Best Mattress for a Guest Room (2024): Reviews and Buyer’s Guide

When your guests come to stay at your house, do they leave excited for the next visit or complaining quietly about their backs and necks? Guestroom furniture is an afterthought at times, but the best mattress for sleep can transform your guest room.

Choosing the right mattress is a balance of budget and quality. Guest room mattresses must appeal to a wide range of sleepers, so our list of products targets the types of mattresses chosen as most comfortable for a wide range of sleep styles. Let’s take a look and find your perfect guest bed.

As we go over in this article, you should also invest in a quality mattress for your guest room because you never know when you yourself might need to use it.

Best Mattresses for Guest Rooms

Brand	Model	Highlights	Price (Queen)
	Amerisleep AS3	Three inches of pressure-relieving Bio-Pur® foam and clinically-proven zoned support.	$1399
	Zoma Mattress	Gel-infused memory foam to keep you cool and comfortable.	$799
	Vaya Hybrid	Budget-friendly hybrid buoys your guests for a good night's rest.	$699
	Original Purple	Unique hyper-elastic polymer to keep your guests cool and comfortable	$1099
	Emma Mattress	Airy, European-made mattress keeps visitors cool.	$674

Like all Amerisleep mattresses, the AS3 uses a soft, breathable cover. This airy fabric helps to encourage airflow throughout the mattress so you always sleep cool and comfortable.

But why we really think the Amerisleep AS3 is the best mattress for a guest room? The AS3’s mixture of soft, contouring Bio-Pur® foam and sturdy, zoned support Affinity with HIVE® technology make it a great mattress for all kinds of sleepers. No matter who your guest is, or what kind of mattress they prefer, they are likely to get excellent support and comfort from the AS3.

The AS3 comes with free shipping and a 100-night sleep trial. So, even though it’s for guests, we’d recommend you sleep on it for the first few weeks to make sure you are happy with the mattress.

If you decide it’s perfect, the Amerisleep AS3 is backed by an impressive 20-year warranty.

First, like we said, the Zoma Mattress has an elastic and breathable cover. You don’t want you, or your guests, sleeping hot so this is a big win. Beneath the cover Zoma puts their gel-infused memory foam with Triangulex™ material. A gel is used in memory foam to help break apart the foam material and reduce the chances of heat getting trapped. Memory foam is used because it takes the pressure off the body and is great for most sleepers.

One of our favorite things about the first layer is zoned support. Zoma puts triangular shaped-cutouts at the shoulders and legs to help cradle your body and reduce any risk of tossing and turning.

Second, beneath the gel-infused memory foam layer, Zoma puts its Reactiv™ layer. Reactiv™ is a very bouncy layer which helps keep your guest from feeling like they are sunken in the bed.

The final layer is a sturdy and supportive core. This makes sure the Zoma will last. The Zoma comes with free shipping, a 100-night trial, and a 10-year warranty.

The Vaya Hybrid is covered with a breathable mesh fabric. Underneath the cover is a couple of inches of Vaya Comfort Foam, an airy and responsive material that cradles a person in any position.

The hybrid’s base consists of pocketed coils on top of sturdy foam. Every coil is individually wrapped to keep movement from rippling across the mattress, and the foam base helps the coils stand strong and gives them a supportive surface to bounce off from.

Mattresses often feel soft around the edges, which can give a sleeper the feeling like they’re about to roll off the bed. Vaya eliminates that by using extra supportive coils on each side of the mattress, providing corner-to-corner edge support.

The Vaya Hybrid includes free shipping, a 100-night trial and a 10-year warranty.

4. Original Purple Mattress

The Original Purple mattress was created to be the first zero pressure mattress available. It uses a genuinely innovative grid system to gently redistribute pressure no matter how you sleep and support your spine in the process. It stays cooler thanks to larger air pockets and doesn’t have the same sagging as softer foam beds on the market.

The mattress uses three simple layers to support your spine and joints while preventing sag and pressure. The first layer is Purple’s proprietary sleep surface made of a hyperelastic polymer grid. It conforms to your body and distributes weight evenly. The middle layer is 3.5 inches of transitional foam, while the base uses a dense support foam. The soft flex cover moves as you do and allows the full range of the mattress to stand out.

Purple offers a 100-night trial and asks that you sleep on the mattress for at least three weeks or 21 nights before requesting a refund. If you decide that it isn’t right for you, the company will work with you to return the mattress. Purple offers a full ten-year warranty against premature sagging as long as your bed is supported correctly and only used for its intended purpose.

5. Bear Mattress

Bear Mattress is designed to aid in muscle recovery and support the needs of athletes and active people everywhere. Even if you aren’t an athlete, Bear’s unique use of Celliant could help your guests wake up more refreshed and feeling better.

Bear uses three different simple layers to create a comfortable, cooling foam mattress. The cover uses Celliant, a compound that could help increase circulation for better muscle recovery and tap into your body’s natural healing. Underneath, a layer of cooling, graphite infused gel foam wicks heat and moisture from your body while reducing odors. Transitional foam and a layer of solid support foam ensure your spine is aligned, and pressure points are comfortable.

