Memory foam
• Firmness: Medium-firm (6.5/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.7/5
• Delivery: Ships free within 7-10 business days
• Trial Period: 120 nights
• Warranty: Lifetime

Whether you’re hosting Airbnb strangers from across the globe or grandparents from across the state, back pain is a universal affliction. Oftentimes, your visitors may need a quality mattress that provides extra lumbar support for back pain. If you’re questioning which online mattress to go with, the Bear Original offers a solid answer. This memory foam mattress is a nice medium-firmness that firmly supports the back while softly contouring sore spots. In addition to high marks for spine alignment, testers also awarded Bear 9 out of 10 in the cooling category. That’s thanks to the bed’s proprietary cooling tech, which lends a soothing cool-to-the-touch feeling.

Best Under $1,000 – Nolah Original

• Material: All-foam
• Firmness: Medium-soft (4.5/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.8/5
• Delivery: Free within 2-8 business days
• Trial Period: 120 nights
• Warranty: Limited lifetime

Another budget-friendly buy for your guest bedroom is the Nolah Original mattress. You won’t be compromising cost for quality, though. The mattress aced its testing lab scores in spine alignment (9.5 out of 10), responsiveness (9.25 out of 10), and motion transfer (9 out of 10). Those are exceptional results for any mattress, but especially one that almost always runs under-$1,000 when you take advantage of offers from the brand. The Nolah’s all-foam build can be stuffy, so Mattress Advisor testers recommend that hot sleepers pair the mattress with cooling sheets.

Best for Side Sleepers – Helix Midnight

• Material: Hybrid
• Firmness: Medium (5.5/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.5/5
• Delivery: 3-7 business days
• Trial Period: 100 nights
• Warranty: 15-year limited

Helix manufactures a wide variety of mattresses that are tailored for each sleep position, so it’s no surprise that the Midnight, tailored to side sleepers, is the brand’s most popular mattress. After all, research reveals that side sleeping is the most common sleep position. When it comes to the best mattress for side sleepers, the Helix Midnight is supportive and pressure relieving. As evidenced by the mattress’s high scores in spine alignment (9 out of 10) and pressure relief (8.5 out of 10), Midnight gives side sleepers gentle but strong support of the back’s natural curvature. That way, your side sleeping guests won’t wake with soreness on the points of contact, like hips and shoulders. It also absorbs movement well, so co-sleepers are less likely to be rudely awakened by their partner’s tossing and turning (9 out of 10). The hybrid Midnight is topped with a temperature-regulating pillow top layer and gel memory foam layer, and held up by an innerspring coil base.

Best Hybrid – The WinkBed

• Material: Hybrid
• Firmness: Soft (4.5/10), luxury-firm (6.5/10), firm (7.5/10), plus (8/10)
• Customer Rating: 4.5/5
• Delivery: Within 7-14 business days
• Trial Period: 120 nights
• Warranty: Lifetime

It’s hard to believe that hybrid mattresses can come in a box and at such enviable price points. One favorite bed-in-a-box hybrid among Mattress Advisor testers is the WinkBed. Two coil layers keep the lower back propped up and supported while creating room within the mattress for airflow. A plush, cooling pillow top molds around pressure points and pulls away body heat. If you want to make your guest bedroom a retreat for visitors, WinkBeds can make that possible.

Best for Couples – Brooklyn Bedding Sedona Elite

• Material: Hybrid
• Firmness: Medium-firm
• Customer Rating: 4.7/5
• Delivery: Free shipping and returns
• Trial Period: 120 nights
• Warranty: 10-year limited

Whether housing newlyweds or a friend bringing their new significant other, it’s always a grand gesture of true friendship to create a comfortable and private space for couples staying in your home. The Brooklyn Bedding Sedona Elite is an all-around top-tier luxury mattress that offers a cozy supportive and cushioning sleeping experience for couples to enjoy together. Scoring an impressive 9.5 out of 10 for its durability and a near-perfect 8.75 out of 10 for its motion isolation, couples can expect a great mattress for both adult activities if permitted and deep, uninterrupted sleep regardless.

