The Best Mattress for Guest Rooms
Buying a bed for your guest rooms has a different set of guidelines compared to the rules that you have to follow when you buy a mattress for your permanent bedroom.
We’re not saying that your guests don’t deserve the bed, but you are allowed to be less picky and more budget-oriented when you buy a mattress that isn’t designed for every-night use. No worries, we’re here to guide you on that journey with both information and a list of suitable mattresses for a guest room.
| Rank | Product | Highlights |
| #1 |  Nectar Mattress
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| #2 |  Layla Mattress
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| #3 |  Saatva Mattress
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| #4 |  Tuft & Needle Mattress
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| #5 |  Casper Wave Hybrid Mattress
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Tips on Choosing a Guest Room Mattress
There are plenty of things that you can do to make sleepovers as pleasant as possible for your guests. Naturally, it all starts with investing in a good mattress. However, if it comes down to choosing which one deserves more money, the winner should always be your own mattress, and not the one in the guest bedroom. That is just one tip that might help you, but here are a bunch of others:
Memory Foam
Memory foam goes a long way. One of the main reasons why people avoid choosing a memory foam bed for their master bedroom is because it’s a material that’s prone to sagging and makes mattresses less durable than others made from other materials.
However, when you consider the fact that a memory foam mattress isn’t really designed for every night use, it doesn’t seem all that tragic that it’s not the most durable product on the market. Simply because it’s less slept on compared to other beds in the house will significantly increase its lifespan. Furthermore, memory foam beds have high levels of contouring and are available in different firmness levels.
Can You Flip It?
Another very important tip: try to opt for a flippable mattress, if possible. This is very important for those of you who value durability above other purchasing priorities, as a flippable mattress has a longer lifespan.
These types of mattresses can have either a mirrored construction (with the exact same construction on both sides) or can have different firmness levels on each side of the bed. This doesn’t just help you with your investment and gives you a durable product, but it can also help your guests because you’re actually giving them the possibility to choose the firmness level they’re most comfortable sleeping on.
Sleeping Style
Different sleepers have different needs when it comes to the firmness and feel of the mattress. That is usually based on factors like total body weight of favorite sleeping position. While we can’t help with the first, maybe we can with the second: considering the fact that side sleeping is the most preferred sleeping position for most people, why not look for a mattress that’s designed for side sleepers? This will ensure that the majority of your guests feel comfortable when they sleep over.
Budget
Just because you are on a limited budget and are buying a mattress that’s not designed to be slept on every night, that doesn’t mean that you should skimp on quality. In fact, why don’t you take advantage of the free nights of sleep trial that most mattresses provide and sleep on that bed yourself for a week?
If you feel that the mattress is absolutely terrible, then you probably don’t want your guests sleeping on it either. However, don’t judge too harshly, as you may have very specific sleeping needs that just aren’t compatible with a mattress that’s suitable for other people.
Top 5 Mattresses for a Guest Room Reviews
Keeping the tips we gave you above in mind, let’s explore some of your best options when it comes to mattresses for a guest room and discover products that feel amazing and offer a lot of benefits without being ridiculously expensive.
Nectar Mattress
Specs:
- Available sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Cal King
- Mattress height: 11 inches
- Materials: all-foam construction
Label: best overall
There are so many reasons why Nectar is one of our favorite mattresses. It is a product available at a really good price, it has a memory foam construction that will cater to the need of different sleeper categories, and it will provide you with all the elements needed so that you can rest assured you made the wisest purchasing decision.
The Nectar mattress is composed of different layers of foam that create an 11-inch bed designed for superior comfort and contouring. It comes with a gel-infused layer of memory foam in the top side of the bed, aimed at making sure the bed doesn’t retain any body heat which could cause night sweats. The cover is made from Tencel lyocell and cotton, with good levels of breathability and ease of care (cover can be removed and washed).
On a scale from 1 to 10, the firmness of the Nectar mattress is somewhere around 6, which is close to the 6.5 standard rating for a medium-firm mattress. The mattress does really well in terms of motion isolation, pressure relief, and minimal noise, but it could be better in terms of edge support.
Pros:
- Good pressure point relief.
- Excellent price point.
- Good for combination sleepers.
- Great for couples.
Cons:
- Slight off-gassing.
- Poor edge support.
Who Should Buy This?
The Nectar mattress is an excellent choice for people who are looking for a best-value type of product, while also being a mattress good for couples, and medium-weight sleepers who prefer any of the three main sleeping positions.
Layla Mattress
Specs:
- Available sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Cal King
- Mattress height: 13 inches
- Materials: foam, pocketed coils
Label: best flippable mattress
As we’ve mentioned in the first part of this article, having a flippable mattress in the guest room is a great idea because it is oftentimes a more durable choice since you can flip the mattress over periodically. There are some pretty good flippable mattresses out there, but the Layla bed manages to combine comfort with price like few other brands can.
The Layla hybrid mattress has a dual-firmness construction, being rated with a 5 on the medium-soft side and a 7 on the medium-firm side. On both sides, the Layla mattress is made with copper-infused memory foam in the comfort layers, but the composition and thickness are different. There is a transitional layer of each side, made with a type of HD polyfoam that offers zoned support. The core of the mattress is the same for both sides, and it consists of 6 inches of pocketed coils.
The Layla hybrid mattress is a product that excels in many different aspects. It provides better edge support compared to the other products in our list, it has really good pressure relief, good motion isolation, and there is barely any off-gassing when you first unbox it.