Bear mattresses come with a 100-night sleep trial so that you can decide if it’s the right one. You must try it out for 30 nights before requesting a refund. The mattress is guaranteed for ten years with a limited warranty, provided the bed is fully supported and used only for its intended purpose.

6. Emma Mattress

Emma was created in Europe, where air conditioning isn’t as standard and is designed to maximize airflow to keep you cooler. It uses layers of foam for contouring and support and is compatible with a variety of bed bases. Plus, at a popular medium firmness, it should suit all types of sleepers with all kinds of preferences.

The design uses three layers of memory foam to help with contouring and support. The first layer is a gel-infused contouring layer that actively wicks away heat and sweat while encouraging airflow. The middle, transitional layer uses a viscoelastic foam to contour where you need and provide extra support where you need. The bottom layer is dense support foam that keeps your spine aligned and prevents pressure and sagging. The climate-regulating cover stretches and moves with you for ultimate comfort and support.

Emma offers a 100-night sleep trial to give you time to adjust to the mattress and decide if it’s the right one for you. There’s no minimum amount of nights to adjust, but it’s a good idea to try to give the mattress at least a few weeks. A ten-year limited warranty protects against abnormal wear and tear plus factory defects, but make sure your bed is correctly supported with a bed frame or platform and used only for its intended purpose.

Why Should I Buy a Guest Room Mattress?

Sometimes when we upgrade mattresses for our personal use, our old mattress makes its way into our guest room. Occasionally, we choose an air mattress from a big box store. These options could save you some cash, but there are good reasons to recycle your old mattress and start fresh with something that provides high quality even in your guest room.

First, as mattresses age, they can harbor bacteria and microscopic organisms responsible for allergies and respiratory issues. Traditional mattresses can gain pounds as they go through life, and placing that mattress in your guest room could exacerbate allergies.

Second, old mattresses lose support over time and cause sleep issues for your guests. It may not be so apparent after one night, but if your guests stay multiple days, they may have back trouble, neck and joint pain, and headaches. A more supportive mattress can fix those issues.

If budget is an issue, you can find good mattresses for an affordable price. Choosing a guest bedroom mattress doesn’t have to set you back thousands of dollars, and you could come away with a budget find that also hits all your needs list just fine.

What Kind of Mattress Should I Get for My Guest Room?

Guest bedrooms accommodate a variety of sleepers, so it’s impossible to find the perfect mattress for everyone. However, there are a few things you can keep in mind to help accommodate most sleepers.

Hybrid mattresses are excellent because they offer a blend of both the contouring appeal of memory foam with the bounce and support of a traditional mattress. If guests aren’t familiar with an all-foam mattress, the lack of edge support could be disconcerting and take some getting used to.

Hybrid mattresses are also useful because they often fall in that magic medium firmness level that appeals to the widest base of sleepers. They have good airflow because of the coils but be sure your coils are individually pocketed to provide the most support and comfort.

If you go with all foam, your guests can still appreciate support and motion isolation. Choose a medium-firm foam mattress that provides excellent airflow and other cooling options such as gel-infused foam or graphite infused layers. Copper is also an excellent choice. These foams help wick away moisture and heat from the body and redistribute it throughout the mattress to dissipate, keeping the surface cooler. Plus, they often help block odors from sweaty sleepers.

If it’s an all-foam mattress, you could also give your guests the heads up for what to expect. It might be helpful for them to know ahead of time about edge support and the way all-foam mattresses feel.

How Do I Care for My Guest Room Mattress?

Change the sheets regularly with your guest room mattress, especially if you’ve had guests recently, or the bed has been empty for several months. If you often keep the guest room door closed, it’s a good idea to open doors and windows (or blinds and curtains at least) to allow sunlight and fresh air in. It’s amazing what a little sunlight will do to help cut down on musty odors, bacteria, and mold or mildew.

In fact, the best thing you can do is keep air circulating in the guest room and avoid shutting it off from the rest of the house. Stale air can be tough on a mattress. Plus, you can keep an eye on the temperature of the room and how that affects overall room quality.

Most mattresses don’t need to be flipped anymore, but if the mattress can be flipped, it’s probably good to do that once or twice a year. What can be beneficial is rotating the mattress so that no one’s weight hits the same spot at the same time. Rotating helps prolong the life of memory foam, even in an age where foams are more durable than ever.

You may also want to check the mattress periodically for signs of wear and tear, odors, or bug infestations. Bed bugs can come in from anywhere, and your guests may not even be aware they’re carrying them. The best course is to spot check mattresses after guests leave and periodically throughout the year as your freshening up your guest room.

Last, sometimes we use the guest room as storage, but storing things on your mattress could reduce its life. If you’ve got heavy boxes, equipment, or other things, it’s probably best to leave them on the floor instead of piling them onto your guest mattress. Anything you can do to reduce prolonged pressure is a good idea.

How Can I Prepare for My Guests to Stay the Night?

