Superhost Shares Airbnb Guests' Favorite Mattress

In my experience, the best mattress for an Airbnb is a 12 inch, extra plush, memory foam mattress. Kate and I have been hosting for more than three years now, and sometimes after a guest leaves we get a message that looks something like this:

“Thanks again for a great stay. My husband keeps talking about that mattress and I was wondering where you got it?”

Feedback like that is what this article is based on. We’ve gotten that sort of feedback on several of our beds, but two of our mattresses are requested far more than the others.

And today I’m going to share them with you!

Airbnb Mattress Stories

Kate tends to get pretty resourceful when it’s time to furnish our Airbnbs. That means she looks for good deals. Her obsession with finding the best deals has led us to having lots of different mattresses in our three listings.

Some are quite soft and some are firm. Some are memory foam and some are traditional spring mattresses. All in all I think we have used eight different mattresses in our Airbnbs.

And of course we’ve stayed in many while traveling as well. We experience from both sides of the short term rental business.

King beds reign?

As discussed in my previous article, King sized beds always receive the most positive feedback.

We’ve had lots of guests ask where we got our mattresses, and when they ask, it’s nearly always a King size. Guests LOVE sleeping on King beds. We keep at least one King bed in all our Airbnbs, and it’s because those are the beds that get the most positive feedback from guests.

Also, we’ve noticed that soft beds are overall preferred to firm beds. We have one firm mattress that a few guests have asked us about (where to buy it), but primarily it’s the soft mattresses that really get the best feedback.

Later I’ll be sharing the two mattresses we use that guests regularly rave about.

A good mattress is worth the money

I’ve written about microwaves and grills and mini fridges, and the common theme is that you should be picking the minimum viable product. For appliances, you want something durable, that’s super easy to use and has no extra features.

Mattresses are a slightly different story. It’s still true that going luxury for your mattress probably won’t pay dividends, but the difference between a bad mattress and a good one can make a huge difference.

Kate and I usually travel once or twice a year, and we’ve slept on a few beds that really made an impression on me.

First is a trip we took to Mobile, Alabama. The bedroom had it’s own mini split air conditioner, which was awesome because I like the room a little colder at night. We slept amazing the whole trip because the mattress was huge and comfortable.

Second is a trip we took to Bella Vista, Arkansas. The Airbnb was honestly amazing, but the mattress was a full size spring mattress. It had this slight pitch to it that always made you feel like you were falling off the side of the bed. We got enough sleep, but we didn’t sleep great because the mattress was too small and lower quality.

The lesson is that the mattress you pick needs to do more than just provide a place for your guests to sleep. It needs to be comfortable.

Our Most Popular Mattress: ZINUS Cloud 12 Inch Memory Foam

By far the most asked for by our guests
12 inch thick memory foam
Extra plush (soft) firmness
Going strong for 3+ years

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This was both the first mattress we ever bought for an Airbnb, and the one that tons of guests ask us where they can buy one. Honestly, if I could go back in time, I think I’d buy this mattress for all three of our listings.

It’s memory foam, which has proved to be a better mattress style for Airbnb than the spring mattresses. And it’s 12 inches thick, which seems to mask the movements of anyone else sleeping in the bed. If I’m on one side and Kate’s on the other, she never wakes when I get out of bed in the night because the 12 inch memory foam mattress hides the movement.

The one drawback to having the 12 inch thick mattress is that it is harder to pull the fitted sheet around the mattress. When you run an Airbnb, you change a lot of sheets, so make sure you get a nice big sheet to pair with your nice thick mattress.

How To Make Any Mattress More Comfortable (and Durable)

You learn quickly as an Airbnb host that your stuff gets stained if you don’t take the proper precautions. When it comes to mattresses, you can kill two birds with one stone by getting a waterproof mattress pad.

The mattress pad will add some softness to the bed, making it more comfortable, and it’s waterproof, which will prevent staining. We’ve had to deal with a pee stain and kids barfing stains and you just don’t want that to get on your mattress.

HOMBYS Waterproof Mattress Pad

Waterproof
Noiseless
Extra cushion for your mattress
Machine washable

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This HOMBYS waterproof mattress pad has everything you will need as a host. It’s durable and easy to wash for those rare occasions when you do need to clean up a major mess.

It’s also noiseless. Some waterproof mattress pads will have that plastic sound when you’re tossing and turning in bed.

And don’t forget that in addition to protecting your mattress, this pad will also make any mattress more comfortable with some added cushion. This is why we put mattress pads on every mattress in our Airbnbs.

Our Second Most Popular Mattress: Classic Brands Cool Gel Memory Foam

Our guests also love this mattress
12 inch thick memory foam
Medium firmness
Going strong for 2+ years

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Kate found this mattress (I think on sale) when we opened our second Airbnb. It pretty much followed the same formula as our first mattress: 12 inch memory foam mattress.

The biggest difference is that this one is a bit firmer.

Guests ask us where we got this mattress about half as often as the ZINUS mattress. I’d imagine some people prefer a slightly firmer mattress, but overall more guests seem to prefer the extra plush (soft) firmness.

Like the ZINUS, this mattress is very thick, so make sure you get some big sheets to go along with it.

Conclusion

A mattress is one of the more important purchases you will make as an Airbnb host. A bad mattress can ruin your guests’ trip.

I recommend going with as large a mattress as you can (King is best, then two twins, then Queen and Full is the worst). And I also think a memory foam mattress is preferred to a spring mattress.

The two mattresses I recommended have gotten great feedback from our guests and I believe they will do great in any Airbnb.

Happy investing.