Pros:
- Two firmness levels.
- Cool copper infusion.
- Good for couples.
- Sleeps cool.
- Good motion isolation.
Cons:
- Takes two people to flip over.
Who Should Buy This?
The Layla bed is the perfect choice for homeowners who want to cater to the sleeping needs of their different house guests by providing them with two firmness options to choose from.
Saatva Mattress
Specs:
- Available sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Cal King, Split King, Split Cal King
- Mattress height: 11.5 or 14.5 inches
- Materials: foam, pocketed coils
Label: best for side sleepers
In the buyer’s guide, we mentioned the fact that you can almost never go wrong with purchasing a guest room mattress designed for side sleepers, and the Saatva mattress is about as good as they get. It is a mattress available in three firmness levels: the Plush Soft bed has a firmness rating of 4, the Luxury Firm (which is the one we recommend for you guest room) is a solid 6, while the Firm version has a rating of 7.5.
As you can imagine, the construction of the mattress will depend on the firmness level chosen, but at the very core, these three mattresses are quite similar to one another. Depending on the thickness of the support core, the Saatva mattress can measure either 11.5 or 14.5 inches, but note that there is no price difference between the two heights.
Overall, the Saatva is an innerspring mattress designed with a combination of memory foam, polyfoam, and two layers of recycled Bonnell coils, with minor specifications that vary from one firmness option to another. The mattresses have a Euro-top cover that’s a combination of foam and fiber padding meant to make the comfort layer of the bed softer, thus making the Saatva an excellent choice for side sleepers.
Pros:
- No off-gassing.
- Good temperature neutrality.
- Good edge support.
- Good for multiple sleeping positions.
- Three firmness choices.
- Soft Euro-top.
Cons:
- Below average motion isolation.
Who Should Buy This?
The Saatva mattress is a good choice for people who want a bed for their guest room and are fans of our “you can’t go wrong with a bed for side sleepers” idea. It is good for hot sleepers, but can also provide enough support and comfort for other sleeping positions as well.
Tuft & Needle Mattress
Specs:
- Available sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Cal King
- Mattress height: 10 inches
- Materials: all foam
Label: budget buy
Sometimes, it’s all about the money, and when it comes to a guest room mattress, we would never insist on pulling out too much cash (which is something we will insist that you do for your every-day mattress if you find something less than affordable but actually good for your sleep). The Tuft & Needle mattress may be inexpensive, but you should know that you’re not getting ripped off, as this is one of the best budget all-foam mattresses out there.
It combines two different layers of foam, with cooling gel and graphite infusion in the comfort layer, and a solid 7-inch support core to support the weight of the bed and the sleepers. The two layers are surrounded by a cover that combines polyamide and polyester, with a cool and soft feel. The profile of the mattress is 10 inches, but we would have liked to see at least a one-inch transition layer between the comfort and support core.
As far as firmness is concerned, the Tuft & Needle mattress is right at the border between soft and firm, with an overall rating of 6.5, which is the perfect score for a medium-firm bed. It has great conformation properties and has quite a nice bounce to it. It is a mattress that makes minimal noise, offers great pressure relief and motion isolation, but terrible edge support (as most all foam mattresses do, to be honest).
Pros:
- Minimal noise.
- Good pressure relief.
- Good for couples.
- Above-average motion isolation.
- Excellent price.
Cons:
- Poor edge support.
Who Should Buy This?
The Tuft & Needle mattress is a great pick for people who are on a budget. It can also do right by people who love a mattress with great contouring, for couples, and for people who weigh between 130 and 230 pounds.
Casper Wave Hybrid Mattress
Specs:
- Available sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Cal King
- Mattress height: 13 inches
- Materials: foam, pocketed coils
Label: best luxury option
We initially planned on focusing this list of good mattresses on affordable products for a guest bedroom, but maybe there are people who want to have the option to buy a really good luxury mattress for this room, so why not include something for them as well? That is why we’ve added the Wave, a mattress designed by Casper which is meant to deliver a high-end sleeping experience.
The Wave mattress is designed as a hybrid bed with a very distinct construction. It is made with standard polyfoam, blended latex, and memory foam in the superior layers. The transitional layer is made with supportive gel pads for better support in specific areas of the body, while the core of the mattress is a 6-inch layer made with pocketed coils.
The total height of the Wave mattress is 13 inches, being a high profile bed. It has a medium-soft construction, as it comes with a firmness rating of 5 from a total of 10, with 10 being the firmest surface out there. You can expect the mattress to be really good at pressure relief, motion isolation, and temperature neutrality, but it has average edge support and durability.
Pros:
- Good for side sleepers.
- Great pressure point relief.
- Sleeps cool.
- Great motion isolation.
Cons:
- Expensive.
- Unsuitable for heavyweight sleepers.
Who Should Buy This?
The Casper Wave hybrid is a mattress designed for big spenders, as its price is way above the average of the other products we’ve reviewed today. It’s a good product for sleepiers under 230 pounds, but also for those who tend to sleep hot (could be useful if you mostly have overnight guests during the summer).
Bottom Line
There is a lot of wiggle room when it comes to buying a mattress for a guest room. It really depends on how much money you are willing to spend, but don’t assume that if you are on a budget, your choices are limited to low-quality beds.
The list above contains a mattress for different types of budgets and situations, depending on which of our pieces of advice you want to follow when it comes to making such a purchase. And if you really can’t afford adding a new guest room mattress to your shopping list anytime soon, how about buying a new topper and giving that old mattress a fresher feel?