In addition, the Sedona delivers maximum comfort across the bed’s surface, scoring a 9 out of 10 for its exceptional responsiveness. Furthermore, while some couples may struggle to cuddle due to shared body temperature, hot sleepers can appreciate the Sedona’s excellent cooling (9/10) abilities helping ensure a sleep-friendly temperature and quality airflow throughout the mattress.

With the Sedona Elite from Brooklyn Bedding, couples will walk away from your home’s guest room feeling like they got a hotel-level getaway experience!

Most Comfortable – Layla Original

• Material: Copper-infused memory foam
• Firmness: Medium-soft, medium-firm
• Customer Rating: 4.5/5
• Delivery: Free shipping and returns
• Trial Period: 120 nights
• Warranty: Lifetime

Sleeping at our friends’ homes may lead to thoughts of falling asleep on a pull-out couch while anticipating a morning of back pain and irritability. Fortunately, the Layla Original bed offers an exceptionally supportive and comfortable mattress for your guests to find quality rest and likely wake up not wanting to go. Layla’s six-layer copper-infused memory foam and polyfoam construction is designed to offer maximum comfort for all sleeper types. Notably, Layla conforms to your body while delivering consistent and quality comfort across its entire sleep surface, resulting in an outstanding 9.5 out of 10 for its responsiveness by our testers. Furthermore, whether someone is struggling with back pain or finishing off a rough day, sleepers can expect near-perfect pressure relief (9/10) on the Layla Original.

Uniquely, the Layla is a flippable mattress, which means your guests have two-bed firmness options. Layla offers both a medium-soft firmness on one side and a medium-firm surface on the other. All you need to do is turn it over. While the Layle will deliver any sleeper a night of maximum comfort, it is a nice thought to be able to ask your guests’ firmness preference in a bed before they arrive, likely calming any of their concerns about comfort or getting a good night’s rest in your home.

Best Air Mattress – SoundAsleep Dream Series

• Material: Eco-friendly PVC, top flocking
• Firmness: Adjustable
• Customer Rating: 4.4/5
• Delivery: Free shipping and returns
• Trial Period: N/A
• Warranty: 1-year warranty

Pulling out an air mattress for our guests may signify that they’re about to toss and turn through the night. However, the SoundAsleep Dream Series air mattress is no typical inflatable bed. Instead, the Dream Series is an air bed that can compete with conventional mattresses (despite being available for under $150 on Amazon)! With a single click, the Dream Series’ internal high-capacity pump inflates in less than four minutes, requiring no work on your part. However, if your guests prefer a firmer mattress, you can simply use the bed’s pump to create a firmer feel. Notably, this is an airbed built to last; the Dream Series is puncture resistant, waterproof and designed with an eco-friendly PVC material that is highly durable and toxin-free. The SoundAsleep Dream Series is also topped off with a ComfortCoil surface layer that prevents slipping and delivers mattress-grade comfort, preventing that plastic-like surface feeling associated with many airbeds.

Whether housing a friend for a night or a couple for the weekend, this airbed can comfortably support upwards of 500 pounds. Furthermore, deflation takes just a moment, and the Dream Series includes a carry bag for easy storage when your guests leave or if you ever decide to bring it on the road. Turn any room into a cozy guest room with the SoundAsleep Dream Series airbed.

What Makes a Mattress Good for a Guest Room?

When you’re buying a new mattress for yourself, you can customize it to fit your specific sleep preferences; for example, you can select the firmness level and the mattress type that’s right for you. When buying a guest mattress, however, you have to pick something that works universally.

Rather than get something hyper-specific, it’s important to pick something that offers a broad range of appeal. That usually means a medium-firm mattress that can accommodate different body types, sleep positions, and comfort preferences and fit any bed frame. Here are some factors and types of mattresses to consider while searching for your best mattress for guest room use.

