If guests to your home extend their stays overnight, there are many different sleeping options you can offer them to avoid making them stay in a hotel.
Having guests over for an extended stay is an excellent opportunity to grow closer with visiting friends and family. These visits often involve your guests staying overnight in your home rather than a hotel, requiring adequate sleeping arrangements for each person. Making these arrangements can be difficult, especially when group dynamics or family politics play a role in dolling out the nighttime room assignments. Here is a look at several different sleeping options for guests to your home, along with the pros and cons of each.
Spare Bed
An extra bed in a spare room is the ideal solution for overnight guests. These are always the best option when one is available, especially for relatives. Spare beds provide a measure of privacy that many other options cannot match and are generally more comfortable than other choices.
The biggest drawback against spare beds is the added expense and space requirements. You will need an extra room to put the bed, as well as the frame, mattress, sheets, blankets, and pillows. Regardless, a real bed in a spare room will (still) always be the best option.
Couch
The same piece of furniture you lounge on for reading or watching television can double as a place for a friend to stay. Simply cover your sofa, sectional, or loveseat with a sheet, provide a pillow and some blankets, and your guest is set. Couches are great because they don’t require much preparation, and most people have one already in their home.
There are several cons to the couch, especially the lack of comfort. The other big knock against couches is their size. Typically, only one person can fit on each, and then you depend upon your guest to get up at the same time you do in the morning.
Convertible Furniture
The final category of different sleeping options for guests is furniture that can convert into beds. Here is a small bit of information on several of the notable options.
Futon
The seating option of choice in many college dorms is also available in an adult option that blends well into many living room styles, as well as smaller spaces. Though they do cost less than many other options, they are often uncomfortable, and those with joint problems may find it difficult to stand up off of them.
Sleeper Sofa
In many ways, a sleeper sofa is a step up from a futon. It looks like a regular sofa most of the time, but then the inside of a sleeper sofa opens to reveal a pull-out bed. There are many benefits to owning one, including the different sizes available, from twin to queen. Like other temporary sleeping options, these can be uncomfortable, with quality dictating the level of comfort your guests experience.
Daybed
A daybed looks like an odd hybrid between a sofa and a bed. These are usually twin-sized, but all you have to do to go from day to night mode is lay down on it. Many times, these beds will also offer a pull-out trundle bed for an additional sleeping option.