Overnight guests are a welcome addition to any house, and there are a few things you can do to make sure your guests feel right at home. Once you’ve aired out the room and changed the bedding, you could add other little touches to ensure your guest room is welcoming.

Offering your guests a variety of pillows allows them to choose which one complements their sleep style the best. Stomach sleepers will need a thinner pillow so that their necks aren’t bent into an uncomfortable position, and their spine and shoulders are supported but straight. Side sleepers need the opposite – a thicker pillow that fills in the space between the neck and shoulders to keep the spine straight. Back sleepers typically need an in-between thickness.

You can also offer a variety of blankets to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. Hot sleepers can benefit the most from simple blankets or just a sheet that allows excellent airflow. Cool or cold sleepers may like a thicker blanket and would appreciate more than one to accommodate sleeping throughout the night.

Many of the mattresses on our list also offer sheets tailor-made to the mattress, so you could explore what the company offers to complement the mattress. Sheets should have good airflow and flex with the sleeper so that support and contouring are never compromised.

Add some little extras like hygiene products, diffusers or candles, and maybe flowers (but consider allergies), and you could find that your guest space is a popular one. If you know your guests love a soft bed, a contouring mattress topper can accommodate that preference without changing the mattress itself. All that’s left is to show your guests around town.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your guest room mattress may not be the star of your sleep show, but it can help transform your space into something people are excited to visit. If you still have some questions about how to choose a mattress and what to expect once you do, we’ve got some answers to help.

How much should I spend on my guest room mattress?

Your budget is entirely up to you, but there are a variety of quality mattresses to satisfy just about any budget. You can find mattresses at a variety of price points without sacrificing performance.

You could decide how often you’ll have guests over. If you frequently have guests, or you have an Airbnb rental, you might want to spring for a bit more. If you have guests just for holidays, maybe a little less.

A good idea is to look for a mattress with a good sleep trial and spend some time in your guest room to see how your guests will feel. Also, it may be a good idea to ensure the mattress has a warranty of at least ten or so years, so you’re covered if things go wrong.

What is the best mattress for a variety of sleeping styles?

Medium-firm mattresses tend to be the best sleep for everyone. They have enough contouring foam for side sleepers to sink further into the mattress, but dense support foam or coils prevent the body from sagging and provides more support for back sleepers. Stomach sleepers may be more concerned with edge support, but with the right pillow can still find contouring with a medium-firm mattress.

Most people prefer the feel of medium-firm as well. There are no scientific measurements for medium-firm, but those mattresses tend to measure between a 5.5 and a 7.5 on a ten-point firmness scale (one being a hammock and ten being a wood floor, so to speak). Comfort layers keep everyone feeling good, while support layers prevent sag and pressure points.

What materials are best for my guest room mattress?

Guest room mattresses will see a variety of sleepers, so having materials that naturally resist mold, mildew, and bacteria are critical. Luckily, most materials now follow those requirements pretty closely. Memory foam is naturally anti-microbial and resists the growth that traditional mattresses sometimes experience.

Infusions such as graphite, green tea, or even mint can also help cut down on odors from night sweat and other moisture. Our bodies use sweat to regulate temperatures, and there’s always the chance that we may sweat more than usual during some nights. These infusions help naturally freshen the mattress and keep it smelling new.

If you’re worried about upkeep, you may want to invest in a mattress cover. Make sure it’s breathable (forget those plastic versions from the past) and that it stretches to help with contouring and support.

Where should guests sleep?

If you don’t have space for a proper guest room, you might want to consider placing a pullout couch in your living area. That way when guests drop by, you can remove the couch cushions and set up a temporary bed. Other alternatives include a Murphy bed with mattress and an inflatable air mattress, both easy to store when not in use.

How can I make my guests more comfortable at night?

Set up your guest bed with fluffy pillows and clean, breathable bedding. Cotton sheets are an inexpensive yet comfortable choice. Double check that all amenities, such as lights, are in good working order.

You might want to include some simple entertainment options like recent magazines, a puzzle book, or a short story collection. If you want to really capture that hotel room feeling, leave a couple bottles of water and a healthy snack.

Conclusion

Guest room mattresses sometimes receive the least consideration because we don’t sleep in there all the time, but changing that mindset could have a lot of benefits. Once you invest in the right mattress for your guest room, your guests could get better sleep and have fewer allergic reactions to the grime from your old mattress. Plus, newer mattresses are more supportive and suited to a variety of sleep positions and temperatures.

Choosing a medium-firm mattress for your guest room is an excellent idea because it will appeal to the widest variety of sleepers. It’s supportive, no matter your guest’s sleep position, and can always be made softer with a mattress topper. Plus, new foam materials or pocketed coils help move air for better temperature control. These are a far cry from mattresses in the past.

Our list of mattresses is a great place to start when choosing the right mattress for your guest room. Once you’ve upgraded your mattress, recycle your old one, and keep an eye out for the perfect guest room fit. A new mattress can be with you for a very long time with the right care and consideration, allowing you to make the most of your guest room for years to come. Trust us, your guests will appreciate it.