Type of Mattress

Memory foam: Memory foam beds are popular options, providing outstanding motion isolation and pressure relief. They’re great for people who like to feel like they’re being hugged to sleep at night, though not always so great for sleepers who run hot.

Innerspring: A mattress made with an innerspring coil system should feel “springy” and supportive. Innerspring beds also tend to sleep cool.

Latex: Latex is one of the top options among eco-conscious sleepers. Though it’s not always the cheapest option, latex helps promote airflow, and it tends to be highly responsive.

Hybrid: A hybrid mattress combines two or more materials to provide a sweet spot; Many of the mattresses on our list fall into this category.

Performance Factors

Set-up: Something else to think about: How long will it take to unbox your mattress? Is it heavy and difficult to move? Is white-glove, in-home setup an option?

Pressure relief: When mattress shopping, consider mattresses that score high marks in pressure relief, which means they will evenly distribute body weight and ease the burden on joints.

Spine alignment: Whether you’re sleeping on pocketed coils or all foam, it’s important to select a bed that will promote a natural spinal position. This helps you wake up without aches, pains, or stiffness.

Durability: High-quality materials will ensure your mattress is built to last.

Motion transfer: Feel the bed rocking, and it wakes you up? For couples, it’s important to look for a mattress that minimizes disruption.

Temperature regulation: Hot sleepers will want to seek a mattress that keeps them cool and promotes air circulation.

Responsiveness: Combination sleepers need something that will adjust to their motion in the night; innerspring and latex mattress products tend to perform well in this category.

Edge support: Look for the right mattress that will minimize sagging at the edges, especially if you tend to sleep at the periphery of your mattress.

FAQ About the Best Mattresses for Guest Rooms

What size bed should I get for my guest room?

Assuming some of your guests will be couples, it’s probably good to aim for at least a full-size, a queen-size mattress or larger.

How long does a mattress last in a guest room?

You can expect most mattresses to last at least seven to 10 years. However, this depends on the mattress’s quality, with luxury mattresses potentially lasting far longer. Notably, luxury or higher-grade mattresses offer warranties ranging from 10 years to a lifetime, which should comfort your concerns about a bed’s durability due to the company’s confidence in their bed having a long lifespan.

With that said, unless you’re running a bed and breakfast, most guest room mattresses will likely last even longer than your warranty or a typical bed’s lifespan. This is because the mattress in your guest room will probably be used less frequently than your personal mattress.

How do sleep trials work?

Brands will give you a time period to set up the mattress, sleep on it, and then make a decision before fully committing to the bed. If you find it’s not up to your liking, then you can return it for your money back during the trial period.

How can I make sure my mattress is manufactured in an environmentally friendly way?

Look for materials like natural latex, and certifications such as Certi-PUR, which denotes adherence to rigorous emissions standards.

How can I make a guest room more comfortable?

A quality mattress specializing in pressure relief and responsiveness will help ensure your guests experience maximum comfort in the night and aren’t falling asleep wishing they were back home. Most of us have probably slept on someone’s futon or couch at some point in our lives, waking up with aches and pains and politely rushing for the front door in the morning in pursuit of the comfort of our bedrooms. However, by offering a genuinely supportive and relieving bed for your guests, your friends and loved ones can more easily sleep tight and wake up appreciating your hospitality.

Recap of the Best Mattresses for Guest Rooms

• Best Overall – DreamCloud Original
• Best Affordable – Nectar Original
• Best Twin – Brooklyn Bedding Bowery
• Best Luxury – Saatva Classic
• Best for Back Pain – Bear Mattress Original
• Best Under $1,000 – Nolah Original
• Best for Side Sleepers – Helix Midnight
• Best Hybrid – The WinkBed
• Best for Couples – Brooklyn Bedding Sedona Elite
• Most Comfortable – Layla Original
• Best Air Mattress – SoundAsleep Dream Series